Mr. Popper's Penguins
Summary
A painter who has trouble making enough money ends up with a group of penguins. An explorer, whom the the painter has written a fan letter, sends a penguin to the painter. The penguin starts to act differently and the painter takes him to the zoo where he acquires a female. They soon have 10 and he tries to figure out how to make money off of them. This does not go very well and decides to have the explorer take them back to the North Pole.
Bibligraphic Citation
Atwater, R., Atwater, F., & Lawson, R. (1938). Mr. Popper's Penguins. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
Impression
The book was funny. I thought that the premise that he was sent a penguin for really being such a big fan of exploration and animals was an interesting way of setting up the story. I enjoyed the little things about his wife and how she felt about the situation and how it all ties in with the need to provide for his family, which becomes even harder with the penquins there.
Review
Reid, Rob. Mr. Popper's Penguins. Book Links; Jun2010, Vol. 19 Issue 4, p30-31, 2p. Library & Information Science Source 17 Sept 2013.
Gr. 1—4
A penguin named Captain Cook arrives at Mr.Popper's house courtesy of Admiral Drake. The penguin is sad until the Poppers purchase a second penguin—Greta. Captain Cook and Greta have 10 chicks. "They were Nelson, Columbus,
Louisa, Jenny, Scott, Magellan, Adelina, Isabella, Ferdinand, and Victoria." The Poppers run out of money feeding the penguins and altering their house, so they become a traveling show—the Popper Performing Penguins. This book made its first appearance in 1938.
lO'Minute Selection:
Read Chapter 6, "More Troubles," which opens with the line, "The children were the first to notice the policeman." The officer is responding to a complaint about Captain Cook. Later on, Mr. Popper tries to find out "what the municipal ordinance about penguinsis." He gets nowhere. Skip to Chapter 8, "Penguin's Promenade." Mr. Popper takes Captain Cook on a neighborhood stroll. People refer to the penguin as a goose, a pelican, and a dodo. Mr. Popper and Captain Cook escape into a barbershop. Finish with Chapter 9, "In the BarberShop." The barber throws them out. Mr. Popper hails a taxi and they return home. The passage ends with "He went to lie down, for he was quite exhausted from all the
unusual exercise, while Captain Cook had a shower and took a nap in the icebox."Uses
Try to get an animal that the student do not know very well or that looks similar to many others and have them guess what it is. The people in the book didnt even know what penguins were.
Module 2
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Summary
Harry Potter lives in an awful situation with his aunt and uncle. On his 11th birthday he begins to get letters from a place called Hogwarts. Despite every attempt to keep the letters from Harry by his relatives, he finds out that he is a wizard and is invited to wizarding school. There he finds out that he is already famous and that he has a mortal enemy. He makes friends, who help him greatly, as well as foes, who try to make sure he fails. He has many issues do deal with and ends up having to save the sorcerers stone from falling in to the hands of his enemy, Voldemort. He, by luck and skill, is able to thwart the plans of Voldemort and temporarily delay his return to the world.
Bibliographic Citation
Rowling, J.K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: Scholastic
Impression
This book has been so well regarded that I had to read it. I thought it was one of the best I have ever read. The teen fiction genre is great and this is one of the best. Rowling makes the book come to life and I wanted to be a Hogwarts. The adventure, drama, comedy are all woven it to make it a great story. It is also a little bit of a mystery because you really wonder what is going to happen next. I can definately see why this is so popular. I am plugging through the whole series now. (very hard with so much other reading to do). All of the characters mesh together. There are the bad guys and the good guys but there is always some doubt on the motives of some of the characters so that adds intrigue. I thought Quiddith was genius and the battle between Voldemort and Harry is classic.
Review
J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; illus. by Mary Grandpre
309 pp. Levine/Scholastic 9/98 ISBN 0-590-35340-3 16.95 (Intermediate)
Orphaned Harry Potter has been living a dog's life with his horrible relatives. He sleeps in the broom cupboard under the stairs and is treated as a slavey by his aunt and uncle. On his eleventh birthday, mysterious missives begin arriving for him, culminating eventually in the arrival of a giant named Hagrid, who has come to escort him to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learns that his parents died saving him from an evil sorcerer and that he himself is destined to be a wizard of great power. Harry's astonished introduction to the life of wizardry starts with his purchase, under Hagrid's guidance, of all the tools of an aspiring sorcerer: wand, robes, cauldron, broomstick, owl. Hogwarts is the typical British public school, with much emphasis placed on games and the honor of the House. Harry's house is Gryffindor, the time-honored rival of Slytherin: he becomes a star at Quidditch, an extremely complicated game played with four different balls while the whole team swoops about on broomsticks. He studies Herbology, the History of Magic, Charms, Potions, the Dark Arts, and other arcane subjects, all the while getting closer to his destiny and the secret of the sorcerer's stone. He makes friends (and enemies), goes through dangerous and exciting adventures, and justifies the hopeful predictions about him. The light-hearted caper travels through the territory owned by the late Roald Dahl, especially in the treatment of the bad guys--they are uniformly as unshadedly awful as possible--but the tone is a great deal more affectionate. A charming and readable romp with a most sympathetic hero and filled with delightful magic details.
Uses
Have a Harry Potter night. Dress up in costumes. Have refreshments. Give awards for the best costumes. Have a sorting and put the students in Houses.
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