Mary Poppins Returns: Everything Is Possible - Leveled Reader by Walt Disney Pictures
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers on November 13th 2018
ISBN: 132856634X
Pages: 32
Goodreads

This is an easy reader movie tie-in to “Mary Poppins Returns” designated as level 2.  The story line follows the movie, which is quite a bit of information for a small easy reader.  The visual layout of the easy reader is done well.  Lots of white space, clear and singularly focused movie -still illustrations and simple sentences with a clear font.  Unfortunately, to be loyal to the sequence of movies events, the illustrations provide a set moment in the action and the text explains other information to round out the plot.  The illustrations don’t provide young readers clues about the text.   For example, text explains that “This is the home of Michael Banks…” and lists all the children’s names.   The accompany photo is just a head shot of Michael Banks, nothing to identify the home or house.  This results in quite a choppy reading experience.    It will still fly off the shelf, Mary Poppins style, due to the subject matter.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Springvale Public Library