Mr. Popper's Penguins

Mr. Popper’s Penguins	Little, Brown and Company
Written by Richard and Florence Atwater Illustrated by Robert Lawson	1992 139 pages
Fiction	Newberry Award
Reading Level age 9-11

Summary

Mr. Popper is a house painter. In the summers, he paints and re-papers all the houses in the town. In the winter, he stays home and reads. He reads everything about travel and explorations. His favorite topic was the Poles. He could name all the explorers and the reason for the explorations. He was sitting in his living room with his latest book with his globe, when he realized the time. He hurriedly turned on the radio. Admiral Drake from the South Pole was broadcasting home. His voice came through the speakers addressing Mr. Popper and thanking his for his letter. Admiral Drake promised an answer was on its way back and to expect it soon. Mrs. Popper was shocked Mr. Popper wrote the Admiral. He said he wrote about how funny the penguins were. The next day a package arrived from Antarctica with instructions to open immediately and keep cool. Mr. Popper signed for it and opened it. Inside was a penguin! The penguin hopped out and started exploring the house with Mr. Popper following him. He filled the bathtub and watched the penguin marching back and forth in the water. Just then the children, Janie and Bill came home from school. They were thrilled and decide to call him Captain Cook. When Mrs. Popper arrives, they emptied out the freezer for Captain Cook to sleep in. The next day Mr. Popper hires a service man to make holes in the freezer and to install a handle on the inside of the freezer. Captain Cook is shown his new home and carries odds and ends to create a nest to sleep in. Mr. Popper dresses in his finest suit and takes Captain Cook for a walk; this is upsetting to others as they are tangled in the leash of the inquisitive penguin. Mr. Popper escapes out the barbershop backdoor only for Captain Cook to waddle up the fire escape stairs just to toboggan down again. Mr. Popper returns home in a taxi, less put together than he was at the start of their adventure. Captain Cook didn’t look so good the next day, he would sit in his icebox and had a temperature of 105`. Mr. Popper called the veterinary; there wasn’t anything he could do. Mr. Popper wrote a letter to the Aquarium curator, suggesting loneliness. An answer came in another penguin, Greta. To tell them apart, Mr. Popper wrote their names on their back with white paint. To keep the penguins comfortable, they kept the windows open that night. In the morning, great drifts of snow had blown into the windows. The children and penguins had a day sliding down the slopes of snow. The next day when the snow inside all melted, Mr. Popper had a freezer installed in the basement and dug out part of the floor for a swimming pool. Soon there were eggs in the nest. Mr. Popper expected there to be two but there ended up being ten. When the chicks hatched, there were even more fish to buy and names to assign. Mr. Popper’s favorite place to be now was in the basement, watching his twelve penguins run up the basement stairs and slide down. Mrs. Popper, worried about money and the future costs of the penguins in summer, asked Mr. Popper what they were to do. They came up with a plan of training the penguins. They already knew the act, it was just the timing. Mrs. Popper played different songs to cue when the penguins were to march, argue and slide down ladders. They show their act to a theater owner and are an instant success! They toured all the major cities with a ten week contract that took care of their money problems. They rode taxis, stayed in fancy hotels and entertained crowds everywhere. The hotels were at first against the idea of penguins staying there, but it was good for business since everyone wanted a glimpse of the famous penguins. It was very expensive to stay in fancy hotels and even more to order blocks of ice to keep the penguins cool. The food wasn’t for they were sponsored by the canned shrimp company, who gave them free cans of shrimp. Over the course of the tour, it became progressively hotter. Mr. Popper stayed up most nights cooling the penguins off with cold water from the shower. The next day he mistakenly asked the taxi to take them to the Royal instead of the Regal. At the Royal, a troupe of seals was performing. This created quite an upheaval, the policemen and firefighters were called to keep the peace. The firefighters put their hats on the penguins and the policemen set their hats on the seals. Naturally everything was straightened out, until the manager had Mr. Popper and his penguins arrested for disturbing the peace and breaking into his theatre. The patrol set the bail exorbitantly high, so Mr. Popper and his penguins could not get out until they were paid at the end of the week. They could not get a hold of the manager to bail them out, he was in Hollywood. So the penguins sat in jail, drooping and becoming quieter as the week progressed. On Saturday, the patrolman unlocked the jail and let Mr. Popper out. Expecting the manager, he started to thank him but it was Admiral Drake that set them free! He had just returned from the South Pole and heard the news of their arrest. Mr. Popper explained about Greta and their performing tour. Admiral suggested that Mr. Popper let his penguins be sent with him to the North Pole to start a colony of North Pole penguins. Just then, the manager appears with a film director, describing the deal that was written up for the penguins, making them rich with a house all their own. Mr. Popper talked it over with Mrs. Popper and the next day he had his answer. He would allow Admiral Drake to take the penguins with him to the North Pole, with the film crew creating a short film about their performances and their future home in the Arctic. The Admiral’s ship was loaded and the penguins were busy exploring the ship. It was time to say goodbye. It was hard for Mr. Popper to part with the young penguins and Greta, but the hardest was Captain Cook. He left the penguins in their quarters and stepped on deck to wish Admiral Drake a safe trip. Admiral confused asked if Mr. Popper wasn’t going with them, to care for the penguins. Mr. Popper hadn’t thought of it, he was only a house painter; but as Admiral said he was the penguin’s keeper. Mr. Popper asked Mrs. Popper if it was alright. She said she would miss him but he could have his adventure. So Mr. Popper and his Performing Penguins waved goodbye and headed to the North Pole.

Reaction

I think this was a well written book and loved the funny story. I thought it was unique and a great book. I loved the penguins and their individual characters. Mr. Popper was interesting, a house painter and dreamer.

Possible Problems

There was a definite focus on money and finances. This could detract from the story for younger audiences.

Recommendations

I would recommend this to children with big dreams to travel and admire those explorers. Also, those who want a pet and see the difficulties taking care of one but also the positive side.