Fantasy: Peter Pan

Peter Pan is a beloved classic, written by J.M. Barrie. The story follows the Darling children from London who are visited by a boy named Peter Pan. He whisks them away to Neverland, a land where mermaids, fairies, pirates, and Indians coexist. This tale falls into the Fantasy genre because the elements/characters in the story are wildly imaginative: flying ships, flying characters, children who never grow up, the land "second star to the right and straight on until morning" of Neverland, etcetera.

This book covers a few of the social justice elements, but most notably Social Injustice. There are rifts between a few groups of people in the story, notable pirates versus everyone else. It's possible to teach students tolerance from this story. There are a handful of groups of people that all can exist peacefully if the pirates would leave them at peace. In my classroom, I would draw comparisons to other groups of people in the story who get along (Lost Boys and Indians). What can be done to allow everyone to live peacefully? Coexisting and respecting other people/cultures is important and possible.