J.M. Barrie
Illustrated by Roy Best
2014 abridged reprint
While putzing in the vitamin and soap section of Whole Foods today, I came across this little gem and had to buy it just because the pictures were so beautiful.
The Peter Pan Picture book is meant for the tiniest of tots--there are only one or two sentences per page. It nevertheless manages to capture the gist of the story, with all its excitement, adventure and wonder: Peter Pan and Tinkerbell; flying off to Never Never Land with its "strange inhabitants"; the motherless boys and their underground house; the ticking crocodile; Tinkerbell bravely saving Peter's life; the "fierce battle" with Captain Hook and his pirates; and finally back home again to London.
The Peter Pan Picture Book not only has a wonderfully alliterative title, it is the best abridged children's book I've ever seen; it contains not just the basic plot, but the flavor and action of the full version, and the illustrations are just superb. So many abridged versions of kids books are dumbed down with boring flat language. Not so this version, which should keep even a wiggly toddler glued to your lap--and the story.
The illustrations are rich, dreamy, and detailed. Roy Best really captured the vivid, imaginative world of Never Never Land.
It's never to early to start reading to youngsters, and this is a great choice for the kid who loves lots of action. The pages are thick and smooth, and can stand up to enthusiastic young bibliophiles.
$9.95 at Whole Foods, or from laughingelephant.com. Check out their other vintage reprint children's books. They have very beautiful, reasonably priced animal stories, fairy tales, ABC books, children's Shakespeare and more. And no, they didn't pay me to say that.
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