Yet Emma Thompson, a wonderful actress, clearly loves the books of Christianna Brand so much that she has decided to adapt not one but two "Nanny McPhee" films, stepping into the shoes of the central character herself and delivering movies of considerable charm, warmth and affection.

The first film arrived in 2005, and "Nanny McPhee Returns" picks up the original story some 60 or 70 years later, during the dark days of World War II.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Mrs. Green, the mother of three children living in the English countryside. Her husband is off fighting in the war, and she and her children are fighting to keep the farm going. The family is enlarged when two city cousins come to stay to get away from the London bombing. And matters are complicated when Uncle Phil tries to sell the farm to pay off his gambling debts.

Nanny McPhee enters ageless and pristine, much like Mary Poppins, just in time to help the Green family with all of their various problems. As in the first film, she is here to magically teach the children five lessons and as each lesson is learned, Nanny McPhee's appearance becomes less ugly. She begins the movie with moles, a unibrow and bad teeth, but as the movie goes on she becomes more like Emma Thompson.

The humor is rather mild and gentle - aimed to woo smaller children. Pleasantly though, unlike many American films, the children are rewarded for their good behavior and are shown that basically children want love and attention, but also require guidelines and discipline. It's pleasantly old-fashioned in this way.

Gyllenhaal is compelling as the challenged, persistent mother, delivering a delectable English accent in the process. Ralph Fiennes, Ewan McGregor and Bill Bailey all provide small cameo appearances, while Maggie Smith has a small but memorable part as the rather absent-minded elderly woman who provides the connection to the first film.

Thompson's McPhee is an intriguing character - at once the central focus of the film but only one of several key characters for the story's children. This distinction is important, as it allows the movie to breathe and grow, focusing on a wide array of personalities.

Yes, there are several moments of outright sappiness, but it's handled so deftly and so straightforwardly, that it works in the movie's favor rather than against it. And the result is a confection of surprising heart and patience, a naive vision of an exceptional woman that nevertheless woos you into hoping that someone like McPhee actually existed.