Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens - J.M. Barrie

As a sort of prequel to Barrie's stage play Peter Pan to his later novel Peter Pan and Wendy, I found this book to be a bit all over the place. It was evident that certain aspects and story parts were then used in his later works, but putting them together in this novel just didn't appear to work very well. I don't know if it was just me and my perception of things, but the story parts didn't seem to flow very well. Perhaps it was just the language that wasn't flowing?

As an infant, Peter Pan managed to fly right out of his nursery window. He flew over rooftops and right to Kensington Gardens, where his brief lapse in belief ends up stranding him on an island full of birds. These birds take care of him, and eventually give him a way to sail back over into the Gardens. Here, he meets the fairies, and the wonderful "folk tales" of Peter Pan begin, causing many to wonder about his true character. One girl decides to stay the night in the Gardens in the hopes of meeting him, and once she does a very Peter Pan and Wendy-esque conversation takes place. 

Going into this, meaning before I actually read up on anything having to do with it, I believed that it was just a prequel. While it does detail Peter's time as a baby and small child, it was the parts more towards the end that threw me off the belief of its being a prequel. After all, it did and didn't make sense. But, in this aspect my opinion doesn't really mean a thing.

As I mentioned above, I don't know if it was just the old writing that made the story flow so slowly in my head, or the fact that parts of the book just didn't appear to fit. Some stories, like Peter's infancy flight, obviously fit and were needed, while other stories just seemed too much like ramblings that didn't add anything to the story at all. 

Overall, it was a decent read. Peter Pan as a character has always fascinated me, whether it be in his original or Disney form. I've always held this love for his character, so having read this book, and even being a little bit disappointed, I won't regret it. The little bit that we get of Peter's childhood were some fine details to have when thinking about him as a whole. 

☆☆☆/5

Recommend?: If you want to know more about Peter Pan's childhood.