Mary Poppins in Popular Culture

Hermione’s bottomless bag; Paddington’s hard stare; Nanny McPhee’s mysterious and magical personality; Yondu’s flying arrow. These seemingly unrelated characters, personality traits and magical belongings all merge under Mary Poppins’s umbrella.

Australian-born P. L. Travers’s iconic English governess has been entertaining readers worldwide since 1934. Over time, the audience for Mary Poppins has only grown as a result of various film and stage adaptations (e.g., Disney’s Mary Poppins in 1964 and 2018).

This book aims to inform those professionals who are eager to discover more about the connection between popular culture and children’s literature concerning Mary Poppins. It is the first to collect and introduce films, sitcoms and other books that have adapted Mary Poppins’s most characteristic personality traits (such as her bitter-sweet ironic mood), unusual teaching methods, and her use of magical accessories (such as her umbrella and carpet bag).