cover image Mary Poppins: Up, Up and Away

Mary Poppins: Up, Up and Away

Hélène Druvert. Thames & Hudson, $24.95 (36p) ISBN 978-0-500-65104-9

Having offered a tour of the City of Lights in Paris: Up, up and Away, Druvert turns her attention to London in a story loosely tethered to that of P.L. Travers’s Mary Poppins. After the nanny descends—via umbrella, of course—into the park where siblings Michael and Jane are flying a kite, the trio proceeds to visit the city’s famous sites (Buckingham Palace, Big Ben) and embark on more fantastical adventures that include an underwater concert (“The crabs and the lobsters are playing a song./ There’s even a mermaid who’s strumming along”) and a ride on a shooting star. While these events don’t always directly correspond to the Mary Poppins books or film, they certainly showcase Druvert’s laser-cut silhouette illustrations, which feature remarkably intricate replications of ironwork, constellations, cityscapes, and more. Ages 5–up. (Jan.)