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Practically Perfect: A hilarious look at the best-loved film, from Julie Andrews to Emily Blunt
For comedian Katy Brand, part of the joy of watching Mary Poppins as a child was the thrill of the film’s iconic, no-nonsense heroine. Her unshakeable confidence, her staunch independence, and that touch of magic. Now she’s all grown up, Katy takes another look beyond the talking umbrellas, bottomless bags and dubious cockney accents to show that Mary’s still got something to teach us. She explores how the beloved nanny was brought to life from the page to the big screen, and delves into her most striking memories to uncover themes that are still as important now as they were at the time, from women’s rights and poverty, to toxic masculinity and work-life balance. With interviews and insights from famous fans and friends, Practically Perfect is the common-sense manual for life that we never knew we needed, and sprinkles some supercalifragilistic magic along the way.
- GenresNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
Published December 14, 2021
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92 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 8, 2021
Mary Poppins means so much too me. Katy Brand explores with humour and great insight the themes that I didn't even think about before. The beauty behind Feed the birds makes me blub. Love Mary Poppins? Love Disney? Love Katy Brand? You just can't go wrong.
November 18, 2020
Full review here: https://theresnoenjoymentlikereading....
July 10, 2021
I never watched Mary Poppins as a child. My parents weren’t in to that sort of thing. My Nana and I shared a love of musicals and she took me to see The Sound of Music when it came out at the cinema and to see Carousel at a theatre. This was the only time I ever went to a theatre until I was doing A-level English and we went to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle to see Shakespeare plays. I didn’t watch Mary Poppins with my own children. My son loved the likes of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and The Sword in the Stone but he thought a story about a nanny would be boring. My daughter, who grew up in the nineties, loved Beauty and the Beast et al from that era but claimed to be certain that older Disney films must be rubbish because they were old. My daughter was a child of unshakeable certainties. So the only time I have watched Mary Poppins was with my grandchildren at the insistence of their mother, my step daughter. I was amazed. How could two parents devote so little time and energy to looking after their adorable children? I was relieves when Mary Poppins turned up and sorted everyone out, and I do mean everyone. When she left, the parents had realised that their most important job was to actively care for their children and that, although they could and should have other interests and commitments, this should never be forgotten or taken for granted. Throw in dancing penguins, Dick Van Dyke’s so bad it’s good Cockney accent, everything about Julie Andrews and some amazing songs and I loved it.
Fast forward a few years and my reading challenge this year is to read a non fiction book every month. I have not read non fiction since I did my degree decades ago whereas I love reading fiction. My challenge is my attempt to broaden my horizons. But I’ve been lazy. Mary Poppins would not approve. It’s now July and I owe myself the reading of a non fiction book for May, June and July. “A job well begun but still half done!”, to paraphrase Ms Poppins. My catch up this month started with The Salt Path, an amazing book but not an easy read in terms of the subject matter. I felt a little wrung out after it and thought something lighter would be good. When I saw Practically Perfect in Every Way by a comedienne, Katy Brand, on offer on ebook from my local library service, I thought that sounded just the ticket. And indeed it was. Practically Perfect in Every Way is a cocktail of delightful things. There’s interesting facts about the author of the original Mary Poppins books, Pamela Travers, and about Disney and his twenty year battle to convince Travers to sell him the rights. There’s details about the making of the film itself and a look at what it’s truly about, not as straight forward as you might think. There’s some autobiographical information and self analysis to explain just why Mary Poppins is an important character to the author, including lessons we could all learn to help us navigate modern life better. There are even times when it’s part social commentary and part philosophy. I found the blend truly
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I will seek out for more Katy Brand books and look forward to her insightful take on life. In the mean time, spit spot, I need to look for another non fiction book. In the meantime, I think I might just watch Mary Poppins again
Fast forward a few years and my reading challenge this year is to read a non fiction book every month. I have not read non fiction since I did my degree decades ago whereas I love reading fiction. My challenge is my attempt to broaden my horizons. But I’ve been lazy. Mary Poppins would not approve. It’s now July and I owe myself the reading of a non fiction book for May, June and July. “A job well begun but still half done!”, to paraphrase Ms Poppins. My catch up this month started with The Salt Path, an amazing book but not an easy read in terms of the subject matter. I felt a little wrung out after it and thought something lighter would be good. When I saw Practically Perfect in Every Way by a comedienne, Katy Brand, on offer on ebook from my local library service, I thought that sounded just the ticket. And indeed it was. Practically Perfect in Every Way is a cocktail of delightful things. There’s interesting facts about the author of the original Mary Poppins books, Pamela Travers, and about Disney and his twenty year battle to convince Travers to sell him the rights. There’s details about the making of the film itself and a look at what it’s truly about, not as straight forward as you might think. There’s some autobiographical information and self analysis to explain just why Mary Poppins is an important character to the author, including lessons we could all learn to help us navigate modern life better. There are even times when it’s part social commentary and part philosophy. I found the blend truly
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I will seek out for more Katy Brand books and look forward to her insightful take on life. In the mean time, spit spot, I need to look for another non fiction book. In the meantime, I think I might just watch Mary Poppins again
June 20, 2022
Mary Poppins was such an iconic character, and as children, we loved Disney’s extravaganza for the magic, the music and the incomparable Julie Andrews bringing P.L.Travers’ more dour Poppins to shining cinematic life.
In this book, Katy Brand explores how Mary Poppins’ attitude, her traits and her actions could serve as a handy guide to navigate adulthood and its seemingly never rending pitfalls. Honestly, the advice is nothing new. It is practical, sensible and something that has been expounded about in a million self-help books : (no matter how crummy life is, get up, make your bed, don’t let your personal grooming slide, set your boundaries and respect them, spend more time with your family and much more along the same vein).
But the author has an excellent and witty command over her pen and keeps you engaged with her insights into how the film explored themes like women’s rights, wrongly adulated traits of toxic masculinity and the importance of a work-life balance, all within the framework of a memorable film.
Snippets about the creative differences between Travers and Disney, a glimpse into how a beloved book was rendered on the big screen with cutting-edge technology for its time, the musings of people like Julie Andrews, Emma Thompson and others are all encapsulated in the book.
We all want some semblance of control in our lives…some order, some decorum and if we are lucky, a house that doesn’t look like a post-apocalyptic hideout. Mary Poppins, with her no-nonsense attitude tempered with frivolous bouts of magic is a character who serves as an unexpected role-model for not only women but men too, as evinced by the redemption of Mr. Banks.
The book while not cataclysmically life-altering still makes for an interesting and informative read.
In this book, Katy Brand explores how Mary Poppins’ attitude, her traits and her actions could serve as a handy guide to navigate adulthood and its seemingly never rending pitfalls. Honestly, the advice is nothing new. It is practical, sensible and something that has been expounded about in a million self-help books : (no matter how crummy life is, get up, make your bed, don’t let your personal grooming slide, set your boundaries and respect them, spend more time with your family and much more along the same vein).
But the author has an excellent and witty command over her pen and keeps you engaged with her insights into how the film explored themes like women’s rights, wrongly adulated traits of toxic masculinity and the importance of a work-life balance, all within the framework of a memorable film.
Snippets about the creative differences between Travers and Disney, a glimpse into how a beloved book was rendered on the big screen with cutting-edge technology for its time, the musings of people like Julie Andrews, Emma Thompson and others are all encapsulated in the book.
We all want some semblance of control in our lives…some order, some decorum and if we are lucky, a house that doesn’t look like a post-apocalyptic hideout. Mary Poppins, with her no-nonsense attitude tempered with frivolous bouts of magic is a character who serves as an unexpected role-model for not only women but men too, as evinced by the redemption of Mr. Banks.
The book while not cataclysmically life-altering still makes for an interesting and informative read.
February 10, 2022
𝓢𝓾𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓭𝓸𝓬𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼
Practically Perfect
Life Lessons from Mary Poppins
By Katy Brand
Mary Poppins is a story of taking practical steps towards happiness.
It's looking at the bright side of life.
It's setting boundaries, deciding what you want and making it happen.
That's the path to being Practically Perfect.
Mary Poppins is one of my all time favourite films.
It is magical, it is cheery, it is happy and full of fun.
Katy shares all these sentiments and feelings of the film too but she also looks deeper within the story and the background of all the characters to help us focus on different lessons in life.
Touching on strong women, sensitive men, pressures of work/life, the need of a friend.
How to care for your children, how to cope with your finances and how to juggle your emotions through it all.
We would all like to snap our fingers and magically have a tidy house or sing a song and everything be right as rain, or wiggle our nose and transport to another place to escape the mundane day to day.
If only we could find that magic spark!!✨
This book uses humour and sensitivity to guide us through the lessons that Mary Poppins displayed in such a wonderful timeless movie. 🎬
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it and just look at those end papers! 💜🌂
🌂 Life lessons
🎠 Humour
🌂 Thought provoking
🎠 Interesting
🌂 Easy read
⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me!🤓
Practically Perfect
Life Lessons from Mary Poppins
By Katy Brand
Mary Poppins is a story of taking practical steps towards happiness.
It's looking at the bright side of life.
It's setting boundaries, deciding what you want and making it happen.
That's the path to being Practically Perfect.
Mary Poppins is one of my all time favourite films.
It is magical, it is cheery, it is happy and full of fun.
Katy shares all these sentiments and feelings of the film too but she also looks deeper within the story and the background of all the characters to help us focus on different lessons in life.
Touching on strong women, sensitive men, pressures of work/life, the need of a friend.
How to care for your children, how to cope with your finances and how to juggle your emotions through it all.
We would all like to snap our fingers and magically have a tidy house or sing a song and everything be right as rain, or wiggle our nose and transport to another place to escape the mundane day to day.
If only we could find that magic spark!!✨
This book uses humour and sensitivity to guide us through the lessons that Mary Poppins displayed in such a wonderful timeless movie. 🎬
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it and just look at those end papers! 💜🌂
🌂 Life lessons
🎠 Humour
🌂 Thought provoking
🎠 Interesting
🌂 Easy read
⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me!🤓
September 15, 2021
Practically Perfect by Katy Brand is the perfect read for any Mary Poppins fans. I loved it! It’s a non fiction read, exploring how Mary came to life, what she can teach us, and what it is that we all know and love about her.
From the first chapter alone, I felt motivated by the person Mary Poppins is. I suddenly had the urge to tidy my daughter’s playroom and unhaul loads of toys she’s grown out of, and to organise my house from top to bottom, and know that I could do it because Mary could. (Side note, I started the playroom unhaul a couple of days ago and it’s still not done 🙈 I might need to go re-read that chapter again 😂)
I loved everything about this, the exploration of Mr Banks (which I loved in the film Saving Mr Banks too), the information about P L Travers, and all those little things we love about Mary herself. And the way that Katy Brand writes makes it all seem so relatable and easy to read, like chatting about your favourite film with a friend!
I’ve only read the first of the Mary Poppins book series, I enjoyed it, but if I’m honest it didn’t compare to my love of the film. I love Disney and how Walt put his stamp on it, turning a not so cheery Mary Poppins into the nanny we all wanted as a child. But I am going to read the rest of the series this year. And of course, I’m going to rewatch Mary Poppins for the hundredth time again very soon!
From the first chapter alone, I felt motivated by the person Mary Poppins is. I suddenly had the urge to tidy my daughter’s playroom and unhaul loads of toys she’s grown out of, and to organise my house from top to bottom, and know that I could do it because Mary could. (Side note, I started the playroom unhaul a couple of days ago and it’s still not done 🙈 I might need to go re-read that chapter again 😂)
I loved everything about this, the exploration of Mr Banks (which I loved in the film Saving Mr Banks too), the information about P L Travers, and all those little things we love about Mary herself. And the way that Katy Brand writes makes it all seem so relatable and easy to read, like chatting about your favourite film with a friend!
I’ve only read the first of the Mary Poppins book series, I enjoyed it, but if I’m honest it didn’t compare to my love of the film. I love Disney and how Walt put his stamp on it, turning a not so cheery Mary Poppins into the nanny we all wanted as a child. But I am going to read the rest of the series this year. And of course, I’m going to rewatch Mary Poppins for the hundredth time again very soon!
July 2, 2022
3/5 Stars
This book is the interesting literary voyage into how the advice and lessons from Mary Poppins (mostly the 1964 movie, not the OG book) can be applied to improve your life - in a practical and mildly humorous way.
The references and aspects of Mary Poppins, cited in this book, is a clever way to bring what is, effectively, an opinion in piece on why adulting is hard, together. It’s a light and fluffy read that one can forget as soon as is finished, but it’s always nice to have someone else put into writing what you may be feeling.
There were some salient points made by Brand, however these were not even tenuously related to Poppins - these just seemed to be genuine opinions the author holds. A couple of standouts for me:
“We don’t have to go along with supporting every female politician even as she dismantles our human rights before our eyes, just because of ‘feminism’.”
“On holiday, there is no cooking, no washing up - unless you make the fatal error of self catering, where you simply take all the chores with you to a new place where you can’t find anything and don’t know how any of the stuff works and for some reason expect to feel more relaxed than usual. And I’m not even going to talk about camping, where you even have to build the accomodation yourself”.
Brand has a pleasantly rambling style and there’s enough of her personality and personal life interspersed with how Poppinsisms can improve the problems, for everyone to get something enjoyable from this
This book is the interesting literary voyage into how the advice and lessons from Mary Poppins (mostly the 1964 movie, not the OG book) can be applied to improve your life - in a practical and mildly humorous way.
The references and aspects of Mary Poppins, cited in this book, is a clever way to bring what is, effectively, an opinion in piece on why adulting is hard, together. It’s a light and fluffy read that one can forget as soon as is finished, but it’s always nice to have someone else put into writing what you may be feeling.
There were some salient points made by Brand, however these were not even tenuously related to Poppins - these just seemed to be genuine opinions the author holds. A couple of standouts for me:
“We don’t have to go along with supporting every female politician even as she dismantles our human rights before our eyes, just because of ‘feminism’.”
“On holiday, there is no cooking, no washing up - unless you make the fatal error of self catering, where you simply take all the chores with you to a new place where you can’t find anything and don’t know how any of the stuff works and for some reason expect to feel more relaxed than usual. And I’m not even going to talk about camping, where you even have to build the accomodation yourself”.
Brand has a pleasantly rambling style and there’s enough of her personality and personal life interspersed with how Poppinsisms can improve the problems, for everyone to get something enjoyable from this
July 27, 2023
Audiobook. I thought this might be really cool… but it was just ok. A mix of the author’s research and opinions about the movie and books, not really connecting to the fact that the character is a nanny (she was referred to many times throughout the book as “parenting”) and really no understanding that nannies actually exist in modern day real life. I get that it was coming from the author’s perspective and what she related to, but with all the research and facts given it would’ve been good to at least see a chapter exploring what nannies might be in reality and the differences between a nanny and a parent (because no one can do it all, all the time)!
January 1, 2022
If you want a delightful account of Mary Poppins and a better understanding of the book & much loved film then you will probably enjoy this easy read. Why it tries to be a ‘self-help’ inspired account of how to improve your life is beyond me!! I was left disappointed because this book tries to be too much, rather than just celebrating what it is, which is Katy Brand’s self indulgent love of Mary Poppins.
January 27, 2021
I had high hopes from the book’s introduction, and while I adored the analysis of Mary Poppins from stage to screen, some of the chapters felt more personal and not universal enough. Would have appreciated a nod to the stage adaptation too (and perhaps the differences between theatre and film), since even Mary Poppins Returns gets a mention.
3.5⭐️
3.5⭐️
January 28, 2021
Mary Poppins was the foundation in which my love for Disney began. The opening scene when Mary flies down has gripped my heart and when I saw it live at the beginning of 2020 I sobbed.
Katy Brand goes deep into analysis of the film, the characters and P L Travers. I throughly enjoyed how it was broken down and made me think deeply about a film I adore.
Will definitely recommend
Katy Brand goes deep into analysis of the film, the characters and P L Travers. I throughly enjoyed how it was broken down and made me think deeply about a film I adore.
Will definitely recommend
January 25, 2021
Who doesn't love the film Mary Poppins? the author cleverly dissects the film and points out lots of things I haven't thought about whilst watching the film. The book also includes quotes from actors who starred in the film. I loved it!
March 27, 2022
Decent follow-up with more memoir, more film criticism and more love for a classic movie. Fun fact: we're now further away in 2022 from the year the film came out (1964) than the year the film came out was from the time it was set (1910). Kites are still being flown.
December 19, 2021
Made me actually sit down and watch Mary Poppins all the way through and see it in a completely different way than I did as a child. Brilliant book and brilliant film.
December 27, 2021
I struggled with it to begin but as the chapters went but I found it very clever and interesting taking each stage of the film comparing it to life.
August 26, 2023
Loved this. A lovely insight into the film
June 18, 2024
Not what I was expecting but enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews