chapter 1 Meet the Darlings All children except one grow up When Wendy Darling was two years old she picked flowers from the garden She ran to her mother and gave her the most beautiful one she had found Mrs Darling sighed and whispered Why can’t you remain like this forever From that day forward Wendy knew that she must grow up The Darlings were a happy family from England Mr and Mrs Darling married and had three children First came Wendy then John and finally Michael came along Each time a baby was born Mr Darling worried that they wouldn’t have enough money 4
to feed each one Mrs Darling promised they would find the money and she was right Mr Darling was the type of man who liked to have everything his neighbors had But since they had to be careful with their money they hired a Newfoundland dog Nana to be the nanny instead of a woman Nana proved to be a treasure of a nurse She made sure each child was squeaky clean at bath time If one of the children made even the slightest peep at night she’d be by their bedside in a flash She knew the difference between a cough that was harmless and one that needed medicine right away She also escorted the children to school each day and walked proudly by their sides Nana never once forgot John’s sweater during soccer practice and would often carry an umbrella in her mouth in case it rained She was always well prepared No nursery had ever been run so smoothly Although Mr Darling knew this he still 5
wondered if his family was the talk of the neighbors Whenever he brought this up to Mrs Darling she’d assure him that his worries were silly Never was there a happier family Until Peter Pan appeared Mrs Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up the children’s rooms While they slept she’d wander about the nursery looking through their newfound treasures She knew that the children were in a deep sleep and dreaming about the Neverland The Neverland was far away and each child would imagine it a bit differently John’s for example had a lagoon with flamingos flying over it Michael who was very small had a Neverland with flamingos with lagoons flying over it John lived in a boat turned upside down on the sand Michael lived in a wigwam Wendy preferred to live in a house made of leaves She even had a pet wolf 6
