Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Mr. Popper is a house painter, but he loves reading about polar exploration. After writing a letter to an arctic explorer, he receives a very special gift: a penguin. Mr. Popper and his family try to adapt their home and their lives to their new pet, but many people just don't understand what a penguin is or why one is living with the Poppers. The Poppers' lives will never be the same!

This was always a book that I knew about, but I'd never read it as a child. I remember it always seemed to have a prominent place in the 'classics' displays that book stores seemed to have when I was a kid (they were cardboard and divided into six or nine compartments). So when I saw a copy at NetGalley, and with the movie opening this weekend, I decided to take a look. The book has held up remarkably well over time; unlike so many other children's books from decades ago, there was little that I could see that is problematic from a social or racial point of view (even so, the Poppers' marriage is fascinating to look at). From what I've seen of the TV commercials, the movie will have little in common with the book (Mr. Popper is a bad husband, a bad parent, and seems to hate the penguins?) But it will have Angela Lansbury, and it will likely find the book a new audience.

I read a copy of the book from NetGalley provided by Open Road.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
Leader by Destiny: George Washington, Man & Patriot by Jeanette Eaton
Hello, the Boat! by Phyllis Crawford
Penn by Elizabeth Janet Gray
Nino by Valenti Angelo