Mary Poppins

This was a sweet story about the little children in the Banks family. I recently watched the movie Saving Mr. Banks, and I realized I'd hadn't actually read the original Mary Poppins. I was a little surprised to find Mary Poppins isn't overly kind to the children, but they did adore her and had many delightful adventures.

Well written. Mary Poppins is a stern with all the airs of a proper British nanny. She scolds; she threatens; she lies. But I do believe I detect a sparkle in her eye and the slightest tongue-in-cheek smile as she does it. I wish I had read the stories as a child. I will highly recommend them to my students and children of all ages.

After watching the movie "Saving Mr. Banks", I bought this book. The movie I thought was amazing. The ending even better as it brought the character and movie home. This book I bought as I was curious how accurate the movie was on the fighting for the character and scenes was. This book proved to be well written. I tried to read it as just a classic book that was so popular back before the movie. How in the movie said, "this book was something kids loved to read". Probably true before TV and Harry Potter. This is an amazing book in its own right. It's simple and creates in depth characters and fantasies that you will be able to compare with both movies, "Mary Poppins" and "Saving Mr. Banks". I loved the book. I would have set out for the adventure I did by reading both, Mary Poppins and Marry Poppins, She Wrote to compare and delve further into the history of this whole project and now historical movie. I would suggest reading Mary Poppins first. Then get into the book about the life of P.L. Travers. Good Luck!

The book lived up to my expectations! Although the book is primarily written to appeal to children, it is enjoyed by all ages...
I have seen the movie multiple times over the years and was inspired by Saving Mr. Banks to read the books.

Intrigued by Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks" we both read the original Mary Poppins books and were enthralled.

With all respect to Walt Disney, the Travers character is right, the original Mary7 Poppins has more depth than the film portrayal. The stories are masterful and would be enjoyed by any age.

The book is wonderful, and the characters are actually human, unlike the movie words all "bunnies and chickie's". Of course, it still is fantasy, but it's not all bubbles and good cheer. The twistings of the personality of Mary Poppins are part of what make the bulk fun and interesting.

Pamela Travers' Mary Poppins is not the same as Disney's. Rereading this as an adult was very enjoyable, in a nutshell, something like a cross between Lewis Carrol and Dickens. Each episode introduces a Dickensian grotesque who, like Mary Poppins herself, introduces wrinkles in the fabric of space-time, and often talks in that didactic Carrollian way. London street vendor culture was already on the way out in the 1930s and Cherry Tree Lane is very much part of Metroland. Overall though, a very original creation that deserves to be read in its original context, and still suitable for children in the most part.

I bought the kindle version along with the Audible narration. The two are perfect together! The narration is wonderfully animated and a delight to listen to. Reading along at the same time - as it's now possible on the kindle apps - is just plain fun. This classic is definitely worth spending time with.

The Merry-Go-Round chapter comes upon you before you know it. This book features Jane's voyage into another reality; Michael's comes in Mary Poppins In The Park. The Dirty Rascal gives the history of another staple character of the Banks home...

This is not your Disney movie Mary Poppins. this is the book that made Disney want to make the movie and like all books that movies are made from there is a lot more in the book than the movie, plus they changed some things. This book was around long time before the movie so I highly recommend reading it. Gives you a different perspective of the original Mary Poppins. I loved it.

My family has watched the excellent DVD of "Mary Poppins" many times. The adults agree that taking all aspects of such a production into account, this is the finest and most satisfying movie ever made. The book, from which we assume the movie was developed, is also very good -- but different in cast-of-characters and events in intriguing and major ways. It is like a new view in many, interesting ways. I can't wait to finish it!

Loved Mary Poppins many years ago as a child, and find that it is still fun to read. If you have a child in your life, it makes a great read together series of stories. If you have a child who would rather read for her/himself, give that child this book.

I love the vintage illustrations and the story for each letter. I don't mind that it has words that my kids won't be familiar with. It's a great chance to expand their understanding of another culture and a different era of time.

I love the vintage illustrations and the story for each letter. I don't mind that it has words that my kids won't be familiar with. It's a great chance to expand their understanding of another culture and a different era of time.

This book is so different from the movie, mostly because Mary Poppins is NOT cute, spunky, and nice. I must say, the Disney movie became cloyingly sweet to me after I reached adulthood, but this book has staying power. It's so much smarter and deeper than the movie.

While I thought the Disney movie of Mary Poppins was lovely, it never came close to the thrill of the original book. I first read it when I was about eight years old and have revisited it periodically. The real Mary was a far cry from the movie version and I hope that today's klids will have a chance to experience it. I bought this copy as a gift for two 10 year old girls.

The vain and haughty, quick-witted beloved nanny is back in P.L. Travers's MARY POPPINS COMES BACK.

Poppins takes the Banks children and the reader on more fantastic adventures and meeting her colorful friends, where anything can happen.

From being pulled into plates to welcoming a new addition to the Banks family to an evening in the sky with a circus full of stars, it's wonderful whenever Mary Poppins is around!

Illustrator Mary Shepard is back lending her talents with the great drawings for the book that compliment the wild stories.

The book is perfect for bedtime story-telling and can be enjoyed by kids of all ages. No wonder these books have endured for so long!

I cannot recommend this edition of Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Comes Back more highly. You get the first two P.L. Travers books in one book! These stories are very bittersweet and sentimental, full of the fun and magic we remember so well from the Disney movie. Mary Poppins is a very quirky personality. She helps everyone become a little more aware and considerate of their affects on one another. She talks to animals, and comes from somewhere in the clouds! Literally! Her friend, Burt, is in love with her... Like anyone (including the children who know her) he wants to be with her all the time. This book is symbolic of the times when the industrial world was growing. Many of the "lower class" continued to have to work to keep a roof over their heads, and women were advocating for their human rights. One would always hope someday Mary Poppins would fall in love? Have her own family? But as Mary Poppins might respond, what is meant to be will be. Strange and inexplicable events happen around Mary Poppins, events which could only be described as magic. But Mary Poppins has no time for explanations, especially in regard to what she thinks of as being "nonsense".

This book measures 9 x 7; it has a good-sized font for reading at night. Further, this hard-to-find edition carries the super-cute cameo on the dust jacket of Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins. She is holding the beak of her parrot to get him to quiet down... It's just adorable. But the one thing that makes this edition so special is - many of the illustrations are done in COLOR.

There were some first edition color-illustrated books done combining these two stories in the mid-1930's. These editions are very hard to find. This particular one is republished in the same format as the first editions, printed shortly after the Disney film came out in the '60's. If you are a big fan of Mary Poppins and a Disney affection-ado, don't pass your copy by! I have been looking for mine for 40 years, since I was eight years old. I was lucky to find a beautiful, affordable edition right here on the store! Did I mention this book has COLOR illustrations?

The Mary Poppins of the sticky-sweet Disney film and the Mary Poppins of the Travers novel are two entirely different characters, and the book presents us with a terse, demanding, and sharp-spoken nanny whose advetures satirize British sensibilities of the early 20th Century. In earlier decades, this would have made the book as much fun for adults as for children, but the passage of time has not been entirely kind to the novel: adults with little background in earlier British culture may easily miss the sharp wit and children raised on the tooth-rotting Disney film will probably be disappointed by the book's depiction of Mary herself. Parents who are willing to make the extra effort, however, will find it an extremely good opportunity for conversation with their children, for the various stories it contains (it is written in a very episodic way) will require plenty of commentary and explanation.
A surprising number of reviews accuse the novel of having paganistic, even satanic overtones. I myself consider this a matter of people finding what they look for rather than actually arising from anything in the novel itself.

I knew this book would be different from the popular Disney movie, but I didn't realize how different the characters would be. I was very surprised by Mary Poppins demeanor, but I did enjoy it. I would definitely read chapters of it at bedtime with my son when he is old enough :)

Mary Poppins Comes Back is the second book about Mary Poppins. I wouldn't say it is quite as good as the first one; it lacks some of the newness and shine and surprise, but it is still enjoyable. Mary Poppins finally returns to Cherry-Tree Lane and everything is right again. She and Jane and Michael and the twins have more wild adventures, with a lot of quirky new characters introduced, such as Mr. Turvy, her cousin who does the opposite of what he wants to do on every Second Monday. Travers painted the world of Mary Poppins just as well, and I think the only reason that I like Mary Poppins better is (as I said), because it is more surprising (since it's the first book about her.) What is kind of odd though is that Jane and Michael are always vaguely surprised when Mary Poppins does something astonishing, like when she shows up at the gathering of Constellations, even though they've seen her do such things before. But I suppose you can never get used to something like that.

You can read all of my reviews at my blog novareviews.blogspot.com.

Mary Poppins has been and will be forever a classic. Reading the stories P.L. Travers wrote so long ago, continues to inspire children and adults alike to see the extraordinary in their everyday lives. At least until the wind changes.

I would recommend this book to all types of readers... Children, YA and Adults. There is something here for everyone. Definitely not the Julie Andrews Disney version but that is not a bad thing. Helps a little with understanding more of the Saving Mr. Banks movie references. Quick read and good visual imagery. Read on...

This was an exceptional piece of literature for all ages. This was given to my granddaughter so she could be exposed to the written word and use her own imagination while reading a literary classic for that has been written for the young and old.