Mary Poppins & Mary Poppins Comes Back

Mary Poppins & Mary Poppins Comes Back by P.L. Travers
357 Pages



While I was on vacation I saw the movie Mr Banks which was about the making of Mary Poppins by Disney and the author of the stories.  Stories?  I never knew it was a book first although I should have known better.  This prompted me to check out and read the first 2 books of the series.

The movie is pretty true to the stories themselves although there are 2-3 extra children and Mary isn't quite so nice as Julie Andrews.  Would kids today like the stories?  Probably not since they've become a little dated and some of the playfulness wouldn't be understood.  Has anyone else ever read these stories?  What did you think? 

Words With Wings

Words With Wings by Nikki Grimes          84 pages

This is a novel written in verse about a young girl, Gabby, who is a daydreamer.  Her parents are divorcing and she has had to move and start a new school and try to make friends, which is hard, because the other kids think she is weird.  She gets in trouble in school too, because she daydreams instead of paying attention, which also causes trouble at home sometimes.  Gabby’s teacher wants her to learn, but he may be able to come up with a way to let Gabby’s daydreams have a place in the classroom.  A really sweet, short book about a misunderstood child.  Reluctant readers will like it because it is short and has a lot of white space but other kids will enjoy the story and the way the language works within the book.