Mr Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater

Mr Popper's Penguins (Literature guides)

by Richard Atwater

The lovable Mr. Popper dreams of being an intrepid Antarctic explorer, living life among the penguins alongside his hero, Admiral Drake. So he is shocked one day when the admiral responds to his fan letter by sending him a real, live penguin! Soon, this penguin is joined by another and before long Mr. Popper has an ice-rink in the basement and a dozen delightful penguins living in his house. With barely enough money to feed his family and an increasing demand for raw fish and canned shrimp, what can the wonderfully imaginative Mr. Popper do but train his penguins and then take the show on the road!

Reviewed by cherryblossommj on

3 of 5 stars

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I finally finished this book. I was bookmarked at the top of Chapter XX (the last chapter!) and just hadn't found the opportunity to finish it. My daughter finished it on ahead and I just hadn't caught up and then found myself distracted for about a year until I returned to finish out the last little bit. This is a Literature choice from Memoria Press; I believe it was third grade.

For me, I do not really see the love in this book. I enjoy this in the way I appreciate Curious George, Peter Rabbit, or Winnie the Pooh. The father is a dreamer but he is a bit like Papa Berenstain Bear. He is an artist sort and not exactly the strong dependable sort I would lean toward for a paternal figure. But... it all works out. It is silly. It is funny. It is even a little cute. It isn't amazing, but it is a good bit of humor to work right in with reading things like Motorcycle Mouse, Ramona, or James and the Giant Peach.

My children love it and I plan to let them all read thought it again and again.

My book shares the ISBN of this edition, but the cover of a former edition. We also have a Kindle eBook and an old mp3 file deep in computer files of the Audiobook.
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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 February, 2020: Finished reading
  • 12 February, 2020: Reviewed