Illustrated by Mary Shepard Mary Poppins, neat and prim in her blue skirt and a new hat trimmed with a crimson tulip, looked at the children over her knitting. She was sitting bolt upright against the tree, with a plaid rug spread on the lawn around her. Her handbag sat tidily by her side. And above her, from a flowering branch, the parrot umbrella dangled. She gave a little sniff.