Lost Boy: the Story of the Man Who Created Peter Pan

Great introduction to J.M. Barrie that does a fine job of capturing the spirit of the man and his work. Handsome illustrations.

While I enjoyed learning about J.M. Barrie's life, I wish there had been an author's note at the end filling in some of the holes in the book's narrative. For example, there is a line about how Barrie's marriage was falling apart, but nothing else mentioned about it. I know it's a children's book,

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but I thought that was a bit sloppy. Otherwise, I liked it.

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A very detailed, very detailed telling of the life J.M. Barrie. While this would be most interesting to someone who is already a fan of Peter Pan, anyone who reads this would surely come away with a fuller understanding of the creator of the beloved eternal youth. Not as dark as many of the adult

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biographies of Barrie, this covers the many stages of his life accurately and in simple understandable language.

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An interesting and uncomplicated telling of the life of James Barrie. The book points out the many commonalities that Barrie shares with his famous character Peter Pan. He was a small, fun-loving man, who physically and emotionally never quite grew up. The illustrations in the book are excellent,

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and overall a great read for students. I did wonder, however, why Yolen mentions that Barrie's marriage was falling apart. It seems an odd thing to mention in a children's book, especially since it served no purpose, really, in the story of his life. Other than that small thing, it seems an informative, entertaining read for kids.

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A brief but concise biography of J.M. Barrie that led to his creation of Peter Pan. It is a captivating picture book with handsome illustrations. J.M. Barrie was a spirited man who remained youthful throughout his years.

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked the book because of the characters were believable and well developed. The story spoke of the Barrier family and gave definite information about Jamie and his family. Jamie on two occasions went to reside with his older brother. In

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which time he came to love theater. As Jamie got older, the story fellows his life in meeting and marry his wife to meeting the Llewelyn family on whom his most famous play was based on. I could see a man with no children playing a role in the lives of the four boys. He became like God parents to these boys and adopted and took care of them when their parents died. The reason I didn't like the book was because of the illustrations. The art work seemed so boring and dry. It just didn't appeal to me and it made me want to close the book before I finished reading it. The message that I got from this story is that you have to believe in yourself when no one else does.

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A delightfully illustrated, a well-written story snippets of the man, J.M. Barrie who in many ways was similar to the well-known and well-liked character of Peter Pan. He was a man who truly lived in a fantasy world, short in stature, high-pitched in voice, he loved to play with children.

While he

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noted to many that his background was poor, in fact his family was moderately successful and his elaboration was false. He was born of a large family, one of seven who felt he was forgotten. His mother was an instrumental figure in his life as she read stories to the children.

He developed his talents by writing small books that soon became successful, some of which featured a make believe town in Scotland called Thrums. Walking his dog in London's Kensington Gardens changed his life indelibly when he met the Llewelyn Davies children. Soon, he and his dog played make-believe stories in the park.

When he creatively made a character called Peter Pan, a boy who refused to grow up, he pulled together the traits of all five Llewellyn children and incorporated the games they played in the park.

He became close to Sylvia Llewellyn, and when her husband died of cancer, he vowed to support the family.

Later in life as he became a wealthy man from the Peter Pan plays, the copyright of Peter Pan was given to the Great Ormond Hospital for Sick Children in London.

Dying in 1937, the character of Peter Pan lives on today in books, movies and plays.

Four Stars!

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