Book 99: Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins, written by P.L. Travers, illustrated by Mary Shepard.  (Elementary)

Over the Christmas holiday, we watched Mary Poppins with the always wonderful Julie Andrews. As enjoyable as the Disney movie was, I did find myself wishing for more of the book.

Mary Poppins is a perfect book to read to my son now. He doesn't need illustrations on every page and he can sit still for an entire chapter. Why Mary Poppins is so perfect, though, is because every chapter is a short story. The stories all fit together for form a longer story, but they also can stand alone quite well. My favorite chapter is entitled The Dancing Cow. Those who have seen the movie may not recall a dancing cow. That's because it is not in the movie. And that is one of the reasons why the book is so much better than the movie.

Mary Shepard was the daughter of E. H. Shepard, and E. H. Shepard, as every bibliophile knows, illustrated the Winnie-the-Pooh books. Suffice to say, the talent gene was passed on.



*For reviews on books to borrow, please see Louise's Blog in Blogs I Follow.