I knew coming in to this book that it didn't closely resemble the Disney film, most notably in the personality of the title character. On the one hand, she is much more of an individual, on the other hand, not a very sympathetic individual to my mind. Actually, most of the grownups come off as buffoons in the story, so thoroughly is the story from the children's point of view. I was tempted to drop my rating by a star because of how little actual fun I found in the book, but it seemed like that would be a bit too harsh. In the end, I had the feeling that Mary Poppins is to some degree a stand-in for childhood itself, self-absorbed and severe at times and generous at others, with an essential mystery to what motivates what she does and thinks.
Some of the stories I enjoyed reading while others were more of a slog. I tried imagining what children were like when and where the book first came out and how they saw themselves in these tales, but it was not that easy for me to make the translation.