Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Mr. Popper’s Penguins, or, what we read in a Japanese emergency room.

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

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An hour before we landed in Kyoto, my son complained of a fever. Two days later, he was still in bed, nauseated, his fever ranging between 101 and 104. The next day, his fever disappeared…only to reappear with a full-body rash the next day. We were concerned about this rash because we live in the tropics, in a place where mosquito-borne illnesses are common, and we knew the signs of high fever, body aches, and a rash. As soon as I saw it, I thought, […]

Let’s read about penguins in Feb… June!

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

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I chose this as our February “Script-to-Screen Book Club” pick, mostly because we have the licensing to show the movie in my library.  It’s also on the “Battle of the Books” list for the 3rd and 4th grade in my area, so a win-win!  We’ll find out if people actually show up to the program! (Edit – they did not.) Mr. Popper’s Penguins was first published in 1938, and it shows a bit.  Mr. Popper is a house painter who doesn’t work in the winter […]

Five stars of adorable madness

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

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In 2018 I went on a bucket-list trip to Antarctica and saw penguins. Always a fan of the adorable little birds (I mean, come on, that waddle!), I’ve become sort of obsessed. This new-found penguin mania resulted in a Sphenisciformes-themed Christmas, including a hard copy of the delightful 1938 children’s tale, Mr. Popper’s Penguins. I say delightful, but I might have easily said batshit crazy. I want whatever the Atwater couple was smoking when they wrote this. For context, Mr. Atwater died before publishing Mr. […]

Pity Poor Mrs. Popper

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We’ve started reading chapter books to Baguette at bedtime. Our first was The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. Neither Mr. Sandwich nor I had read that as children, and we’re continuing that with our next selection: Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. On its surface, the story is cute enough. A seasonally unemployed house painter unexpectedly takes delivery of a penguin, and hijinks ensue. There is a second penguin, and then little penguins, and more hijinks. Baguette is enjoying the story, […]



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