Mary Shepard Mary Shepard Mary Eleanor Jessie Knox née Shepard (25 December 1909 – 4 September 2000) was an English illustrator of children's books. She is best known for the "Mary Poppins" stories written by P. L. Travers (1934 to 1988): "Mary Shepard: Putting Mary Poppins in the picture", "The Times" of London titled an obituary article. She used her married name Mary Knox outside the publishing industry. She was the daughter of E. H. Shepard, a famous illustrator of children's literature including "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A. A. Milne in the 1920s and a 1931 edition of "The Wind in the Willows" by
Mary Poppins into the air and away from the children. In the 1964 Disney film of the same name, she is portrayed by Julie Andrews; in the 2018 sequel "Mary Poppins Returns", she is portrayed by Emily Blunt. In the books there are five Banks children: Jane (the eldest), Michael, fraternal twins John and Barbara, and Annabel. Jane and Michael are the eldest and go on most of the magical adventures with Mary Poppins; they are the most prominent and vocal of the Banks children. John and Barbara are toddler twins who only start going on adventures in the second book. Annabel