Mary Poppins

The Mary Poppins Series, Book 1

By: P. L. Travers

Narrated by: Sophie Thompson

Here is the timeless story of Mary Poppins, the world's favorite nanny, and her magical adventures with the Banks family.

Mary Poppins is like no other nanny the Banks children have ever seen. It all starts when their new nanny is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house, carrying a parrot-headed umbrella and a magic carpetbag. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins. Who else but Mary Poppins can slide up banisters, pull an entire armchair out of an empty carpetbag, and make a dose of medicine taste like delicious lime-juice cordial? A day with Mary Poppins is a day of magic and make-believe come to life!

An Audible for Dogs Pick: Make your dog's day. Cesar Millan shares how audiobooks can make dogs happier and calmer. Learn more.©1981 P.L. Travers (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Magical With An Edge....Book vs Movie

I know this sounds odd but I've found myself thinking about the book Mary Poppins recently. I think it's because I had a negative surprise with a collection of PL Travers short stories that I bought here on audible at Christmas time. I thought the stories might be fun holiday season short listens. They were a disappointment because not only were they not about Christmas they also had a strange flavor, tone and mood.

I was perplexed and wondered if I had misremembered the book Mary Poppins. It's often hard if you read the book and then see the movie of the book to keep them straight. I thought about the possibility that my memories of Mary Poppins were disneyized and not based on Travers' actual writing. As luck would have it Kindle Unlimited with Audible narration had a copy available to borrow. So I listened and wow was I surprised.

Without a doubt the PL Travers Mary Poppins was definitely filled with wonder and magic. To me, it was not at all the sticky sweet magic from the movie but a darker and even a little nervous making kind of scary magic. Mary was surprisingly vain and quick to anger or tease the children. Many stories from the book had been left out of the movie version and teetered so far on the edge that I could see why they had been omitted.

I actually think that children of today might like the book version better than the movie. There are so many book series out there now trying to capture just what PL Travers accomplished in the 1930s. There was a strong feeling of the time captured in the book. So much so that it felt like historic fiction with a fun and wacky edge. However, do be aware that for young children the book might be a bit too much.

I'm glad I rediscovered the real Mary Poppins and think that in this case the book wins over the movie.

Whimsy for any Age

This was a beautiful book enhanced by the perfect reader. I can't imagine anyone reading this better. She captured the wonder of the book with excitement and a variety of voices. I can't wait to listen to the rest of the series.

Great Story, Annoying Narration.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I'd probably recommend the actual book, but not the audio version. It would have been a better story to hear for the very first time with my own head-voice and not someone else.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mary Poppins, of course!

What aspect of Sophie Thompson’s performance would you have changed?

There's something about her voice that just sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me when she does the character voices. Mary Poppins, Jane, Michael...those voices were just fine, but the other voices are just so...gah! There's no words for what her voice turns into. Not squeaky, not fake. Just annoying. Especially the zoo scene when the snakes come in. I was pulling my hair out with her hissing on the 's' words and hisses in itself.

Did Mary Poppins inspire you to do anything?

...thank Disney for their wonderful version? Lol. This book is great, the story line is amazingly imaginative, but Disney just made it more palpable.

Any additional comments?

The Broadway is more closely related to the book than the movie version. If you enjoyed the stage play, you'll love the book. If you can't stand over-acted characters, the narrator will be annoying. It's almost like she tries too hard. It really kind of ruined the experience for me. Forced myself to listen to more than half of the story.

Nothing like the movie 😁

Not at allwhat we expected, but a fun read, nonetheless! Imaginative. Some challenging vocabulary.

Spit Spot!

Love! I'm a huge fan of the Disney movie and Julie Andrews, but this is not the same Mary Poppins. I am only sorry that I didn't read it years ago. I still love the movie, but I'm now an even bigger fan of this book.

"best audiobook ever!"

According to my 5 and 7 year olds, this is the best audiobook ever. they begged to finish it. my 13 year old asked to listen to it on drives!

Great book, obviously, but also great reader. highly recommended!

Wonder and Magic Revisited

Mary Poppins was one of my favorite books when I was little. I must have worn out the library copy, I took it out so often! The Audible version incorporates an excellent interpretation and is a joy to listen to - such a pleasure to revisit an old friend I first read nearly 57 years ago!

I didn’t get what Walt Disney saw

I’m not usually one to compare books to movies but there is huge disconnect from the source material and what Walt Disney Studios produced.

Story/Characters:
Overall the book is structured as short individual stories that don’t intersect into one another so you could potentially read them in any order (except for the beginning and ending) and get the same impact of it all. However, Mary Poppins herself comes off very differently in the book. She’s extremely rude, angers easily, has a short temper, and scoffs at the children from simply asking her a question. Yet the children are supposed to love her and not want her to leave, even though she never really gives them a reason for that besides being magical.

Narration:
The performance of the narration was almost insufferable. The actress’s voice was very pitchy and she fluctuated from talking extremely loud to being in a silent whisper throughout the book which took me out of it as I had to try to listen more carefully just to understand what she was saying. (Do not recommend listening while driving you’ll either really hear it or not at all). She also spoke at an incredible rate which made me have to slow down the speed of the book just so I could catch what was being read.

Not Quite Your Disney Mary Poppins

Would you listen to Mary Poppins again? Why?

Probably not. While it was fine in and of itself, I am not the target audience.

What did you like best about this story?

That is a loaded question. This was less of a over-arching story than a series of loosely tied together vignettes.

What does Sophie Thompson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She did an admirable job of bringing the characters to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moments when Mary is shown to be very human - for example her disappointment when she meets with Burt and they don't have enough to money to go for tea and cakes.

Any additional comments?

Readers/listeners should be aware that the literary Mary Poppins is a fair amount pricklier and more self centered than the movie version. That is not a bad thing, but the change in characterization is a bit jarring if you don't expect it.

Enjoyable

This was a delightful listen, except for Chapter 10. The gratingly obnoxious zoo animals was unbearable. None of us could listen, and had to fast forward through that part.