Mary Poppins Review

Mary Poppins by P L Travers is a children’s chapter book about a magical nannie that shows up at the house of young Jane, Michael, John and Barbara Banks. And thus begins a series of unusual doings.

I am sad to say that this book only got a 2 out of 5 star from me. The story really took me by surprise and not in a good way. I enjoyed the familiar magical adventures and wonderful oddities, but must say that I didn’t like Mary Poppins herself. She was vain, arrogant and moody and not a very nice or pleasant person. I didn’t understand why the children and others seemed to like her so much, there didn’t seem to be any ground for it. I suppose a child wouldn’t notice that and would simply enjoy the mystical and unusual things happening, but it put me off. The other characters were all a bit flat and / or we only saw them in one story (one chapter) so couldn’t build that likeable connection to them.

The plot was definitely different than the movie. It was a fairly random series of events and stories that didn’t really teach lessons or pull together to tell a specific “story” other than: these things took place because they had a magical nannie. I have to say that I miss an overarching plot, but don’t know that it is strictly necessary here (especially for the young intended audience).

Overall, I didn’t feel like we learned anything or that the children grew (character-wise). It is just a collection of unusual things taking place because Mary Poppins happened to be there. I found it disappointing and with messages about behavior that I wouldn’t want my children taking away from it (rudeness, vanity, and arrogance being okay in adults, misbehavior to be okay from kids). I may read the second book to see if it gets any better, but I haven’t decided yet.