The Little White Bird is a novel by J. M. Barrie, published in
1902, ranging in tone from fantasy and whimsy to social comedy with dark
aggressive undertones. The book attained prominence and longevity
due to several chapters written in a softer tone than the rest of the book, in
which it introduced the character and mythology of Peter Pan. Those chapters
were later published separately as Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
as a children's book. The Peter Pan story began as one chapter of
a longer work and during the four years that Barrie worked on the book prior to
publication, grew to an "elaborate book-within-a-book" of over one hundred
pages.
The complete book has also been published under the title The Little White
Bird, or Adventures in Kensington Gardens.
— Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.