The Little White Bird by J. M. Barrie is a prequel to his legendary children's book Peter Pan. For readers who thought the original somewhat disturbing, this prequel is more so. Offering insight into Peter's arrival in Neverland and how he came to never grow up, Barrie spares no agonizing detail about rejection and disappointment. He paints a bizarre story of friendship between an extremely lonely man and a naive young boy which pits the two of them against a cruel world.
Despite the love of two adoring parents, David chooses to live with the narrator. Ever since first meeting the man in Kensington Gardens, the boy has grown susceptible to ideas which the narrator cleverly plants in his head. Based upon his own experience of abandonment -- real or perceived, -- the narrator desires to make this boy, David, love him forever. He never wants David to grow up and leave him, so he convinces David that to grow up is to lose touch with his purest, most capable self. He fills his ward's head with fairytales and lies about his parents.
This tale serves both to set up Peter Pan and to warn against such rejections of maturity. Although Peter Pan has a great many adventures in Neverland, he has lost the one thing which he always wanted -- a family. In a tragic twist, Barrie explains how David/Peter really did have a loving family, from which he mistakenly chose to walk away. The novel depicts the heartbreaking force of rejection, which so often is a child's first experience of self. David's separation from his family mirrors the often traumatic experience of growing up, which leaves children feeling betrayed or even corrupted.
