The story popularly known as Peter Pan was created by J. M. Barrie (1860-1937). Barrie, a Scottish writer, was inspired to write the stories that later became Peter Pan after becoming a friend to (and later, a guardian of) five young boys whose parents have died. Barrie named several characters in his stories after the boys. In 1904, Barrie wrote a play called Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. In 1911, he turned the story into a novel called Peter and Wendy. This novel, along with the play and several related short stories, is the basis for the long-beloved Peter Pan mythos. 

In the original story, Peter Pan is an impish boy capable of flight. He visits the home of the Darling family in Victorian London, hiding outside the window while Mrs. Darling tells bedtime stories to her children, Wendy, John, and Michael. One night, Peter makes the children’s acquaintance. After teaching them to fly with the aid of fairy dust from a fairy named Tinker Bell, he brings them to a magical island called Neverland. The island is populated by Lost Boys, children whom Peter rescued after they fell out of their prams. Like Peter, the boys do not age.