Reviews

Mary Poppins Comes Back by Mary Shepard, P.L. Travers

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average_human4's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

gracieb's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

loves_nurse's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Mary and the children have better adventures in this installment, but Mary runs hot and cold and obstinate and generous without seemingly having a pattern to it. She's more strict but encourages imagination thru aggressive nanny roles. I don't know. I enjoyed my time with this book but it has dated speech and references and the patriarchy in the background themes.

robbynjreeve's review against another edition

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3.0

As charming as the 1st.

shorty_320's review against another edition

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4.0

Highly enjoyable! Love how the Mary Poppins in the stories is so drastically different than the Mary Poppins that everyone is familiar with from the film and stage production! Plan to pick up the next in the series so that I can continue going on adventures with Mary and the Banks' clan!

book_concierge's review against another edition

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3.0

Audiobook performed by Sophie Thompson

From the book jacket: Pulled down from the clouds at the end of a kite string, Mary Poppins is here again to take the Banks children in hand, leading them from one head-spinning adventure to another.

My reactions
Oh, My! I read these books when I was about nine or ten years old. My best friend and I would share the books back and forth, spending countless hours at recess and over lunch talking about Mary Poppins, the Banks children and their fantastical adventures. There were only four books in the series at that time, and I think we read each of them three or four times. This was before the Disney movie adaptation, which we eventually saw and loved, though we recognized the differences and were a little disappointed that some of our favorite adventures were missing.

I re-read the first book when my first niece was about six (she’s 19 now), thinking I might want to give her the series. I was struck by how mean and unpleasant Mary Poppins was – definitely not the lovable nanny of my memory!

I had no such reaction this time, although Mary Poppins is certainly a stern taskmaster at times, not to mention vain. But I just loved the adventures she and the children had! Who would not smile at Mr Turvy, the Balloon Woman, or the trip to the Constellations?!

Sophie Thompson does a marvelous job narrating the audio version. Like many children’s books, this one lends itself easily to being read aloud. Thompson has great pacing, and a gift for voices that really helps to bring these characters to life.