J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens was first published as a standalone book in 1906.
The book adapts chapters from Barrie’s 1902 novel The Little White Bird. In those chapters, Peter is presented as a baby who escapes to Kensington Gardens and becomes a fantastical figure associated with the park. The standalone edition made this material available in a form centered specifically on Peter Pan.
Arthur Rackham illustrated the 1906 edition, and his detailed images became closely linked with early visual interpretations of Peter. The book is not the same work as Peter and Wendy, Barrie’s 1911 novelization of the stage story.
Readers sometimes treat 1906 as the first appearance of Peter Pan, but that is not correct. Peter first appeared in print in The Little White Bird in 1902. The 1904 stage play then made the character famous in the theater, while later editions expanded and reshaped the story.