Fantasy · Children
Peter Pan
The boy who never grows up teaches Wendy to fly to Neverland, home of mermaids, fairies and Captain Hook.
Five levels, about 80 languages
- A2ElementaryShort sentences and everyday words.
- B1IntermediateYou follow clear stories about familiar things.
- B2Upper intermediateLonger sentences, richer vocabulary.
- C1AdvancedClose to the original, lightly condensed.
- C2ProficientThe complete novel.
One purchase is one book, in one language, at one level: $4.99. Another level of a book you own is $1.99. Editions nobody has asked for yet are written on request: chapter 1 in a few minutes, the rest while you read. How the levels work.
About the book
Second to the right
In a house in London, Wendy, John and Michael Darling are looked after by a nurse who is a Newfoundland dog called Nana. One night a boy who has lost his shadow comes in through the nursery window to find it. He is Peter Pan; he never intends to grow up, and he lives in the Neverland with the Lost Boys, a jealous fairy called Tinker Bell, mermaids, and a ship of pirates captained by James Hook. He teaches the children to fly, and they set off, “second to the right, and straight on till morning”. J. M. Barrie published the novel, under the title Peter and Wendy, in 1911.
Why it works for learners
The adventures are episodic and vivid: flying over London, building a little house around Wendy, a lagoon of mermaids, a battle on the pirate ship. Each chapter is a clear scene that works at any level. Hook is a wonderful villain, vain about his manners and terrified of a crocodile that ticks. Barrie even makes him the one man Long John Silver, from Treasure Island, was afraid of.
What surprises adult readers is Barrie’s narrator: ironic, playful and often sad, talking over the children’s heads about growing up and forgetting. That voice is the reason to come back at a higher level.
Which level to start at
A2 is a good start: the story is famous and the scenes are simple. B1 keeps more of the humor. At B2 and above you’ll hear Barrie’s narrator properly, and the book becomes richer and stranger than you remember. Lexo’s narration gives Hook a voice worthy of his vanity.
Read next
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, another child’s dream country
- Treasure Island, the pirates Hook was measured against
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, another flight to a magic land