My Little Peter Pan

Riley has been a fan of all things Peter Pan for awhile now. I think it started with a picture book, then the Disney movie, and progressed from there. My mom owns the old Mary Martin version that was a live play decades ago that was filmed and then released when I was a kid on video. He actually prefers to watch that version over the cartoon one! Then began the obsession with pirates. Riley's imagination has taken over different parts of our house as pieces of his world. The couch, when all the cushions are removed properly, happens to be his pirate ship and he will play pirates every single day. He has a plastic pirate hat he wears and uses a kaleidescope as his telescope and a whisk from his kitchen set toys as his sword.

While we were shopping a few weeks ago Riley spotted a chapter book version of Peter Pan on a shelf of books, recognizable of course by the infamous Captain Hook on the cover battling Peter Pan, and asked if we could buy it. I was hesitant to buy a book that it would probably be years before he could enjoy, but it was one of the Great Illustrated Classics series and only a couple dollars, so we got it for him. Much to my surprise he spent several hours later that day looking at the black and white sketches in the book, and wanted it read to him, so we began reading his first chapter book aloud just shy of 3 years old. He is soaking it up! We read him a chapter every night and he absolutely loves it. I never would have believed he would sit through it had I not seen it! I am so astonished, but thrilled, that he is enjoying books quite as much as he is, even without all the bright, colorful pictures! He is a true book lover!
So naturally when we started planning his birthday party, we immediately decided to go with a Peter Pan/Pirates theme. I had fun making the invitation for this one and excited for all the details to come together for it. It's the perfect way to celebrate his special day this year!