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Designed for school districts, educators, and students seeking to maximize performance on standardized tests, Webster's paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently assigned readings in English courses. By using a running thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of Margaret Ogilvy by James M. Barrie was edited for students who are actively building their vocabularies in anticipation of taking PSAT¿, SAT¿, AP¿ (Advanced Placement¿), GRE¿, LSAT¿, GMAT¿ or similar examinations.
PSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE¿, AP¿ and Advanced Placement¿ are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights reserved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Curious, puzzling, vivid
JM Barrie wrote this curious memoir of his mother after her death. I don't know much about Barrie's personal life, I found it psychologically qute strange. He seemed obsessed with the idea of being her son and being closeto her, yearning for her to mother him and to remain forever a little boy. (Yes - this was the writer of Peter Pan all right).He gives a vividpictures of a provocative, strong minded, intelligent Scotswoman who wantedthings very much HER way and was extremely mysterious and hard to pin down.Yet Barrie clearly got a great deal out of his relationship with her andgenuinely loved her. This touching book made me feel there was a great dealmore to find out about Barrie and now I want to read more about him. I dorecommend this book. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Dear Brutus is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

In Our Stars
J.M. Barrie's play opened on Broadway at the Empire Theatre in December 1918.It ran for 184 performances through June 1919 with Helen Hayes in the role of Margaret.It is an ensemble piece with all of the characters contributing equally to the show and various plot lines.The play falls somewhere between a comedy of manners and a spooky tale.The play's title is a direct quote from Shakespeare's "Julius Ceasar."Barrie appears to also borrow from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the idea of an enchanted wood where mysterious things can happen.

In "Dear Brutus" we encounter a strange little man who is the host.Lob is perhaps misshapen who behaves in a childish manner.He has invited several couples for "Midsummer Eve." The event is purported to have a legend where a mysterious wood suddenly appears and then disappears the next day, often taking those trapped in the wood with it, never to be seen again.Not only that, but the wood appears in different locations, tonight at the back of the garden just outside the house.Lob's butler is Matey, who is not the most honest of fellows.There are several nice scenes in the first act.One is with Mr. Dearth and his wife Alice.There is tension between the couple.She, in modern terms, is a high society party girl.The absence of children seems to be Mr. Dearth's great regret.Mr. and Mrs. Coade are an older couple for whom the romance has escaped, leaving a marriage that is more of a social construct than a fulfilling relationship.Mr. Purdie comes with his wife Mabel.However, Purdie is a womanizer who appears to be having an affair with Joanna Trout.Lady Caroline Laney has high society breeding that makes her pronounce her "r's" as if they were "w's," which apparently is the fashion rather than a speech impediment.Despite dire warnings from the butler Matey, all except Mrs. Coade are drawn into the wood, including Matey who Lob pushes.

The second act takes place in the wood where each's memory seems to be suspended.They now are able to have taken advantage of second chances.Mr. Dearth now has a daughter Margaret whose mother died many years ago.Alice arrives as a penniless waif begging food from the couple.Purdie and Joanna are together.High society Lady Caroline transforms into Caroliny, the wife of Matey, now a finance tycoon rather than a butler.

The third act brings us back in the house.Barrie leaves Lob asleep on a chair, having all sorts of interesting expressions, leaving the impression that he is dreaming all that is happening in the wood.By ones and twos they return.Each is totally unfamiliar with the room they just left in the first act and are attached to the relationships they developed in the wood.However, something seems to hit their head which begins to restore their memory and slowly the events of act two begin to fade.Perhaps the most touching is when Coade returns not knowing his wife Mabel.He has been a bachelor who has imagined her as his ideal woman.The romance between the older couple seems to rekindle.Lady Caroline is brought low when she realizes she thought she was the wife of a lowly butler.The relationships of the other couples also heals or continues.Lob disappears.

"Dear Brutus" was an interesting, imaginative play.It combines elements of the supernatural and spins around Cassius' line, "The fault, Dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings."I think this show could well be revived 90 years later.It is an interesting provocative play.Enjoy!

Great Reading.
Sir James Matthew Barrie, Bt., OM (May 9, 1860 - June 19, 1937), more commonly known as J. M. Barrie, was a Scottish novelist and dramatist. He is best known for creating the character Peter Pan, whom he based on his friends, the Llewelyn-Davies boys.

Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Angus, the second youngest of ten children, and was educated at Dumfries Academy and Edinburgh University. He became a journalist at Nottingham, then London, and became a novelist. His first novels were set in Kirriemuir, disguised as "Thrums" (his father was a weaver). Barrie often wrote dialogue in Scots. He then wrote for the theater, including Quality Street, What Every Woman Knows, and The Admirable Crichton.

His 'Thrums' novels were hugely successful when they were published, starting with Auld Licht Idylls (1888). Next came A Window in Thrums (1889) and The Little Minister (1891). His two 'Tommy' novels, Sentimental Tommy and Tommy and Grizel came in 1896 and 1902 and dealt with themes much more explicitly related to what would become Peter Pan. The first appearance of Pan came in The Little White Bird (1901).

This book is also a very enjoyable read.

A wonderful story
J.M. Barrie, the author of the wonderful Peter Pan stories, wrote this play in 1917, and it clearly shows a much freer tone than those plays that I have read that were written during the previous Victorian era. In this play, a group of people, strangers for the most part, are invited to an unusual midsummer stay. Each person present has a secret regret, a path that they wished that they had taken. When, on Midsummer's Eve, a magical forest appears, each enters and get a chance to see the people they might have been had they taken that other path.

This "tragicomedy" is quite a wonderful story. I first picked it up with some trepidation, as some plays are rather too bare boned. However, Mr. Barrie included many notes and sidebars that make this play read just as easily as any prose story. It has quite an interesting lesson, and yet is very entertaining. I hope that I am able to find this play being performed somewhere, as I certainly enjoyed reading it. I think that you will enjoy reading it, too. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1914.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

SOMETHING FOR THE J. M. BARRIE FAN
The title, Courage, is the theme of the talk that Mr. Barrie, creator of the Peter Pan character and stories, gave to the graduating class at St. Andrews.The words were first given in 1922 but would be largely appropriate for almost any graduate at any time, even today.Part of the address deals with war because of WWI involving the Scottish people.

Another interesting segment was read from a letter written by Admiral Byrd from a tent he knew he and his explorer party would die in, already having frozen feet, no fuel, and no food.

Barrie's own words can describe the written speech."They are the roses in December; you remember someone said that God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December."Barrie's talk of growing up, moving on into the world, and achieving through the use of courage is good, like "roses in December."

Just don't expect Tinkerbell, or Wendy, Peter, Neverland, pirates or any of the characters we associate with J. M. Barrie's name.He did include a line for a student..."the lad what will never be old."And he says near the end, "This is my first and last public appearance, and I never could or would have made it except to a gathering of Scottish students.I have not been as dull as I could have wished to be; but looking at your glowing faces cheerfulness and hope would keep breaking through." ... Read more

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A story that traces the boyhood of a "man about town" - beginning at age five, in England, his trials and tribulations, on to becoming a young man. The celebrated Tommy first comes into view on a dirty London stair and he was in sexless garments which were all he had and he was five and so though we are looking at him we must do it sideways lest he sit down hurriedly to hide them. That inscrutable face, which made the clubmen of his later days uneasy and even puzzled the ladies while he was making love to them, was already his.

Press comments at the time of original publication:

"Those who know a piece of life when they see it, and who care for the ultimate charm of a bit of pure literature, will read and re-read Mr. Barrie's masterpiece." - Hamilton W. Mabie

"A work of fiction that is as original as it is fascinating. Here, indeed, is life itself and all the accompaniments thereof." - Joel Chandler Harris

"It has wonderful merits ... In a degree almost unexampled in modern literature ... Its power is astounding." - The Speaker, London

"Every phase of its hero's development is delightfully set forth; and the other personages - and they are countless - are all drawn with a master's hand." - New York Times ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wow!
I had known from "Peter Pan" and "The Little Minister" that Barrie was a great author, but I think this is the best I've read of his, so far.

He manages to create one of those characters that you lovedespite (because of?) his faults, and he surrounds him with a greatsupporting cast and many subplots. I recommend this highly to anyone wholikes Barrie's work (or as an introduction to it). ... Read more

Product Description
A comedy play. The scene is the blue and white room in the house of Misses Susan and Phoebe Throssel in Quality Street; and in this little country town there is a satisfaction about living in Quality Street which even religion cannot give. Through the bowed window at the back we have a glimpse of the street. It is pleasantly broad and grass-grown, and is linked to the outer world by one demure shop, whose door rings a bell every time it opens and shuts. Thus by merely peeping, every one in Quality Street can know at once who has been buying a Whimsy cake, and usually why. This bell is the most familiar sound of Quality Street. Now and again ladies pass in their pattens, a maid perhaps protecting them with an umbrella, for flakes of snow are falling discreetly. Gentlemen in the street are an event; but, see, just as we raise the curtain, there goes the recruiting sergeant to remind us that we are in the period of the Napoleonic wars. If he were to look in at the window of the blue and white room all the ladies there assembled would draw themselves up; they know him for a rude fellow who smiles at the approach of maiden ladies and continues to smile after they have passed. However, he lowers his head to-day so that they shall not see him, his present design being converse with the Misses Throssel's maid . . . ... Read more

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Margaret Ogilvy. please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1900.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This hardcover edition of the classic tale of PETER PAN AND WENDY has been read and loved by children for generations. Start a new tradition of reading this timeless tale in your home today!
•Fully illustrated in color, bringing each tale to life
•Filled with humor, adventure and imagination for children of all ages
•Great first-time reading for children as well as reading again for parents and grandparents
•Beautiful story and unforgettable characters ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1896. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies. All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (37)

Neverland
I'd never read this book as a child so I had the Disney version of Peter Pan bouncing around in my head all these years.How different Barrie's book is from that watered down story.Tinkerbell and the Mermaids have minds of their own and they're not faceless, harmless, innocents in Barrie's original version.The poor Lost Boys are truly lost in scary isolationand dependent on Peter Pan to lead them.Sadly Pan forgets about them at times and at others he uses them as pawns in his need for adventure with horrible vindictive pirates.There are deadly crocodiles lurking on the Neverland Island as well as stereotyped Native American who are out for blood.

Worst Peter will never grow up because he's left his shadow behind.Because he's unwilling to examine, deal with the his darker side self that we all stuff into our shadow he can't learn from it or worse still can'tforgive himself for not being all sweetness and light so he can become a responsible, loving, adult.He also misses out on knowing others aren't perfect either and don't need to be in order to be loved.I'm glad I finally got around to reading Barrie's story because it contains layers of messages.

Hyman's illustrations are wonderful as well.

I had a shock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today we got a book"Peter Pan",it is very old,the first pagehardly kept with other pages,but the most interesting was next!!!!I FoUND SOMEONES HAIR INSIDE,when we decided to read it!
It IS DISGUSTInG!!!!!

Multiple edition reviews
ALL EDITIONS ARE NOT EQUAL!Amazon has the bad habit of gathering ALL reviews for one title and posting them under ANY edition. Reviewers, PLEASE post all the necessary info to allow readers to discern which edition you are reviewing. The title and author is the same yes but the abridger, adapter, illustrator, edition year/copyright, ISBN would be a help... at least until Amazon figures out that classics get reprinted a zillion times and reviews are usually about a particular edition.

You Can't Go Wrong With This Book!
I bought these to be included as favors for my son's 8th birthday party - inexpensive and a true value! This is a classic story! This book gives adults and children everywhere permission to never grow up (at least for a little while). When I read this book I find myself encouraging my own children to use their imaginations and to believe as much as they wish that they truly don't have to age another day!

This story is not only endless fun, but is also a story filled with bittersweet realizations and acceptance. From the first line, "All children, except one, grow up", to the last, "...and thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless" readers are reminded that the delight and fun of a child is temporary. In the first chapter, it is Mrs. Darling who, in her delight for her daughter Wendy, unwittingly breaks the news - that Wendy will have to grow up: "Oh, why can't you remain like this for ever!", she says. Wendy is not upset by this. We see that she adores her mother and may in fact look forward to womanhood when Barrie describes Mrs. Darling's kiss "perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner" of her sweet mocking mouth.

But for now, there is time! Wendy acts as our liason between two worlds and we will enjoy childhood while it lasts. As Peter persuades Wendy to leave London with him she generously invites us to go with her when she insists that John and Michael be included. And then we're off to Neverland! Throughout the story Wendy keeps one foot firmly planted in reality, while keeping the other foot willingly, but cautiously, in Neverland. In admiring the mermaids we learn with Wendy that not everything is as it seems. Being hunted and kidnapped by pirates isn't always pleasant, and to be thought of jealously by a mischievous fairy and beautiful Indian Princess is frustrating. She also recognizes how The Lost Boys have forgotten their mothers and feels it is her duty to remind them how much mothers truly care for their children and is determined to not forget her own.

Part of what makes this book such a favorite is the style in which it is written. It is filled with figurative language and fantastic imagery.One of my favorite scenes is when Mrs. Darling learns "of Peter when she was tidying up her children's minds". Barrie insightfully writes: "It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day. If you could keep awake (but of course you can't) you would see your own mother doing this, and you would find it very interesting to watch her. It is quite like tidying up drawers. You would see her on her knees, I expect, lingering humorously over some of your contents, wondering where on earth you had picked this thing up, making discoveries sweet and not so sweet, pressing this to her cheek as if it were as nice as a kitten, and hurriedly stowing that out of sight. When you wake in the morning, the naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind; and on the top, beautifully aired, are spread out your prettier thoughts, ready for you to put on."The vocabulary, similes, metaphors, and imagery used with such tenderness and honesty reveal so much and are not far from the truth - ask any romantic mother!

A Timeless Classic


I bought "Peter Pan" for my daughter doing her fourth grade at school. Although I had read the book over 35 years ago, its magic rekindled again as I read this unique, amusing and timeless classic. The book makes me laugh and smile.

"Peter Pan" is a fantastic and ageless fantasy adventure book about a boy who magically refuses to grow up. The boy can fly and at one time he visits the Darling family in the company of a fairy and he teaches Wendy and her two brothers to fly and together they fly to Neverland, Peter's fantasy island homeland. In Neverland, Peter is the leader of the Lost Boys and there he performs many heroic and some not-so-heroic feats. There several adventures take place including Peter fighting his nemesis, the wicked leader of a group of pirates Captain Hook, encounters with mermaids, Indians, fairies and the like.

This is a compelling fantasy story that is good reading for the young and the young at heart. The book has pretty colours and it is easy for children to read and follow the story. The only blemish is describing Peter Pan as sometimes very cruel and heartless and one wonders what lingers in the minds of the little ones afterwards.

All in all, this is a high quality, lucid and readable book that I recommend to anyone that loves to read an unforgettable adventure story.

... Read more