Peter Pan: A Retelling for Curious Readers

A look inside

The opening of Peter Pan: A Retelling for Curious Readers, free to read.

1. 

   The Boy at the Window

   All children, except one, grow up. Wendy Darling learned it when she was two. “Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!” her mother cried, pressing a hand to her chest. Wendy had only come racing up the garden path with a flower. But from that day on, she knew: someday she would have to grow up.

2. 

   The Darling children had a nurse who was a dog. Nana was a big Newfoundland, and she was a treasure. She walked Wendy, John, and Michael to school, with an umbrella between her teeth whenever rain threatened. The family lived at Number 14, in London. They were not rich, which is why their nurse had four legs.

3. 

   “Who is this Peter, my pet?” asked Mrs. Darling. His name kept turning up in her children’s minds, which she tidied each night like drawers. The Neverland was in there too, an island of lagoons, pirates, and fairies. “He is Peter Pan,” said Wendy. “But he would be grown up by now,” said her mother. “Oh no, he isn’t grown up,” said Wendy.

4. 

   Nana came home from her evening off and found a strange boy on the nursery rug. He was dressed in dried skeleton leaves, and he still had every one of his baby teeth. Mrs. Darling, who had dozed off by the fire, woke and screamed. With a growl, Nana sprang. The boy leaped out of the open window. Bang! Nana slammed it, and his shadow was caught in the frame.