Mary Poppins Opens the Door Mary Poppins Opens the Door Mary Poppins Opens the Door is a British children's fantasy novel by the Australian-British writer P.L. Travers, the third book and last novel in the "Mary Poppins" series that features the magical English nanny Mary Poppins. It was published in 1943 by Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc and illustrated by Mary Shepard and Agnes Sims. On Guy Fawkes Night, Mary Poppins arrives in the wake of the last fireworks display by the Banks family. The Banks children Michael, Jane, the twins, and Annabel plead with her to stay. She reluctantly agrees to do so "till
Mary Poppins in the film but does appear in the musical. In the musical, he sings the song "Let's Go Fly a Kite" with Bert and the children. The Matchman or "Bert" is Mary Poppins's friend. In the books, when the weather is fine, he draws lifelike pictures on the pavement with chalk, but when it rains he instead sells matches and is thus known as the Matchman. Mary Poppins sometimes goes on outings with Bert on her Second Thursday off. Bert is also friendly with the Banks children and the other residents of Cherry Tree Lane. As well as match selling