Just a spoonful of sugar...

Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down, the medicine go down...
Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag.
I could go on but I know you probably have your hands over your ears thinking that I would never get very far on X factor! Well that's what you would be thinking if you could hear me. So what has prompted my singing outburst? A delightful book by P L Travers captured my attention on the library bookshelf.

Growing up I had watched Mary Poppins on TV on numerous occasions and I had never once considered that it had started it's life as a book. When I did find out it was a book first I was slow to read it, and in time forgot about it until I recently watched this film.

It was an enlightening film and reawakened a quest to find the book and read it with my boys. So when I was at the library recently I was pleased to find this book and eagerly sat down with Mr Social and Mr Cheeky to read it. Reading a chapter a day and we were soon we'll on our way to finishing the book. I was surprised to read of a Mary Poppins that seemed to me to be more strict, more unusual and certainly less musical. There were no dancing penguins for a start and Mrs Banks was certainly not a suffragette. There were no rousy choruses and no bank crisis, all in all the book seemed to be quite different. On finishing the book I found myself feeling quite sorry for P L Travers who may have felt like her work was being pulled apart and developed in a way she hadn't intended. I wonder which version you prefer...book or film?
My boys are yet to see the film, they will be in for a surprise when they do. They may be disappointed at the lack of a night time zoo or a sweet lady putting stars in the sky, after all the thought of a magic compass inspired my boys to make up their own adventures and travel to mysterious parts of the world. For the time being I will let their imaginations flourish and hold off showing them the film.
We did take an opportunity to create some shadow paintings of Mary Poppins with a lovely sunset in the background and a Mary Poppins being taken by the east wind.

Mr Social and Mr Cheeky are still at abstract level when it comes to painting, they had great fun doing it and loved the red and orange tones.

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