Audiobook: Mr. Poppers Penguins
Author: Richard and Florence Atwater
Genre: Fantasy
Genre: Fantasy
Major Awards: Newbery Medal Nominee 1939, Lewis Carroll Shelf Award 1958
Age Group: 7-10 years old
Mr. Popper is a house painter in Stillwater, but that wasn't all he was, or at least not for long. Mr. Popper dreamed of traveling. Although he had never left Stillwater before, his mind would dream of traveling to distant places, visiting all over the world, specifically the Poles. At times Mr. Popper wished he'd been a Scientist so he could have explored the Poles and their vast lands of ice and snow, but since he wasn't he loved reading about them. Whenever there was a movie, a book, or anything about the Arctic or the Antarctic (North or South Pole), Mr. Popper would be the first to see the movie or borrow the book from the library. He could even name every Polar Explorer and what they'd done. Mr. Popper was heading home after a day of work, the decorating season in Stillwater was over so Mr. Popper would be home until spring with his wife, Mrs. Popper and his two children, Janie and Bill. Mrs. Popper was always wary when the decorating season was over because during this time, money was always tight for the family. One night before bed, Mr. Popper was reading one of his books called "Arctic Adventures" and mentions to Mrs. Popper that a penguin would make a nice pet, but she quickly shuts down the idea. That same night, Mr. Popper remembers that one of his favorite Polar Explorers Admiral Drake's Antarctic expedition was going to start broadcasting. As Mr. Popper turns on the broadcast, he is surprised to hear that Admiral Drake has a message just for him. He tells him he's received Mr. Popper's letter and that he will receive an answer, but not by letter. Upon hearing this, Mr. Popper is ecstatic and can't wait to find out what Admiral Drake meant. Long after getting the message, Mr. Popper receives a package at the door that says its come all the way from the Arctic. When Mr. Popper opens the box, he is astonished to find that it's a penguin. The entire family is amazed at the penguin inside their home, even Mrs. Popper opens up to the idea that they name him Captain Cook and he sleeps in the icebox. Mr. Popper and Captain Cook have so much fun around town, and everyone who sees's him is astonished that he has a real-life penguin. Some are concerned, but there are no laws against having a penguin. After a while, Captain Cook gets very sick, and the family has tried everything but nothing seems to work. Mr. Popper writes another letter to Dr. Smith at the Aquarium. Dr. Smith writes that they too have a penguin at the aquarium that is experiencing the same thing as Captain Cook and he believes its loneliness. Dr. Smith then tells Mr. Popper he's going to send the aquarium's penguin, Greta, to him. It seems as though companionship was all they needed because shortly after Greta joined the Poppers, she was all better. Since it was winter time and Mr. Popper wanted the penguins to be comfortable, he opened all the windows of the home, and the family wore their coats until they converted the basement to a freezing plant which costed a lot of money, but the refrigerating engineer was nice to do it for them on credit. Soon after Greta laid her first eggs. Usually penguins only lay one or two, but potentially due to the change of climate, she laid 10 eggs that later hatched and made them a family of 4 humans and 12 penguins. With the growing family, the special fish Mr. Popper was importing, and the money they owed to the refrigerator engineer, the Poppers needed a way to make money. Therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Popper began training the penguins while Mrs. Popper played the piano and the penguins would do their act. They presented their act to Mr. Greenbaum, owner of theaters all around the US, and after signing a 10 month contract and using their first check to pay back their debts, they became Popper's Performing Penguins. For 10 months, the entire family went on the road and the penguins performed at palace theaters all around the US. Over time, the penguins were getting antsy and it was hard for Mr. Popper to sleep. It got to the point that while in New York for their final show, rather than going to the Royal theater for their performance, they went to the Regal Theater. The disruption and chaos caused landed Mr. Popper and the penguins in jail. The Poppers didn't have money for bail. It wasn't until Admiral Drake came himself to pay bail that they were let out. At the same time, he was also approached by a producer wanting to make a movie with the penguins. Mr. Popper had to make a difficult decision and ultimately chose to allow the penguins to go to the North pole with Admiral Drake where previously no penguins had lived. After sad goodbyes, to his surprise, Mr. Popper was invited by the Admiral to travel with him to the North Pole with the penguins. Mr. Popper accepted and was finally able to make his lifelong dream a reality.
Mr. Popper's Penguins is such a cute, playful, and funny book. As I was reading I couldn't help but smile the entire time. This book would make an excellent addition to any 2nd-5th-grade classroom library. In these grades, students could read the story independently or as a class read aloud. A film adaptation of Mr. Popper's Penguins was made in 2011. Personally, I love reading book-to-movie adaptations so I can compare and contrast the book to the movie. A similar activity can be done with this book; as a class, the book can be read and then after the class will watch the film and can discuss the differences between the film and the movie and even make a Venn diagram comparing the two. Although the book is a chapter book and therefore is more suitable for older grade to read, this book is so fun I believe even younger grades would enjoy and connect to the story as the teacher reads it to them.
Age Group: 7-10 years old
Mr. Popper is a house painter in Stillwater, but that wasn't all he was, or at least not for long. Mr. Popper dreamed of traveling. Although he had never left Stillwater before, his mind would dream of traveling to distant places, visiting all over the world, specifically the Poles. At times Mr. Popper wished he'd been a Scientist so he could have explored the Poles and their vast lands of ice and snow, but since he wasn't he loved reading about them. Whenever there was a movie, a book, or anything about the Arctic or the Antarctic (North or South Pole), Mr. Popper would be the first to see the movie or borrow the book from the library. He could even name every Polar Explorer and what they'd done. Mr. Popper was heading home after a day of work, the decorating season in Stillwater was over so Mr. Popper would be home until spring with his wife, Mrs. Popper and his two children, Janie and Bill. Mrs. Popper was always wary when the decorating season was over because during this time, money was always tight for the family. One night before bed, Mr. Popper was reading one of his books called "Arctic Adventures" and mentions to Mrs. Popper that a penguin would make a nice pet, but she quickly shuts down the idea. That same night, Mr. Popper remembers that one of his favorite Polar Explorers Admiral Drake's Antarctic expedition was going to start broadcasting. As Mr. Popper turns on the broadcast, he is surprised to hear that Admiral Drake has a message just for him. He tells him he's received Mr. Popper's letter and that he will receive an answer, but not by letter. Upon hearing this, Mr. Popper is ecstatic and can't wait to find out what Admiral Drake meant. Long after getting the message, Mr. Popper receives a package at the door that says its come all the way from the Arctic. When Mr. Popper opens the box, he is astonished to find that it's a penguin. The entire family is amazed at the penguin inside their home, even Mrs. Popper opens up to the idea that they name him Captain Cook and he sleeps in the icebox. Mr. Popper and Captain Cook have so much fun around town, and everyone who sees's him is astonished that he has a real-life penguin. Some are concerned, but there are no laws against having a penguin. After a while, Captain Cook gets very sick, and the family has tried everything but nothing seems to work. Mr. Popper writes another letter to Dr. Smith at the Aquarium. Dr. Smith writes that they too have a penguin at the aquarium that is experiencing the same thing as Captain Cook and he believes its loneliness. Dr. Smith then tells Mr. Popper he's going to send the aquarium's penguin, Greta, to him. It seems as though companionship was all they needed because shortly after Greta joined the Poppers, she was all better. Since it was winter time and Mr. Popper wanted the penguins to be comfortable, he opened all the windows of the home, and the family wore their coats until they converted the basement to a freezing plant which costed a lot of money, but the refrigerating engineer was nice to do it for them on credit. Soon after Greta laid her first eggs. Usually penguins only lay one or two, but potentially due to the change of climate, she laid 10 eggs that later hatched and made them a family of 4 humans and 12 penguins. With the growing family, the special fish Mr. Popper was importing, and the money they owed to the refrigerator engineer, the Poppers needed a way to make money. Therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Popper began training the penguins while Mrs. Popper played the piano and the penguins would do their act. They presented their act to Mr. Greenbaum, owner of theaters all around the US, and after signing a 10 month contract and using their first check to pay back their debts, they became Popper's Performing Penguins. For 10 months, the entire family went on the road and the penguins performed at palace theaters all around the US. Over time, the penguins were getting antsy and it was hard for Mr. Popper to sleep. It got to the point that while in New York for their final show, rather than going to the Royal theater for their performance, they went to the Regal Theater. The disruption and chaos caused landed Mr. Popper and the penguins in jail. The Poppers didn't have money for bail. It wasn't until Admiral Drake came himself to pay bail that they were let out. At the same time, he was also approached by a producer wanting to make a movie with the penguins. Mr. Popper had to make a difficult decision and ultimately chose to allow the penguins to go to the North pole with Admiral Drake where previously no penguins had lived. After sad goodbyes, to his surprise, Mr. Popper was invited by the Admiral to travel with him to the North Pole with the penguins. Mr. Popper accepted and was finally able to make his lifelong dream a reality.
Mr. Popper's Penguins is such a cute, playful, and funny book. As I was reading I couldn't help but smile the entire time. This book would make an excellent addition to any 2nd-5th-grade classroom library. In these grades, students could read the story independently or as a class read aloud. A film adaptation of Mr. Popper's Penguins was made in 2011. Personally, I love reading book-to-movie adaptations so I can compare and contrast the book to the movie. A similar activity can be done with this book; as a class, the book can be read and then after the class will watch the film and can discuss the differences between the film and the movie and even make a Venn diagram comparing the two. Although the book is a chapter book and therefore is more suitable for older grade to read, this book is so fun I believe even younger grades would enjoy and connect to the story as the teacher reads it to them.
Comments
Post a Comment