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Summary
Summary
People around the world know the story of Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up, but not many know the story of his creator, J. M. Barrie. Barrie's young childhood was marked by sorrow, but also held great adventure. His adult life and relationship with the Davies family brought about a second childhood that helped him to create his lasting triumph. Masterfully illustrated by Steve Adams and using Barrie's own words, Jane Yolen tells the story of the author and the boys who changed his life.
Author Notes
Jane Yolen was born February 11, 1939 in New York City. She received a bachelor's degree from Smith College in 1960 and a master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts in 1976. After college, she became an editor in New York City and wrote during her lunch break. She sold her first children's book, Pirates in Petticoats, at the age of 22. Since then, she has written over 300 books for children, young adults, and adults.
Her other works include the Emperor and the Kite, Owl Moon, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and The Devil's Arithmetic. She has won numerous awards including the Kerlan Award, the Regina Medal, the Keene State Children's Literature Award, the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-By opening her biography with the magic words "Once upon a time," Yolen gives the story of J. M. Barrie's life a fairy-tale tone that perfectly suits its subject. This approach certainly does not gloss over the many tragedies he endured, such as the loss of a sibling or homesickness at boarding school. Instead, the framework is used to shed light on how Barrie used imagination and fantasy to entertain himself and others, especially during hard times. Yolen also provides a detailed account of Barrie's friendship with the Llewellyn Davies family, and how their escapades helped give birth to his masterpiece, Peter Pan. The book's illustrations and layout brilliantly capture the spirit of the text and its subject. A full-page painting faces a page of text, which also features an inset image reflecting the larger one opposite. In addition, each page of text features a quote from Barrie's own works, all of which are carefully chosen to capture the main idea or feeling of the spread. Adams's luminous, carefully composed paintings feel old-fashioned, making them perfectly suited to the text. He also uses light to indicate the key figure in a scene, much like a spotlight in Barrie's beloved theater. A beautiful tribute.-Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Fittingly for the writer who would create "the boy who wouldn't grow up," this biography of J.M. Barrie is just as focused on his childhood as it is on his adult life. Before Barrie began his legendary play he first honed his writing, faced love and hardship, and met the five Llewelyn Davies boys, who changed his life forever. Excerpts from the Peter Pan tales and play draw parallels between Barrie's stories and his life experiences, while Yolen's narrative and Adams's paintings shine with the same sense of adventure that has given Barrie's creation such longevity. Ages 6-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
In this detailed biography, some of the information seems superfluous; the book would have benefited from a more selective, fine-tuned text. However, both the inclusion throughout of well-chosen quotes from Barrie's work and Adams's soft-hued, nicely textured illustrations artfully elaborate upon the text's depiction of how Barrie's early life influenced his eventual creation of Peter Pan. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A sturdy picture biography of J.M. Barrie shines light before and beyond the wild success of Peter Pan. The narrative captures Barrie's child persona through deftly chosen details: "Whenever his favorite magazine, Sunshine, didn't arrive on time, he would write stories himself. Up in the top floor of the house, he scribbled away." His mother's intense grief over the death of a favored older brother left six-year-old Jamie doubly bereft. The author disproves Barrie's characterization of an impoverished childhood, preferring her own scholarship to his romantic embroidery. She lists 13 titles as "a few of the many books" consulted, yet some quotations lack context for modern child readers. Barrie tells his young friends, "that the Peter Pan character was based on them. 'I always knew that I made Peter by rubbing the five of you violently together, as savages with two sticks produce a flame.' " Adams's distinctive acrylic-on-board pictures juxtapose full-page scenes from Barrie's life with facing spots that fancifully illustrate snippets from the books and plays. A bit opaque, yet handsome and useful. (selected works by Barrie, selected list of actresses that played Peter) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This handsome picture-book biography presents the life of James Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan. Born and raised in a small Scottish town, Barrie grew up writing stories and putting on plays for his friends. When he was six, his older brother David died suddenly. The narrative traces his education through university, his success as a writer, his marriage and divorce, and his long-term friendship with the five Llewelyn Davies boys, first as a playmate, then as a family friend, and finally as their guardian. Adams' paintings provide evocative views of Barrie and his world. Yolen smoothly relates intriguing incidents from Barrie's childhood and adult life without making comments or drawing conclusions. Appearing on each double-page spread, though, are well-chosen, illustrated quotes from Barrie's books and plays, inviting readers to find connections between his life and his art. Lists of Yolen's sources and of Barrie's major works are provided. The book ends by noting Barrie's ongoing legacy to children by giving the copyright to Peter Pan to London's Great Ormond Hospital for Sick Children.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
