Product Description: More than 60 years have not dated this wonderfully absurd tale--itstill makes kids (and parents) laugh out loud. Poor Mr. Popper isn't exactly unhappy; he just wishes he had seen something of the world before meeting Mrs. Popper and settling down. Most of all, he wishes he had seen the Poles, and spends his spare time between house-painting jobs reading all about polar explorations. Admiral Drake, in response to Mr. Popper's fan letter, sends him a penguin; life at 432 Proudfoot Avenue is never the same again. From one penguin living in the icebox, the Popper family grows to include 12 penguins, all of whom must be fed. Thus is born "Popper's Performing Penguins, First Time on Any Stage, Direct from the South Pole." Their adventures while on tour are hilarious, with numerous slapstick moments as the penguins disrupt other acts and invade hotels. Classic chapter-a-night fun. (Ages 5 to 10) --Richard Farr
Amazon.com: More than 60 years have not dated this wonderfully absurd tale--it still makes kids (and parents) laugh out loud. Poor Mr. Popper isn't exactly unhappy; he just wishes he had seen something of the world before meeting Mrs. Popper and settling down. Most of all, he wishes he had seen the Poles, and spends his spare time between house-painting jobs reading all about polar explorations. Admiral Drake, in response to Mr. Popper's fan letter, sends him a penguin; life at 432 Proudfoot Avenue is never the same again. From one penguin living in the icebox, the Popper family grows to include 12 penguins, all of whom must be fed. Thus is born "Popper's Performing Penguins, First Time on Any Stage, Direct from the South Pole." Their adventures while on tour are hilarious, with numerous slapstick moments as the penguins disrupt other acts and invade hotels. Classic chapter-a-night fun. (Ages 5 to 10) --Richard Farr
Our first successful read-aloud I had tried many different books from Black Beauty to Little Britches to enrich our homeschool literature time. No joy. Of course, to be fair, it's worth mentioning that my children are still all 6 and younger (all five of them!)
When we did a thematic unit study on penguins, I came across this book in our local homeschool store, and it was a HIT! They all begged me to read "just one more chapter" every night. We went and saw the penguins in another town as a family vacation as a culmination to our study, and the main thing discussed was the book and Mr. Popper, and which penguin looked like Greta and Captain Cook from the book.
My boys still dress in all black some days, so they can be penguins. So, to keep the attention of a 6 year old, 4 year old, and 3 year old (and sometimes the 19 month old) it truly IS a classic! I look forward to reading it again to them soon! We ALL enjoyed Mr. Popper.
Sra. Gose Author of Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 1 & Spanish Fun Activity Calendar
A Classic. I have read this book five times now with 3rd graders. For some reason, I always dread rereading it. But then, during the story, I get back into it. Some stories are like that I guess. Some are Re-readers and some are not.
A few things I somehow forget between readings I would like to write here and hopefully remember for next time:
1. Mr and Mrs. Popper live in Stillwater! They also visit Minneapolis. A study of major cities and states would not be entirely out of place paired with this book. The penguins visit Boston, Chicago, Milwaukee and New York. I asked the students what states these cities were in as we read, and I did not get a lot of correct guesses.
2. The book is filled with fabulous alliteration! Making note of this early on gets the kids looking for it as we read and cements the concept for them. Popper's Performing Penguins
3. This time through, I paused when the penguins made noises: "gook!" and "ork!" were some of the more common ones. On cue, the students would make the sounds. It really kept them on track following along, and they seemed to really enjoy attempting the sounds in various intonations. (How does a penguin ask a question said as "ork?" versus making an exclamation of "ork!")
4. A few years ago, I attempted to read the entire book as though it were "Mr. W's Penguins." Each time it read the word Popper, I substituted my last name. Well, I ended up forgetting fairly regularly, and the kids were more concerned with reminding me than with comprehending the story. I guess they were paying attention at least.
A great book for book club; not a lot of deep, high level themes to pore over. A good 3rd grade starter book, perhaps.
Greatest Book Ever Get this book! It is one of the greatest books I have read! It's a great story about a man(Mr.Popper) who's likes the Atlantic and gets a little surprise. It's a package from admiral Drake. Read the book and see what happens.
extremely great This book is brilliant because it is funny and clever. A laugh out loud experience with great illustrations. You'll wish there was a sequel.
-Eamon
Brings back memories Our teacher read this book to us in 3rd grade. In 7th grade I played Janie in a school play. Bought the book to take me back in time. I'm almost 55 now. Great to learn that the author lived in Chicago. We'd moved to that area from Colorado when I was in 3rd grade.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
