Peter Pan

The plot line reveals that, as a baby, Peter Pan fell out of his carriage and was taken by fairies to Neverland, where he can fly and is the champion of the Lost Boys. Revisiting England, Peter becomes involved with Wendy Darling and her younger brothers. Invited by Peter to come to Neverland to be the Lost Boys’ mother, Wendy and her brothers fly with Peter to an island populated by pirates (including Peter’s sworn enemy, Captain Hook of the brig Jolly Roger); a crocodile with a taste for human flesh; Tinker Bell, the irritable fairy; and Tiger Lily, a Native American princess in competition with Wendy and Tinker Bell for Peter’s affection. Peter, however, shows little reciprocal interest: that sort of thing is for grown-ups, like caring and responsibility. The delight of the book lies in their magical adventures—their flights above the trees and the fights with Captain Hook—and behind it all is the never-stopping, ever-present tick of the clock that the crocodile swallowed (in addition to Hook’s hand, which Peter had cut off). The Darling children eventually return home, taking the Lost Boys with them and leaving Peter Pan to his perpetual boyhood.