Peter Pan: a bedtime book and a walk through the Kensington Gardens where he was born

Some books adults file under ‘children’s’ until they reread them. Peter Pan is exactly that one. The boy who wouldn’t grow up, Neverland, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook and the crocodile with a clock inside it — all of it was invented by a Scot, James Barrie, and invented right here in London, on walks through Kensington Gardens. There are two reasons to open it tonight: it is a perfect bedtime book for a child — and an unexpectedly sad book about growing up for whoever reads it aloud. And because the place where it was born is half an hour by Tube from most of London, and you can go this weekend.

An extract

The book opens with one of the most famous first lines in English literature:

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“All children, except one, grow up.”

That one child is Peter Pan himself. And this is how the book gives directions to Neverland, in a line children learn by heart: “Second to the right, and straight on till morning.”

J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy, 1911). The original text is in the public domain. The full English text is free and legal to read on Project Gutenberg (link below).

Why it is worth reading tonight

If you only remember the Disney cartoon, the book will surprise you. It is not just an adventure about pirates and fairies. It is a book about the price of not growing up: Peter cannot remember yesterday, forgets his friends, cannot love in earnest — eternal childhood has a cost, and Barrie does not hide it. Children get a thrilling story of flight and swordfights; adults get the quiet grief of the last chapter, when Wendy has grown up and Peter flies back and cannot understand why she can no longer fly away with him.

Chapter one, ‘Peter Breaks Through’, is about fifteen to twenty minutes read aloud — just one evening. We won’t spoil the ending: you have to read that far.

About the author

James Matthew Barrie (1860–1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright. Peter Pan did not begin as a book but on stage: the play opened in 1904, the short novel Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens followed in 1906, and the familiar novel Peter and Wendy in 1911. The Lost Boys were modelled on real children — the Llewelyn Davies brothers, whom Barrie met and befriended on his walks in Kensington Gardens.

And the most remarkable thing about this book is not fiction. In 1929 Barrie gave all the rights to Peter Pan to London’s children’s hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital. Ever since, every UK production of the play — from a grand theatre to a school show — earns money for the hospital. A special provision of the UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 secured the hospital the right to those royalties in perpetuity, even after the book itself entered the public domain. How much has been raised the hospital has never disclosed — as Barrie wished.

Where to go

The main address is Kensington Gardens (W2). The park is free and opens at 6am; closing time changes with the season — in late October the pedestrian gates close around 5pm, so check the Royal Parks website.

What to look for:

The Peter Pan statue stands by the Long Water, on its western bank. Its story matches the book: the sculptor Sir George Frampton had it installed overnight on 30 April 1912, without permission and without fuss — so that in the morning children would think the fairies had brought it. The next day, 1 May, Barrie announced it in The Times as ‘a May-day gift’. It has stood in the same spot for over a hundred years.

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground, next to Kensington Palace, is free to enter and is inspired by Peter Pan: at its centre is a large wooden galleon — a pirate ship — children can climb. In late October it is open 10:00–16:45, last entry 15 minutes before closing (until 19:45 in summer).

Barrie’s house stood at 100 Bayswater Road, on the northern edge of the gardens: he lived directly across from the park into which he sent his hero. And the hospital he gave the rights to — Great Ormond Street in Bloomsbury — is still a children’s hospital today.

Where to get it

Free and legal. The full English text (Peter Pan / Peter and Wendy) is on Project Gutenberg, free to read and download. To find it in a library near you, use the Library Hub Discover catalogue, which lists the holdings of hundreds of British libraries. Links in the sources below.

To buy. An English edition is in every bookshop in Britain. For the Russian translation (the classic one by Nina Demurova is modern and under copyright) try the Russian-language bookshops: children’s stock at Bookashka, Russian and English sections at Notre Locus. Check stock and price on the shop’s own site before ordering — we don’t quote prices from memory.