Book description
Things happen to the Banks children when they go to the park with Mary
Poppins. Strange things, funny things, unexpected things: nothing is
ever straightforward with Mary Poppins about - and it's never boring either!
Mary Poppins, neat and prim in her blue skirt and a new hat trimmed
with a crimson tulip, looked at them over her knitting. She was sitting
bolt upright against the tree, with a plaid rug spread on the lawn
around her. Her handbag sat tidily by her side. And above her, from a
flowering branch, the parrot umbrella dangled. She gave a little sniff.
The stories in this collection happened during all three of the visits
Mary Poppins made to the Banks family. Jane and Michael are never quite
sure whether what happens to them in the Park is just a dream - or not;
things are never straightforward with Mary Poppins! “Like all great
children's classics Mary Poppins is frightening and sad as well as magic
and very funny.”
The Observer
“Absolutely alive, and aglint with magic.”
Walter de la Mare P. L. Travers was born in 1899 in Maryborough in
Queensland, Australia and was one of three sisters. She was brought up
simply, but traditionally, with a cook upon whom much of the character
of Mary Poppins is based. She began her writing career in Australia,
publishing many poems, then came to England and wrote for newspapers in
Ireland and England. She began Mary Poppins 'out of the blue', while
lying ill in bed. It was published in 1934, was an immediate success and
was followed by another five books.
