J. M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

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The Little White Bird

is mostly recognised as the work that introduced the character of Peter Pan to readers and critics alike. It was published in 1902 and was instantly a great success, but its later reputation rests almost solely on the “Peter Pan” chapters (XIII-XVIII), which were extracted in 1906 and published as a stand-alone book for children, entitled

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

, and illustrated by Arthur Rackham. In contrast to its later, far more well-known, literary progeny,

The Little White Bird

is not a children’s book, but was rather addressed to an adult readership.

It is difficult to place The Little White Bird within strict generic terms: it is not an ordinary novel, but rather a series of episodes or sketches, narrated by Captain W, a middle-aged bachelor, and

1156 words

Citation: Fimi, Dimitra. "The Little White Bird". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 April 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=329, accessed 19 March 2024.]

329 The Little White Bird 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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