The Banks family lives at Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane. Unlike other, larger houses on the road, the Banks’ house is “rather dilapidated and needs a coat of paint” (1). There’s also a cook, Mrs. Brill; Ellen; and Robertson Ay. Katie Nanna has just left the family, leaving the Banks children without someone to look after them, and when Mrs. Banks asks Mr. Banks what to do about the situation, he suggests she advertise for a nanny “at the lowest possible wage and at once” (3). Mr. Banks leaves for the city where he works as a cold wind blows.

Later in the day, Jane and Michael Banks listen “to the sound of the East Wind blowing through the naked branches of the cherry trees in the Lane” (4) and watch the trees move in the wind. A visitor with black hair and blue eyes arrives to their house, and Jane and Michael overhear their mother talking with the visitor about references, a requirement that the visitor considers outdated, much to the dismay of Mrs. Banks. When Mrs. Banks brings the visitor upstairs to the nursery, Jane and Michael observe the visitor sliding “gracefully up the banisters” (6).