PETER PAN

This is, perhaps, the solution of the problem of what to read to the youngsters who throng the theatres when Peter Pan is playing and who watch it on screen or TV. For Barrie's own Peter Pan and Wendy is difficult for this age group- and the Disney version leaves a lot of unfinished business. So much by way of apologia.... Now for the positive factors. As in her Josette Frank has made no bones of taking some liberties with the text, and the children who like the gory aspects of it will be disappointed. But in the main the imaginative, poetic quality is retained, and the story is still an enchanting one. I quarrel a bit with Marjorie Torrey's pictures which seem a bit sentimental and wishy washy, providing merely a palatable hors d'oeuvre to the text. All in all- while a surely popular gift book item- this should not be a substitute for the children who can read Peterson and Wendy for themselves.