Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers - our Christmas charity special!

The Hollywood premiere of the film of Mary Poppins took place on 27 August 1964. Disney fans who gathered outside the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard were greeted by all the great cartoon characters from Mickey Mouse onwards, together with a pearly band, dancing chimney sweeps, and car valets dressed as English ‘bobbies’. Walt Disney’s own arrival was marked by the release of a cloud of balloons!

During the rapturous standing ovation at the end of the film P.L. Travers, the author of the source material, sat ignored and weeping. Her book, which had drawn on her extensive knowledge of myth and legend, been admired by T.S. Eliot and Sylvia Plath, and which challenged middle class mores by showing how parents had happily handed over the care of their children to a servant they knew nothing about, had been ‘Disneyfied’ and she would now only ever be known as the author of Mary Poppins. In the end, P.L. Travers came to terms with the film – after all it had made her a rich woman – and she went on to write more Mary Poppins books to complete a series of eight.

In this, our fifth Christmas Children’s Book Study (all proceeds from which go to charity), we will strip away the bowlful of sugar that Disney brought to the work and look instead at the light and dark sides of Mary Poppins: nanny, shaman and enchantress!

JOINING DETAILS:

• Children’s literature study led by Caroline Hammond and Jane Wymark to raise funds for charity (they are donating their time and expertise without charge).
• This will be a three-part study on Mondays: 1, 8 and 15 December 2025, 6.00-8.00 pm GMT
• The recommended edition for this study is Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, Harper Collins paperback: ISBN 9780008656027
• Please pay what you can afford for the study, we request a minimum donation of £75 for three two-hour meetings but you can also change the amount when you checkout if you are feeling generous! Proceeds will support Company Three, a London based children’s theatre  group and registered charity.