Mr. Popper's Penguins

Mr. Popper's Penguins is a perennial favorite summer reading book for the fourth grade or so. I bought the book to see if it was appropriate for teaching English to middle school Ukrainians. I also read it to my 7-year-old son.I decided the book was too long for my seventh graders, and the story perhaps a bit too juvenile. The language level, third and fourth grade, was exactly what I had been looking for. It seems totally appropriate for summer reading.The book was written in the 1930s and reflects traditional values. A married couple, children who respect their father despite his foibles, and the typical small town characters from taxi drivers to the dowager on the street. The authority figures, Adm. Drake and Mr. Greenbaum, are also stock characters. The book would be written differently today.The penguins themselves are rather improbable in their sociability, intelligence, and amazing ability to jump. Fiction involves the willing suspense of disbelief. This book asks a bit more than usual. However, as noted, my 7-year-old son had no trouble whatsoever putting aside his disbelief and getting engrossed in the story. He insisted that we read it every night. It took 5 nights to complete.As a children's story it has stood the test of time.

I had never read this silly little book until it was on sale for Kindle and I decided to read it at bedtime with my eight-year-old son. We found its whimsical and bizarre story charming and had a great time with it. While the book's central plot ends in an abrupt deus-ex-machina and I was hoping for a bit more of a pleasant epilogue, we enjoyed our time with it. Looking forward to watching the movie with him (which I actually heard wasn't so great). Still, the turn-of-the-century explorer trope is used wildly in this book, but the fun part is that it is a book that never takes itself seriously, so it is the perfect short-chaptered before bedtime book that is a lot of fun to read as we got snoozy. Captivating illustrations throughout.

I read this book out loud to my family, which includes hubby, a teen boy, and a tween girl. We each giggled at least once, including my very serious husband. I knew it had the stamp of approval when we finished chapter 19 of 20 and there was a collective groan when I read the title of the 20th and last chapter, but put the book down for the next night. We read one chapter each evening, or about 15-20 minutes if there were no chapter delineations, as in some other books. That chapter 20 title indicated that the end was coming for Mr. Popper's Penguins.Last night we read the last chapter. Sigh. I wasn't ready for it to be over. If you read the Kindle copy of the book, be sure to read the end-of-book matter. There are pictures of the Atwater family, and an explanation of how this book came to be. I'm SO glad Mrs. Atwater made some realistic changes to the book before it was published after Mr. Atwater's death. What she did turned it into the award-winning classic that it is, a must-read for all ages.This book was an assigned read-aloud for our homeschool curriculum, but we set it aside in a big stack of books to be read later, since it was just for enjoyment and not really related to other readings and assignments in the curriculum at the time. I'm so glad we waited, because now it would be remembered forever. It was very different from the Jim Carrey movie (also fabulous), so read this and enjoy a completely different story. Pretty much the only things relating the book and movie were the character names and the plethora of penguins!Enjoy some time with your family and read aloud!

My Four-Year-Old is just beginning to be interested in having chapter books read to her. But as she gets stressed out by conflict of any sort, it's kind of tough finding good candidates for her. This is a winner.For those of you who haven't read the book, the basic premise is that a house painter who spends his off-hours reading about (and writing to) explorers in the South Pole receives a penguin in the mail from one of those explorers. Since his work is over for the winter, he becomes very involved in the comfort and care of said penguin (and the eleven other penguins that quickly follow). In the end, he transforms his basement into an ice rink (an idea my daughter wholeheartedly supports, by the way), and spends more than his wife ever thought possible on fish and canned shrimp.I won't tell you how an out-of-work house painter manages to pay for all that (wouldn't want to spoil the ending), but I will say that the process is highly entertaining for all involved. I found myself looking forward to each night's installment of Mr. Popper nearly as much as The Four-Year-Old.Although I personally found the ending to be highly improbable, The Four-Year-Old saw nothing at all the matter with it--except for that little bit of unpleasantness with the policemen and firemen--and has spent many a happy evening reenacting the finale in the bathtub.And now, if you will excuse me, I need to go read Mr. Popper's Penguins to The Four-Year-Old again. I promised her I would as soon as I finished writing the review.(Excerpted from review posted on my blog: Caterpickles-Scientific & Linguistic Engagement with a 4-Year-Old Mind)

As has been said before now in a title, you had me at --- . This was such a book for me whilst resting in bed I was looking through various forms of writing and the title intrigued me. It was sort of like a fantasy setting, following a contact with an explorer and the principal character that resulted in a penguin, then more came into the lives of the principal character and his family lives. This could be read to children as it featured a cute creature with equally cute characteristics even their means of walking. I recommend this book.

A very sweet children's book which doesn't feel dated and, fortunately, is very different from the infantile film of the same name. Mr Popper is sent a penguin, receives another and then a whole host of them. They help pay for themselves and help him to live his dreams.Short and sweet but there's a reason this classic children's book is still so popular 80 years on. Absolutely charming!

Wanted bedtime stories for nearly seven year old boy. We have not seen the recent film, but I am guessing, from the film photographs used to illustrate the book, it must be a bit different. Might have been be better to have got a book with illustrations relating to the story being read, as seemed unsatisfactory to a young listener. However, when he was going through books to give to the school for Christmas sale, this was not one to go. Also, it arrived quickly and in good condition. Thankyou

This is a great book I read it to my children and they enjoyed every second of this book.I enjoyed it to !

To be read to special needs children.