Welcome to the magical world of Mary Poppins. When I saw "Saving Mr. Banks" at the cinema last year I knew I had to read Mary Poppins. Until then I had no idea the book existed. My children grew up with the Mary Poppins movie and to this day all three of us can quote her verbatim. Early this year I visited my favourite book store and there on the shelf sat The Complete Mary Poppins, six books in one volume. I knew it had to be mine. It still took me a few months to actually start reading it. I discovered two things completing the first installment of this magical no nonsense nanny. Firstly, Mary Poppins was somewhat of a grouch speaking and treating the children in a constant cross manner. The children seemed to respond to this treatment very well though as their disciplined behaviour shows. The movie's portrayal of her seemed to be a softer version. Secondly, Mary Poppins brings with her a stream of magical characters. Perhaps it is this and her curious existence that offsets her cross manner and endears her to the children in her care. It certainly makes Jane and Michael's life incredibly interesting. There is so much more to this story than the movie was able to portray. Your inner child will find perfect escapism from the cares of the world in the pages of Mary Poppins. The imagination of children is infectious and all children possess this unique quality that unfortunately somehow gets lost as they grow older. I admire people who can retain this quality, however, and carry it with them throughout their adulthood. If "Saving Mr. Banks" gave a correct portrayal of P.L. Travers, one can be convinced that this quality in adults is what we call eccentricity for it was obvious that the author of Mary Poppins leaned that way. The more I think about P.L. Travers and her prickly manner, the more convinced I become that she IS Mary Poppins. If you see "Saving Mr. Banks",which I highly recommend, you will understand her life and you will see why she invented this magical nanny that has the power to save the father of the story, the power she no doubt desperately wished she had in real life. The book it seems was never about saving the children but about saving the father. I am yet to get to that important part of the story as I wade through 5 more installments of the most famous nanny of them all. Couldn't wait any longer though to recommend the talent and magical imagination of P.L. Travers.
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