Mary Poppins
#4034.00 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 6 books Status Complete 1934–1988 Reading commitment Low P. L. Travers Last reviewed 2026-10-08
Overview
P. L. Travers's Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane on the East Wind in 1934 and stays, each time, exactly as long as she said she would: vain, stern, magical and never willing to admit that anything odd has happened. The six story books (1934-1988), illustrated throughout by Mary Shepard, take the Banks children to tea on the ceiling, around the world by compass, into the sky for the nanny's birthday, to the High Tide party of the fishes and through the Crack between the Old Year and the New; the first three end with her departure and the later three are set within those visits. Darker, stranger and far more mythological than the Disney film, the books draw on Travers's lifelong study of myth and folklore. An alphabet book and a cookery book are catalogued as companions.
Comic fantasy, Urban fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (6 works) counts toward ranking
Mary Poppins P. L. Travers
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Mary Poppins | 1934 | 1 | core | 4.00 (141,502 ratings) |
 | Mary Poppins Comes Back | 1935 | 2 | core | 3.99 (16,132 ratings) |
 | Mary Poppins Opens the Door | 1943 | 3 | core | 4.07 (8,966 ratings) |
 | Mary Poppins in the Park | 1952 | 4 | core | 4.08 (7,308 ratings) |
 | Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane | 1982 | 5 | core | 3.88 (2,315 ratings) |
 | Mary Poppins and the House Next Door | 1988 | 6 | core | 3.89 (1,759 ratings) |
P. L. Travers's six story books about the magical nanny of Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London, and the Banks children (1934-1988), illustrated throughout by Mary Shepard. The first three follow her arrivals and departures; the later three are set within those visits.
Library / Expanded (2 works)
- Mary Poppins from A to Z (1962) companion · 3.84 (708 ratings); An alphabet book of twenty-six short Mary Poppins scenes, one for each letter, with Mary Shepard's illustrations; a companion rather than a story.
- Mary Poppins in the Kitchen (1975) companion · 3.90 (634 ratings); A cookery book with a story: when the cook goes away for a week, Mary Poppins puts the Banks children in charge of supper. Includes real recipes; a companion rather than a novel.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Mary Poppins? Mary Poppins's Core Canon is 6 books, plus 2 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for Mary Poppins? Publication order, starting with Mary Poppins. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Mary Poppins finished? Complete (1934–1988).
- How much reading does Mary Poppins take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 6 Core Canon books · ~1,148 pages).
- How is Mary Poppins ranked? #403 in this site's official ranking, based on 177,982 reader ratings across 6 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #403?
Ranked #403 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.00 across 6 core books.
- Backed by 178k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #402, Bas-Lag / New Crobuzon (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 6 books · Complete · 178k ratings · Ranks #403 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment comic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (6 Core Canon books)
- Mary Poppins (1934)
- Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935)
- Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943)
- Mary Poppins in the Park (1952)
- Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane (1982)
- Mary Poppins and the House Next Door (1988)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No award could be confirmed for the books.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Mary Poppins and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Sheep-Pig Comic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.06
- The Bromeliad Trilogy Comic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.96
- Fly By Night Comic fantasy / Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.89
- Jim Button Portal fantasy / Comic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.28
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.00 across 177,982 ratings on 6 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon extension: Mary Poppins (P. L. Travers) accepted 2026-10-06
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-06
Rule: Core Canon = the six story books, Mary Poppins (1934) to Mary Poppins and the House Next Door (1988), in publication order. Expanded = Mary Poppins from A to Z (1962) and Mary Poppins in the Kitchen (1975), companions.