Up in the sky a tiny spark hovered and swayed in the darkness. What could it be...? Still they waited. And still the spark grew ever larger and brighter. Then suddenly Jane caught her breath. And Michael gave a gasp. Down came the spark, growing longer and wider. And as it came, it took on a shape that was strange and also familiar. Out of the glowing core of light emerged a curious figure - a figure in a black straw hat and a blue coat trimmed with silver buttons.

This book is part of a book series called Mary Poppins .

There are 256 pages in this book. This book was published 1998 by HarperCollins Publishers .

P. L. Travers was born in 1899 in Maryborough in Queensland, Australia and was one of three sisters. P. L. Travers (1899-1996) was a drama critic, travel essayist, reviewer, lecturer, and the creator of Mary Poppins. Ms. Travers wrote several other books for adults and children, but it is for the character of Mary Poppins that she is best remembered. MARY SHEPARD (1910-2000) was the daughter of Ernest Shepard, illustrator of the Winnie the Pooh books and The Wind in the Willows. She illustrated P. L. Travers's Mary Poppins books for more than fifty years.