J. M. Barrie once stated that, “children have the strangest adventures without being troubled by them”. (Rose 46)  The ability of a child to create and admire the fantastical aspects of an imaginary world, or having been taught such fantastical elements through a story such as Peter Pan, shows that children engage in activities that highlight their imaginations.  The conjunction of fantasy, nature and childhood is central to the narrative.  (Friedman & Karvey 154) This allows them to appreciate worlds like Neverland.   The problem in dealing with the social and moral issue in fiction for children is that the author must not preach, must not make the reader’s or listener’s decision for him or her and must not indulge in the fallacy that all nice people do good things and that all evil things are done by bad people.  (Fenwick 140)  By creating characters such as the Lost Boys, who act in mischievous ways, especially when helping Peter against the evil Captain Hook, it is clear that the characters are acting in a bad way, only in hopes of achieving something good.  It is okay for these children to act without thinking as that is what children do, regardless of their actions being considered good or bad.  Children’s literature appeals to the young because they confirm the world of childhood.  (Griswald 99)  Imagination is a strong force in Peter Pan.  There are two forces at work in this story.  One is represented by Tinkerbell, a kind of hyperbolic of Peter’s youthful and aerial mobility.  Opposite this image is the character of captain Hook, he is an adult with an imposing and fixed presence.  (Griswald 100)  It is up to the children, to just listen to the story and imagine what it would actually be like to be a part of the adventure.  Many adults would not think twice about the fantastical elements of the story and automatically label it as just being fiction, which does not allow them to truly grasp the meaning of the story.

In the eighteenth century when the figure of the child in its modern form was increasingly being shaped as an “essence”, only to be fully consolidated late in the nineteenth century when the various institutional apparatuses of children’s literature were in place, including an educational system promoting literacy. (Hunt 20) Movements such as these are what initiated the beginnings of literature for children.  The quality of timelessness is one of the enduring seductions of the literature of early childhood.  Having a child sit back and listen to someone read to them, will allow them to enter the fantastical world, and engage in the same adventures as the characters.  (Lanes 120)  Being read to allows the child to fully concentrate on the entire story, making them feel like they are part of it.

There have been many adaptations to Barrie’s original story.  The story was first brought to the attention of the public through a play that looks back to a lost age of Victorian security.  It seeks a meaning in fantastic rather than empirical or scientific life.  It sees life as theatrical and performative, rather than as authentic and sincere.  (Lerer 259)  A play although entertaining, creates boundaries that a book does not.    During the play when Peter asks for the audience’s help in keeping Tinkerbell alive this is the ultimate sentimental immortality.  (Haviland 67) Walt Disney has said that, “live actors are limited, but with cartoons we can give free rein to the imagination.  (Maybin & Watson 151)  Even though cartoons are capable of having more special effects than any performance on stage, both of these adaptations take away from the child experiencing the full effect of this story, by creating what they want the characters and adventure to look like within their own minds.  There are positives to such adaptations, the story as a picture book provides additional perspectives that add dimension to the listener’s experience.  (Montgomery & Watson 101)  As long as there is some way for the listener to have his or her own view of the story, then this is what would allow them to appreciate the values of a fantastical text such as this.

Works Cited

Fenwick, I. Sara.  A Critical Approach to Children’s Literature.  Chicago: University of   Chicago Press, 1967.  Print.

Friedman, D. Lester and Karvey, B. Allison.  Second Star to the Right: Peter Pan in the Popular Imagination.  New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2009.  Print.

Griswald, Jerry.  Feeling Like A Kid.  Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.  Print.

Haviland, Virginia.  Children and Literature.  New York: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1974.  Print.

Hunt, Peter.  Understanding Children’s Literature.  New  York: Routledge, 2005.  Print.

Lanes, G. Selma.  Down the Rabbit Hole.  New York: Atheneum, 1976.  Print.

Lerer, Seth.  Children’s Literature.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.  Print.

Maybin, Janet, and Watson, J. Nicola.  Children’s Literature: Approaches and             Territories.  New York, The Open University, 2009.  Print.

Montgomery, Heather, and Watson, J. Nicola.  Children’s Literature: Classic Texts and             Contemporary Trends.  New York:  Open University, 2009.  Print.

Rose, Jacqueline.  Peter Pan, or The Impossibility of Children’s Fiction.  Pennsylvania:  University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.  Internet.