The Real Mary Poppins

My 4-year-old daughter is crazy about Mary Poppins. Even though it's not a cartoon and it's older than her parents, Mary Poppins ranks as her all-time favorite movie. We love to play Mary Poppins, with her in the title role, me as Bert and her stuffed animals as the other characters. We even dressed up as Mary Poppins and Bert for Halloween.

So of course, our girl was thrilled on Christmas morning to open a set of the Mary Poppins books by P.L. Travers.

My wife and I have had a great time reading these books to her, but we've noticed that the Mary Poppins character in the books is a lot different than Julie Andrews' cheerful, singing nanny in the film.

If you are familiar with the movie, here are some of the biggest differences you will find in the Mary Poppins books.

1. Mary Poppins has a very short temper. In the movie, Mary Poppins says, "I am firm, but I am never cross." In the books, she gets cross a lot. If Jane and Michael Banks step out of line even for a second, Mary Poppins will come back with harsh words, a cold stare or both.

2. Mary Poppins is obsessed with her own appearance. In the books, Mary Poppins can't pass a mirror or even her reflection in a shop window without stopping to check herself out. She is very proud of her clothes, and she often adjusts her hat, handbag or umbrella until she looks perfect. Instead of flying in on her umbrella to the tune of "A Spoonful of Sugar," the Mary Poppins in the books should enter to "You're So Vain."

3. Jane and Michael Banks are joined by a pair of twin babies named John and Barbara. I guess Disney cut the babies out of the movie because they can't sing and dance. Mary Poppins is able to talk to the babies and animals in the books, but only when there is nobody else around.

4. Jane and Michael Banks are a lot more incorrigible in the books. In the first Mary Poppins book, Michael Banks is featured in a chapter called "Bad Tuesday" when he is intentionally awful to everyone. Jane has her own "Bad Wednesday" in the sequel, Mary Poppins Comes Back. Jane's insouciance almost leads to her permanent imprisonment in the past with the characters on a decorative bowl.

5. Bert barely appears in the books. In the movie, Bert is singing, dancing, doing odd jobs and generally popping up all over the place. Bert shows up briefly in the first book. In the books, the Banks family also has a lazy handyman named Robertson Ay, who doesn't show up in the movie. Maybe he overslept.

6. The plot of the movie is completely different than the story arcs of the books. The movie centers around Mary Poppins' success in showing Mr. and Mrs. Banks that they need to pay attention to their kids. The parents barely appear in the first book, as Mary Poppins shows up, takes the kids on some crazy adventures and literally blows out of town.

Although the book version of Mary Poppins isn't very sunny, the kids miss her when she leaves. Since she says "Au Revoir" (French for goodbye, but literally "to return"), the children are comforted to know that she will come back.

All six Mary Poppins books are available at bookstores everywhere through Odyssey Press. They feature so many cool stories and adventures that I'm surprised they didn't make more Mary Poppins movies. I guess the first one was an impossible act to follow.