She was a working fairy
In Neverland, every fairy has a job. Tinker Bell's job was to mend little copper pots and kettles. A 'tinker' is someone who fixes tin — that is where her name comes from. She was very good at it.
Meet the Characters
The True Story of Tinker Bell
One feeling at a time. Furious, then brave. Small, and yet enormous.
Featured on the map at Mermaid Lagoon · The Home Under the Ground
Did you know?
She could only hold one feeling at a time
Barrie wrote that fairies are so small there is only room in them for one feeling. When Tinker Bell was jealous — and she often was — her whole tiny body glowed a hot furious red. When she was happy, she was only happy.
She drank the poison meant for Peter
When someone poisoned Peter's medicine, Tinker Bell drank it first — every drop — to save him. Her light nearly went out. It came back only because children all over the world clapped and said they believed in fairies.
Would you rather?
So — would you rather feel one thing at a time, or all your feelings at once, forever?
or
One tap. Your vote is saved on this device only.
Family reading companion
The True Story of Tinker Bell
A short bedtime version — one screen. Read it aloud together.
Every night, in a warm nursery in London, three children slept with the window open. And every night — sometimes — a tiny golden light would slip through the curtains and hover for a moment above the fire. That light was a fairy. Her name was Tinker Bell.
She was not the sort of fairy you might expect. She was a working fairy. In Neverland, every kind of fairy has a job — and Tinker Bell's was to mend pots and kettles. That is where her name comes from. A tinker is someone who fixes little copper things.
Fairies are very, very small. And because they are so small, J.M. Barrie wrote, they can only hold one feeling at a time. When Tinker Bell was jealous — and she was often jealous — her whole body glowed a hot, furious red. There was no room in her for anything else.
One night, someone tried to poison Peter's medicine. Peter did not know. But Tinker Bell knew. And before he could lift the glass to his lips, she flew in front of it — and drank it all herself. Every last drop.
She fell into his hands, very small, and her light began to go out. She said, in her tiny voice, that she thought she could get well again — if children believed in fairies. And Peter, kneeling in the dark, called out into the whole wide world.
And all around the world, children clapped. Quietly at first. Then louder. And her light came back — gold, and warm, and bright as ever. That is the story of the night Tinker Bell was saved by children who believed. Follow the second star to the right, and straight on till morning. She will be the little gold light, leading the way.
Meet another character
