The hidden codes inside Bambi and Mary Poppins.

Bambi and Mary Poppins are two childhood classics many of us adore. The innocence, the heart‑tugging scenes, the emotional release from the music – they stay with us because they make us feel and reflect on our own lives.

Yet these stories began as warnings. They were written in code so a particular group of people would recognise an important message. It was Disney who softened and sweetened those messages for the mainstream.

Bambi was written in code to escape the notice of the Nazis. Its original purpose was to warn Jewish people to hide in the hills. Mary Poppins was more overt, with a subtext aimed at the middle classes: look after your own children instead of outsourcing their care.

When I learned this, I immediately identified with how often we, too, act and speak in code – and how often that code is misread or completely missed by the other person.

The catharsis was not positive. I felt sad as I thought about clients I’ve supported over the years: people who weren’t safe to speak openly, so they spoke and acted in code, hoping someone would understand and help.

This insight was uncomfortable, but personal growth often is. Memories surfaced: domestic violence, sexual assault, complex post‑traumatic stress, adverse childhood experiences. People whose codes I may have misunderstood, or not even recognised.

The most disturbing realisation was knowing that across the globe, universally, people are still writing and acting in code, and many of us haven’t been taught to read between the lines. We’re not analytical enough, not because we’re incapable, but because no one told us we could be, or showed us how.

That’s one of the core reasons I created the SHELF‑Care framework. It encourages discussion and questioning across five domains that foster analytical thinking through open conversation, connection, and hope. These domains care about you and what you think about what you read.

I’m restarting my bibliotherapeutic book club, and I’d love you to join us. Together we’ll use the SHELF‑Care framework as we move through the bibliotherapy stages of identification, catharsis, insight, and universalisation. We’ll practise decoding the hidden messages in stories so we can respond more thoughtfully to the hidden messages in real life.

With time, we can grow our code‑breaking intelligence and help make the world a safer place for everyone.

If you’d like to join the book club, send me a message and I’ll share the details.