The Little White Bird

I got this book as it is the very book wherein Peter Pan makes his first appearance. The parts of this book that include Peter Pan were published later as ‘Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens’ which is not to be confused with the full Peter pan story, which was subsequently published as ‘Peter and Wendy’.

I know, it gets quite confusing tracking down the origins of these Vic Lit legends, you get the same shenanigans with ‘Alice in Wonderland’. But, it does add a little challenge to your reading, which would normally just consist of buying a book you like the look of and reading it.

Anyways, i’ve read in some reviews people saying they couldn’t understand this book and they kept on getting confused. Obviously they didn’t show more factor in that this is written in beautiful Victorian prose and is not some standard contemporary novel. I do feel that in order to fully enjoy Vic Lit then you really need to read a few books to get up to speed on the use of the language by these writers. Most of these books were written by very well educated Victorians, and not the lower classes, and they used the language quite differently to how we use it today with words that have completely escaped the lexicon altogether.

I do humbly believe, that anyone who will take a few books to adjust to Victorian prose will find the effort is well rewarded. Victorian prose is, to my mind at least, the most delightful and eloquent English prose i’ve ever read.

I digress, tangents become me, let’s to the story… ‘The Little White Bird’ is at it’s heart a strange, ‘lost love’ story, that gets played out and revealed through the book. It has our ageing, bachelor, protagonist getting caught up baby sitting a child that he never actually meant to get involved with, and having had no involvement with children and their ways can only cope with them by comparing them to his St Bernard dog, and at times seems to think the St Bernard is far superior in most respects. His adventures with the child, David, are where this book gets it’s other title ‘Adventures in Kensington Gardens’, as they spend a lot of time there.

Throughout the beautiful Victorian prose there is an undoubted light heartedness, a certain tongue in cheekness, to this book, that is both captivating and enjoyable, and using that it’s descriptiveness of the habits of Victorian upper class children and their wards within Kensington Gardens at that time is delightful – Barrie is a master wordsmith.

Oddly, although it was the reason for reading this book in the first place, i found the Peter Pan bit, and it is only a bit, to be a tiny bit annoying as i got so enthralled in the every day descriptions of Victorian life around Kensington Gardens and our protagonist’s story that i just wanted to get away from the habits of Peter Pan and the fairies and back to the habits of the humans. At the same time, it is also something i wouldn’t have wanted left out, as it gives the full back story of Peter Pan, how he came to be and why he is like he is.

All in all, an absolute must for anyone who enjoys Victorian Literature, it really is an absolute gem. And also an absolute must for anyone who loves Peter Pan and wants the full history of the character in the context from which he first flew.

And did i mention, this Kindle version is completely free – what’s not to like? show less

A very old-fashioned story of parents and children, kindness and lots of fairy tales. The story of Peter Pan begins toward the end of this book; a bit awkwardly I feel as though it was tacked on as an afterthought.

The Captain, who narrates The Liittle White Bird, has a gruff exterior to his neighbors and acquaintances and yet he watches the life story of Mary and her painter beau William unfold, he does all he can to help them without revealing his identity. I enjoyed the challenge of deciphering the euphemistic language throughout the book; in Chapter 4 especially! Captain becomes a great friend to David, Mary's son in a way that would never be permitted today. Very different times! Mary sleuths to learn who her family's benefactor is show more while the Cap'n does everything he can to prevent her finding out. You'll have to read the book to find out which one succeeds.

Good read but I was expecting more from the author of The Little Minister. show less

The book which introduced the world to Peter Pan. At times delightfully whimsical and funny and other times the themes are quite adult. I'll leave the tag for Children's Literature up, but it's not a bedtime story, directed at older kids, perhaps.

A whimsical joy. Frequently made me burst out laughing, sometimes I couldn't stop.
One of my favorites. I aspire to write like JM Barrie.

This book from 1902 introduces the first appearance of Peter Pan who is to be found wandering London's Kensington Gardens at night. However, this only takes up a very few chapters in the book. The rest being the story told by a man about his relationship with a little boy and the boy's mother. It is very unusual and the early 1900's English used is sometimes difficult to tell what is actually meant. It was not really one of my favorites, but I am glad I read it because I was wanting to get to the origin of Peter Pan, and at least I accomplished that! This may not be for everyone, it is not a children's book, and I don't know that I would recommend it. I think you'll just have to read it for yourself to decide ;)

Dnf. Didn't even make it to the end of the second chapter. I disliked the mc intensely.

Reading this book has gotten me really excited about reading [b:Peter Pan|34268|Peter Pan|J.M. Barrie|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337714526s/34268.jpg|1358908] later this year.