Customer Reviews

Mary Poppins

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mary Poppins is a spectacular book about imagination and magic. It fulfills your heart with joy once you open the first page. And it is especially a wonderful book for children because children at a young age have a special gift in their minds imagination. When you read this book you will understand every single thing Mary Poppins does and how she does it for example when Mary Poppins first appeared popping out from a rocket on Guy Fawke's Day. I highly recommend this book to adults and children all over the world because you can build up your vocabulary so you can read and write and be creative with your own mind. I personally like the book because it gets more and more interesting as you read and it makes the reader want to go on to the next chapter and so on. It will also make you read faster. My absolute favorite part was when it was Mary Poppin's birthday and Jane and Michael (the two children Mary Poppins took care of) were sitting in a circus with seals and tigers all over. I also, enjoyed the part where Mary Poppins had a compass and while the children were falling to sleep in their dreams (that was actually real life) they saw themselves with Mary Poppins in the North Pole talking to a polar bear.

whether you're a child, a child at heart, or someone who wants to re-discover your childhood, read these Mary Poppins books! This is the first in P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins series. And no, Mary if not practically perfect, she is perfectly perfect! There are too many things that I love about these books to list them all: the comedy, the quotable quotes, the lessons to learn, the fabulous writing style. I'm so glad I discovered these great books; I urge everyone else to too at every chance I get! :)

October 2, 2003

P.L. Travers
W.W. Norton & Co.

Have you ever seen a stranger fly up a staircase, talk to animals, or put a star in the sky? Well, Marry Poppins can! This is one of the best fantasy books I've ever read and it's way better than the movie. Marry Poppins is about a family who live in a house made to look like a ship. When the family needs a nannie to take care of the children, Marry comes to fill the position. I really liked it when Jane, the oldest child, had a dream about going to the zoo with her bother Michael at night and how every thing there was upside down. People where inside the cages and the animals were watching and running around. It seemed to be Marry Poppins birthday and some lord snake was giving her a present, his shedded skin. The weird part about it is that Michael had the same dream and Marry the next morning was wearing a new snake skin belt. To find out more read the book. I did and I really liked it!

Marry is a strange and mysterious woman who comes and goes when the wind changes. The characters had lots of attitude. Michael and Jane were the kids and John and Barbara were the twin babies. There was
the street painter who can jump into his own paintings. Also, there are the Mom and Dad who don't have a clue that Marry is a magical woman.

This was an awesome and creative book. It had lots of adventure and excitement. Like when Marry takes her compass, says a direction, and instantly she's there! I really liked it because I like fantasy books. Marry Poppins was definitely a page turner with great suspense because Marry Poppins can only stay a little while, but why?

I read all three Mary Poppins books when I was a child in the forties. I loved Mary Poppins. I loved her hat and her severe blue suit and her sensible shoes, but most of all I loved her umbrella with its parrot head. I've been looking for one like it all my life. I've owned a couple of umbrellas with ducks' heads, but I never found one with a parrot head.

When Disney announced that Julie Andrews would play Mary Poppins in a movie, I was shocked and appalled. Were these movie people absolutely insane? Of all the people in the entire world, dead or alive, Julie Andrews is the very last person I would choose to play Mary Poppins. In fact, if Julie Andrews were the only person in the world left to play the role, I'd forget about making the movie and reread the book. Agnes Moorehead, now, might have worked.

I never read this as a child, but I did see the Disney movie. However, it's been so long since I saw the movie that I can't recall much about it other than "Supercalifrag..."--you know--and, while there's a medicine scene here, it certainly didn't ring any memory bells. I suspect that Disney was true to form and took quite a few liberties with the story. On its own, the book is quite disjointed. I can see where it might work on a read-aloud a chapter-per-night basis, but in one sitting it was hurried and almost nonsensical. Part of my dissatisfaction could be that I am not the intended audience, but I feel that children's books like children's movies should be able to grab both the interest of children and adults alike, at least once.

I'm going to have to file Mary Poppins with Norman Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth as another children's book that I just missed out on. Thankfully, I was able to still appreciate books like The Adventures of Pinocchio and James and the Giant Peach, although I had not read those as a child.

This book is just wonderful, and I find it difficult to imagine any child who loves reading not liking it. It has a sense of mystery, even sanctuary about childhood. In the end, I read it as a faery story, although I'm sure that there are other paths just as rewarding. In any case, it's got elements of the fantastic, just a little hint of romance, a drop of melencholy, and enough humour and imagination to keep both younger and older readers entertained and smiling. In its own way it made my soul feel a little happier on the day I read it, and it's for that more than anything that I recommend it.

I was amused, in an appalled kind of way, by the 2-star ratings for this classic from a couple of reviewers suffering from an advanced case of religious tunnel vision, in which they suggest that Mary Poppins is a front for paganism and satanism. P. L. Travers, one of the most accomplished and gifted women of the 20th century, was a scholar whose wide knowledge of myth and fairy tale enhanced rather than undermined her unshakeable religious beliefs. That she didn't broadcast her faith as did that tiresome convert C. S. Lewis is only to her everlasting credit. What, precisely, do the shallow readings of these intellectually challenged reviewers signify? Nix Naught Nothing. If they had read further, and deeper, they would have found, at the end of "Mary Poppins Opens the Door," writ large in capital letters: "GLORIA IN EXCELCIS DEO" which, for the unLatined, translates as "Glory to God in the Highest." This, I submit, is not the way a Pagan or a satanist would choose to end one of their books.

In Jonathan Cott's excellent 1983 book on great children's authors, "Pipers at the Gates of Dawn", Cott quotes Travers: "C. S. Lewis has a wonderful phrase to the effect that 'there is only one Creator, and we merely mix the elements he gives us.' I never use the word 'creator' or 'creative', because I know that I'm neither. I'm a sort of apprentice, perhaps."

This is a perfect example of her radiant faith and modest self view. For those who would like to know more about this brilliant woman, who died in 1996, I suggest they read "Lively Oracles", edited by Ellen Dooling Draper and Jenny Koralek (available through Amazon), a loving and fascinating tribute to the memory of one of the greatest children's authors who ever drew breath.

Katie Nana has left the Bank family in need of a new nanny. But before they know it, a woman blows in on the East Wind. Literally. She takes the position of caring for the four children, Jane, Michael, and the twins John and Barbara. But with her extremely prim and proper attitude comes magical adventures. A day in the park, having tea, running errands, and even Christmas shopping can turn into an adventure when Mary's around. And the kids love it.

This most decidedly is not the Disney Mary Poppins. Disney toned her down significantly for his movie, making her heart easier to see. Still, it's there if you look closely in the book. I had forgotten just how hard it is to see at times behind Mary's outward appearance and actions. Still, the kids come to love her because they know where they really stand.

As with all books in the series, this one is a series of adventures. Each chapter tells it's own story, each story it's own fun, magical adventure.

Those looking for Disney's Mary will be greatly disappointed. But anyone looking for a fun series of adventures will find a woman who does care for those around her, even if it's not always super obvious.

Who WAS Mary Poppins, anyway? Well, as one who grew up with P.L. Travers' fabulous books, I can tell you who she was not. She did not give medicine with a spoonful of sugar, she was not a nauseatingly sweet airhead with an umbrella, and--guess what--she was NOT A NICE PERSON!

Which is exactly why I and my friends loved her. Other reviewers have found all kinds of hidden meanings, from satanism to British racism, to describe this and the other Mary Poppins books, probably because of the shock of finding that the real thing has so much more depth than the sickening movie version.

As a child in the 50s, I had no notion of British sensibilities or history, no clue about so-called satanism, and my sweet little child mind was ripe for all kinds of dire cult messages. But somehow, what I gleaned from these books was the best kind of adventure: an adult who wasn't really a parent, wasn't really a teacher, was definitely in charge--and yet strange magical things constantly happened in her presence. There were lessons to be learned: if Jane and Michael, the older children, misbehaved, the magic went awry. Badly awry. There was danger. There were consequences to their actions. Have a tantrum, and you just might wind up on the wrong end of an antique plate--trapped inside with no way out. Be rude to adults and other children, and your nice little world will change in ways you don't want to know about. But always, in the end, Mary Poppins was there to save the day without saying "I told you so." She was what so many modern children sorely lack: a strong parent figure. There was no spoiling, no giving in to whining demands (who would dare whine at Mary Poppins anyway?), and no indulgence. But there was also love and protection and security.

Is it wrong to expose today's children to literature such as this that may be politically incorrect? That is a debate that is larger than this review. I can only say from experience that even as a child, I took these books for what they were: fiction. And I loved them. Give me my nasty, vain, pompous REAL Mary Poppins any day of the week. In my view, she wears well. Very, very, well.

Who WAS Mary Poppins, anyway? Well, as one who grew up with P.L. Travers' fabulous books, I can tell you who she was not. She did not give medicine with a spoonful of sugar, she was not a nauseatingly sweet airhead with an umbrella, and--guess what--she was NOT A NICE PERSON!

Which is exactly why I and my friends loved her. Other reviewers have found all kinds of hidden meanings, from satanism to British racism, to describe this and the other Mary Poppins books, probably because of the shock of finding that the real thing has so much more depth than the sickening movie version.

As a child in the 50s, I had no notion of British sensibilities or history, no clue about so-called satanism, and my sweet little child mind was ripe for all kinds of dire cult messages. But somehow, what I gleaned from these books was the best kind of adventure: an adult who wasn't really a parent, wasn't really a teacher, was definitely in charge--and yet strange magical things constantly happened in her presence. There were lessons to be learned: if Jane and Michael, the older children, misbehaved, the magic went awry. Badly awry. There was danger. There were consequences to their actions. Have a tantrum, and you just might wind up on the wrong end of an antique plate--trapped inside with no way out. Be rude to adults and other children, and your nice little world will change in ways you don't want to know about. But always, in the end, Mary Poppins was there to save the day without saying "I told you so." She was what so many modern children sorely lack: a strong parent figure. There was no spoiling, no giving in to whining demands (who would dare whine at Mary Poppins anyway?), and no indulgence. But there was also love and protection and security.

Is it wrong to expose today's children to literature such as this that may be politically incorrect? That is a debate that is larger than this review. I can only say from experience that even as a child, I took these books for what they were: fiction. And I loved them. Give me my nasty, vain, pompous REAL Mary Poppins any day of the week. In my view, she wears well. Very, very, well.