Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

The first four Mary Poppins books
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins Comes Back Mary Poppins Opens the Door Mary Poppins in the Park Mary Poppins From A to Z Mary Poppins in the Kitchen Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane Mary Poppins and the House Next Door
Author	P. L. Travers
Illustrator	Mary Shepard
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Children's literature
Publisher	HarperCollins, London Harcourt, Brace, New York
Published	1934–1988
Media type	hardback

Mary Poppins is a series of eight children's books written by P. L. Travers and published over the period 1934 to 1988. Mary Shepard was the illustrator throughout the series. The books centre on magical English nanny Mary Poppins. She is blown by the East wind to Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London, and into the Banks's household to care for their children. Encounters with pavement-painters and shopkeepers and various adventures follow until Mary Poppins abruptly leaves—i.e., "pops-out". Only the first three of the eight books feature Mary Poppins arriving and leaving. The later five books recount previously unrecorded adventures from her original three visits. As P. L. Travers explains in her introduction to Mary Poppins in the Park, "She cannot forever arrive and depart."

The books were adapted by Walt Disney in 1964 into a musical film titled Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. In 2004, Disney Theatrical in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh (who had previously acquired the stage rights from Travers) produced a stage musical also called Mary Poppins in London's West End theatre. The stage musical was transferred to Broadway, New York in 2006, where it ran until its closing on 3 March 2013. In 2013 the film Saving Mr. Banks depicted the making of the 1964 film.

The first book introduces the Banks family from Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Banks, their children Jane and Michael, and baby twins John and Barbara. When the children's nanny, Katie Nana, storms out in a huff, Mary Poppins arrives at their home, complete with her traveling carpetbag, blown in by a very strong East wind. She accepts the job (agreeing to stay "till the wind changes"), and the children soon learn that their nanny, though she is stern, vain, and usually cross, has a magical touch that makes her wonderful. Among the things Jane and Michael experience are a tea party on a ceiling with Mr. Wigg, a trip around the world with a compass, the purchase of gingerbread stars from the extremely old Mrs. Corry, a meeting with the Bird Woman, a birthday party at the zoo among the animals, and a Christmas shopping trip with a star named Maia from the Pleiades cluster of the Taurus constellation. In the end, in what is perhaps the most iconic image associated with Mary Poppins, she opens her umbrella and the West Wind carries her away.