I remember my mom reading this aloud to me and my siblings, and that we all really liked it. I'd forgotten pretty much everything, though, and decided to read it to my nieces (ages 7, 9, 10). They all loved it and gave it 5 stars. I have to, also!

This is a really sweet story about a man who is sent penguins, and all the fun silliness that unfolds with him, his family, and his new pets.

"Janie and Bill would often bring their little friends home from school with them, and they would all go down and watch the penguins for hours.
"At night, instead of sitting and reading and smoking his pipe in the living room, as he had done before, Mr. Popper would put on his overcoat and take his things downstairs. There he would sit and read, with his mittens on, looking up from time to time to see what his pets were doing. He often thought.... how different his life had been before the penguins had come to keep him occupied.... He dreaded to think of the time when.... he would have to leave them all day..." pp 79-80 ( )

Lawrence, Robert ( )

Here's another book that begs for a great screenplay. And of course I want to play Mrs. Popper. My only worry is that Hollywood ruins it as there is little in the way of plot tension and who knows what might get thrown in to up the drama! ( )

7 copies

Mr. Popper is a house painter from Stillwater. When he inherits two penguins, one from the zoo and one from a man he admires, Admiral Drake, his life and the lives of his family get turned upside down. Next thing you know, they have 12 penguins to feed. When times become tough, he takes the penguins on the road and tries to have them perform for money. Ultimately, he realizes the penguins belong in the Arctic and returns them to their habitat. ( )