Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM (9 May 1860 - 19 June 1937), more commonly known as J. M. Barrie, was a Scottish novelist and dramatist. He is best remembered for creating Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, whom he based on his friends, the Llewelyn Davies boys. Born in Kirriemuir, Angus, the second youngest of ten children, Barrie was educated at the Glasgow Academy, Forfar Academy and Dumfries Academy, and the University of Edinburgh. He became a journalist in Nottingham, then London, and turned to writing novels and subsequently plays. He is also credited for the...

'All children, except one, grow up.' Mrs Darling half-remembers Peter Pan from her own childhood; he is an insubstantial figure with a baby's laugh and a habit of blowing out stars. She believes him to be imaginary until he leaves his shadow in her children's nursery. Accompanied by a foul-mouthed fairy, Peter is in search of good stories, and upon learning that the eldest Darling girl, Wendy, knows a great many, he lures her and her two brothers back to the island of Neverland. There, the dreams and imaginings of childhood become real. Lost boys, pirates and warring Indians populate the...

Peter and Wendy with illustrations. Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up or Peter and Wendy is J. M. Barrie's most famous work, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel, respectively. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous little boy who can fly, and his adventures on the island of Neverland with Wendy Darling and her brothers, the fairy Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, the Indian princess Tiger Lily, and the pirate Captain Hook. The play and novel were inspired by Barrie's friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family. Barrie continued to revise the play for years after...

Before he flew away to Neverland, the little boy who wouldn't grow up dwelt in the heart of London, with birds and fairies as his companions. This whimsical romp introduces Peter Pan, who discovered the magic of everyday existence amid the trees and flowers of Kensington Gardens - the very place where J. M. Barrie met the children who inspired his classic stories. Acclaimed by the Times of London as "one of the most charming books ever written," Barrie's fantasy was published in 1907 with 50 stunning color illustrations by Arthur Rackham. This magnificent keepsake edition features all of...

The Little Minister, "Little Minister, The": poster for stage adaptation popular sentimental novel by J.M. Barrie, published in 1891 and dramatized in 1897. The Little Minister is set in Thrums, a Scottish weaving village based on Barrie's birthplace, and concerns Gavin Dishart, a young impoverished minister with his first congregation. The weavers he serves soon riot in protest against reductions in their wages and harsh working conditions. Warned by Babbie, a beautiful and mysterious Gypsy, that Lord Rintoul, the local laird, has summoned the militia, the weavers prepare for a fight. During...