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    Mary Poppins
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    Mary Poppins
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    Mary Poppins
    Audiobook3 hours

    Mary Poppins

    Written by P. L. Travers

    Narrated by Olivia Colman

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Discover the joy and wonder of Mary Poppins in the classic adventures!

    Read by Olivia Colman, this stunning performance lifts P. L Travers’s words off the page, transporting us back to a time where classic storytelling is at the heart of any story.

    When the East Wind blows Mary Poppins into the home of the Banks children, their lives go topsy-turvy and are changed forever.

    More than eighty years since we first met Mary Poppins, this original, classic story is still charming listeners and transporting new fans into the mysterious world of everyone’s favourite magical nanny.

    Evocatively read by the Oscar-winning star of the hit series The Crown Olivia Colman, this exquisite audio recording brings this classic story to life and is perfect for every family to share.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJul 26, 2018
    ISBN9780008167264
    Author

    P. L. Travers

    P. L. Travers (1899-1996) was a drama critic, travel essayist, reviewer, lecturer, and the creator of Mary Poppins. Ms. Travers wrote several other books for adults and children, but it is for the character of Mary Poppins that she is best remembered.

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    Reviews for Mary Poppins

    4/5

    147 ratings75 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Mary Poppins comes as a nanny to the Banks' children. They go on adventures with her but are they real? Only Mary Poppins knows for sure.Mary Poppins is a curmudgeon. She can discipline with only a look. I liked the children. Their wide-eyed awe is on display. Every day is an adventure with Mary Poppins. The story is a series of short vignettes of adventures or stories Mary Poppins tells. The adults are not prevalent. They are on the sidelines. This sets up the series of books I want to read because I want to know what other adventures they go on.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I watched Disney's Mary Poppins many times as a child and knew all the songs. Recently I watched Saving Mr. Banks and decided that it was time I read P.L. Travers Mary Poppins. It was not what I expected. I guess I thought it would be closer to the movie and it wasn't. Mary was not all sugar and spice with the children but that makes her more human. Discipline with love is necessary when raising a child. I also see why the author was upset with the bank scene in the movie as it was not even in the book. I am actually going to read some others in the series. I really missed out on these classics as a child.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Transported me completely to a magical place, narration by Coleman is masterful
    • 4/5
      The classic tale about the nanny who could do it all. Mary Poppins, appears to be a children's novel but surprised me. Travers' writing style was great. Worth the read.
    • 2/5
      This was a weird one. I don't think my kids or I really got it. The kids seemed to like it okay up until Michael and Jane went to the zoo. It was around that point that I asked them how they were liking the audiobook.

      "It's kind of weird," my eight-year-old said. "I can't really figure out what's going on."

      I pretty much agreed with her. Throughout the book, I just couldn't figure out why these kids liked Mary Poppins. She wasn't particularly nice to them. It seemed weird that they loved her even with all of her brusqueness and her refusal to offer anything resembling an emotional connection to them. All of the adults in the story either seemed to lack warmth entirely (like the parents and their complaints about the help) or to reserve it only for other adults (like Mary with the match-man). It seemed like a pretty unhealthy attachment, like they clung to her hoping to get warmth from someone (since they certainly weren't getting it from their parents who mostly seemed not to want to be bothered with their kids).

      It reminded me of an awkward nannying stint I did the summer after my freshman year of college when I filled in for a family between au pairs. A few weeks into the summer, the parents told the eldest daughter that they were going to send her back to her same school in the fall. Right there in front of her parents, the girl ran to me for comfort, hugging me and crying and saying I was her best friend, and here I was looking from my employers to this child sobbing into my chest and feeling like there was no right thing for me to do in that moment. I couldn't figure out where this strong attachment to me came from after just a few weeks.

      That's pretty much how I felt about the kids' attachment to Mary Poppins. It just didn't add up. The book seemed like the story of an incredibly dysfunctional family masquerading as a charming tale of childhood.
    • 4/5
      Mary Poppins is blown by the wind to the Banks' house to help care for Jane, Michael and their twin brother/sister. The kids soon learn of Mary Poppin's magical world. Each chapter is a new adventure full of magic and mystery. Unfortunately when the West Wind blows in, Mary Poppins leaves with it, but adds a note saying, "au revoir" so the children know she'll be back next time.I'm so glad I read this book. It was nothing like I thought it would be. How completely different from the Disney version! A true treasure of classical children's literature. I had no idea Mary Poppins was so unfriendly! Mean Mary... why does everyone love you, though? Will definitely need a copy for my classroom! And will have to read the other 7 in the series AND see the Disney movie again to make notes. :)
    • 2/5
      Audio version. Maybe it was the narrator. Maybe it was that I waited too long to read this again. I don't know what it was, but I found it alternately silly and boring. Meh.
    • 4/5
      I always forget just how creepy Mary Poppins is compared to the movie. I love the movie too, but it's not surprising that P.L. Travers was pissed off at Walt Disney for changing the character completely.
    • 4/5
      This is a story most of us know, whether from the book or from the 1964 Disney movie. Recently it has gotten a flurry of new attention due to the new Disney movie about making the Mary Poppins movie, Saving Mr. Banks.

      Mary Poppins arrives, apparently on the East Wind, at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London, when the Banks family is in dire need of a new nanny, Katie Nanna having quit and departed quite abruptly. She is brusque and high-handed, and promises only that she will stay until the wind changes, but magical things happen all around her.

      It's a charming story, and well worth reading whether you are in the intended age group, or long removed from that.

      I think those who have never read the book and are judging by Travers' known unhappiness with the movie, will be startled to see how similar the basic events of the story and the movie are. The gloss of Mr. Banks being a cold father (rather than merely a Victorian father) and Mrs. Banks being overly-involved in suffragette activities, is of course entirely Disney.

      The dread "animated sequences," however, are not.

      Some people seem to be shocked and horrified that a Disney movie about Disney making a movie didn't portray Disney as an overpowering, bullying monster without any redeeming characteristics, and that P.L Travers wasn't portrayed as a sweet, naive older English lady cruelly used by Disney.

      The truth is they were both hard-nosed, difficult people, and Ms. Travers was neither the first nor the last writer to be unhappy with the movie that was made from her book. This is not a tragedy; it is business, business from which both parties made quite a bit of money.

      At any rate, I strongly recommend the book.
    • 4/5
      If one can say such things about a fantasy, the main character is much more realistic than the sugary Disney version.
    • 4/5
      This is the latest in my ongoing, informal, off-and-on project of rereading books I enjoyed as a kid. Although it's possible this one just barely qualifies; I'm fairly certain I did read it at a very young age, but I remembered absolutely nothing about it, including whether I enjoyed it or not. Although it's probably pretty safe to assume I did.I do remember reading somewhere that the movie version of Mary Poppins softened her character significantly, to the point where P. L. Travers was pretty miffed about it. I haven't seen the movie since I was fairly young, either, so I can't make any specific comparisons, but from what I remember of it, I totally see her point. It's completely impossible to imagine this version of Mary Poppins prancing around singing about spoonfuls of sugar. This Mary Poppins is truly wonderful -- in the sense of being full of wonders -- but she's not exactly nice. Which, being someone with a low tolerance for the saccharine, myself, I quite liked.This isn't really much of a coherent story, more a loose collection of fantastical anecdotes. But it's cleverly written and lots of fun, and it holds up remarkably well, both for a book written in the 1930s, and for a children's book revisited as an adult.
    • 5/5
      While I love Julie Andrew in the movie version of Mary Poppins, there is nothing like reading the original P.L. Travers version. This Mary is just SO much more. Not to mention there are sequels.
    • 3/5
      This book, I believe, is a little hard to know where the story was set. They wear Victorian clothing, and it all seems to be in a grand Victorian house, but they have modern-day buses and shops. The four Banks children, Barbara and John, the twin babies, and Jane and Michael, the eldest, have got a nanny and a nursery, that far back in time. Their nanny leaves without word of warning or any notice, and the Banks, of number seventeen, Cherry Tree Lane, have to hire a new one.
      No sooner had the first nanny left, and a queer young lady with an umbrella and a carpet-bag came knocking at the door - or rather, was knocked at the door herself. The wind seemed to carry her over the top of the garden gate and blow her right onto the house.
      Within only a couple of days of knowing her, Jane and Michael understand that Mary Poppins, this peculiar woman, is no ordinary lady. She gets frustrated, and angry and cross; and never explains anything. But most of all, she has a compass that can take you round the world; an umbrella that seems to fling her at places; an odd, quizzical look when she stares at her reflection in shop windows; an empty bag with stuff always in it.
      Probably wouldn't read again but a good novel to read when you want to see something funny and intriguing and serious at the same time. You grow to like Mary Poppins, even though she can be strict and firm and cross. Travers has really caught the essence of her style; usually it can be very hard to make a character nice and angry.
    • 3/5
      When Katie Nana suddenly leaves number 17 Cherry Tree Lane, the Banks family find themselves in need of a nanny for their four children: Jane, Michael, and the twins John and Barbara. Mary Poppins shows up just at the right time, though amazing things seem to always happen when she's around.Those looking to find exactly what they remember from the classic Walt Disney movie are going to be disappointed. There are a couple of scenes that will ring a bell, but the movie diverged quite a bit for the second half especially. Mary Poppins is more irritable and exacting in the book. Magical - but very weird - happenings abound, and she always claims they never did or the children dreamed it. I probably would've liked it a lot when I was a kid and could believe in the magic of jumping into a picture or laughing so hard I floated, but reading it for the first time as an adult and in audio format where I probably zoned out a time or two, it was only an okay read.
    • 3/5
      Being a huge fan of the Disney movie, I figured I had to read the book. I quite enjoyed it, but I must say the Ms. Poppins comes off as much more stern in the book, but then Julie Andrews just doesn't have a stern bone in her body.
    • 5/5
      I loved this audiobook so much, in fact I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this because it's not  like the Disney film. Parts of it are but it's so much better and dare I say more magical than the film. Mary Poppins isn't the delightful character that Julie Andrews plays, she's much sterner and vainer,  and the children, especially Michael Banks, are not as nice either. They do have wonderful adventures though most of which weren't included in the film. Olivia Colman is wonderful at narrating bringing all the characters human and animal to life so perfectly. I'd definitely listen to anything by her again. In fact I'm going to listen to the other books in the series if Scribd will let me!
    • 4/5
      Summary:This is a story about a magical nanny who is hired to take care of four children. She is very stern and the children are little trouble makers. The children notice she is magical and become curious. My Reaction:This was a great read since I had already seen the movie and we all know books are so much more detailed. I love the images you create in your mind so much more than just the one hour you get from the movie. The children were much worse in the book than in the movie. Which explains why she was so mean in the beginning. Classroom Extensions:1. You can have the children bring in items from home like show and tell and tell a story of how it is magical.2. You could then have them write out a short story on their own personal magic item.
    • 1/5
      I kept getting this one recommended to me, so I picked it up from the library. It's not great at all. Stick with the movie. The connection is tenuous at best, and features none of the wit, themes, or charm that made it great.The plot has no cohesion. The chapters are more like vignettes. In fact, the very second chapter, the one after she's been employed and the scene is set, is her hanging out with Bert. No establishing scene of her with the kids. And to boot, Bert only has a one-shot appearance.Occasionally, something magic happens, like Mary Poppins hears the babies talking (babies that are not in the movie), or they take a magic umbrella to various spots around the world (which was originally cut for being racist). But it's filled with stodgy Britishness, which makes the characters and the path they take unlikeable.
    • 2/5
      Short book without the illustrations. I guess the later books lead to the saving of Mr. Banks because this one didn't. And...I don't plan to read the other books. Just needed to check this off the sub-bucket list.
    • 4/5
      Although I grew up watching the movie, I’d never read the book. It’s so different and I’m not surprised the author wasn’t a fan of the film. I loved the adventures in the book. I wasn’t expecting Mary Poppins to be quite so cranky or vain, but I still enjoyed it. There’s a whimsical tone throughout the story and magic is just part of her everyday life. The parents have very little role in the novel, unlike the film.
    • 2/5
      darker than the movie
    • 3/5
      I never read Mary Poppins when I was little, but of course I've seen the Disney film. I don't know how anyone manages to avoid it. Something about it was a little too saccharine sweet, for me; the Mary Poppins of the book is a bit sharper, and thus more robust. I do enjoy the way she arrives and then leaves according to the direction of the wind. She's unpredictable, and a mystery. Although, as someone who had nannies as a child (sorry, 'childminders' -- I don't think Martin, Gayle, Gemma and Janet really suited the term nannies) there was always something a little magical about them...

      I'm not in a tearing hurry to read the rest of the series, but it is a good, quick read, and I'll get to them someday.
    • 4/5
      Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers It's been a while since I watched the iconic movie that was based on this book, but its a funny thing when something can be so familiar and yet so foreign. The feel of the book is what I remember the feel of the movie to be but the scenes are certainly different. It seems that they either took quite a bit more artistic license than we see today or they based the movie on several books in the series.
      I did try really really hard to disassociate the book with the movie. It should have been easier given what I said about the scenes, but the characterization was so close to what I remember and the wonder in the midst of ordinary things. I'm definitely adding it to the list of books I need to read with my son as his reading comprehension improves.
    • 4/5
      The story was only a 3 star for me as each chapter felt like a short story rather than part of a novel, but Olivia Coleman’s narration was WONDERFUL! She brought every character to life and made it so captivating and fun to listen to. She is amazing.
    • 5/5
      I was a fan of only the movie as a child. It was whimsical, Mary was gorgeous and talented, and I wanted to be Jane so badly! The original stories are more dark than the Disney version, Mary's a little tougher, the kids are a little meaner and there's another sibling!
    • 4/5
      Having grown up with the Disney film version of this children's classic, I was surprised by how different the book was from the movie. Mary Poppins is less nice but more magical & the events of the movie are covered in the first few chapters so there were lots of new adventures for me to enjoy. Plus, there are two more children in the Banks family - twins under 1 year old.
    • 3/5
      I hate to spoil your image of Mary Poppins but...well, I'm going to spoil your image of Mary Poppins. The version that P.L. Travers created was very different from the one Disney dreamed up. She was a vain woman who seemed to be more concerned with her own appearance than with how she spoke to the children under her care. I found it almost unsettling how biting and cruel she was toward Jane and Michael (the twins John and Barbara featured in one chapter and were incidental to the rest of the story). However, just as in the movie version the children were in awe of her and loved her very much (her feelings about them were not quite as clear). I do think this is worth a read for anyone who grew up watching the Disney classic especially because it gives new dimensions to Mary Poppins AND details new adventures.
    • 4/5
      Mary Poppins in Travers' book is more wild than the Disney version, but appealing all the same. She is something outside the normal world and wins the hearts of her charges by the magic of being near her.
    • 4/5
      A whimsical, wonderful read that is so imaginative and original, I barely recognized it from the Disney version - and for the better! There are so many differences, it hardly seems worth mentioning them! The fun part is that this reads like 12 separate tales, some told as stories and some that the characters themselves are involved in. There is a Red Cow, a zoo with people in the cages, a celestial star that goes Christmas shopping, and so much more! I particularly liked the idea that babies can understand all languages of all things, until their teeth come in! I'm glad I read this after all these years, and viewings, of the Disney version! On a silly note, the following quote really appealed to my juvenile sense of humor: "Never again - they were sure of it - would they have the chance of stroking a Panda." I know, I'm lame...
    • 3/5
      Adventures abound when a magical nanny appears at the Banks house. The children in this story are easy for any child to associate with, but not very multidimensional. The plot does not follow any set series of events; each chapter could probably be it's own picture book in a set of books. It is set in London, making it seem like these things could happen to anyone anywhere. There is no theme in this book because the children don't really learn any universal truth from anything that happens in the story, and Mary Poppins is no clear representation of anything. The style is such that the events could be believable by a young child. Overall, I was not impressed by this book, and the movie is much more exciting.