Mr. Popper's Penguins



We enjoy a good read-aloud around here.  In September we read Treasures of the Snow, by Patricia St. John, and in October we read The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis.  As we were finishing that one, I reserved a few books at the library to preview and choose for our next read-aloud.  One of those was Mr. Popper's Penguins, which after I reviewed it, planned to assign to Noah as part of his reading class curriculum.  However, the next day I discovered him reading it, and he was already 2/3 of the way through!  He devoured that book before I ever had a chance to come up with study questions and such, so I guess it's off the list.  But boy did he enjoy it!  Here's an excerpt from the part that had him giggling out loud:

"Penguins are very intelligent," continued Mr. Popper.  "Listen to this, Mamma. It says here that when they want to catch some shrimps, they all crowd over to the edge of an ice bank.  Only they don't just jump in, because a sea leopard might be waiting to eat the penguins.  So they crowd and push until they manage to push one penguin off, to see if it's safe.  I mean if he doesn't get eaten up, the rest of them know it's safe for them all to jump in."

"Dear me!" said Mrs. Popper in a shocked tone.  "They sound to me like pretty heathen birds."


If any of you have suggestions for good (preferably classic) books right around this same reading level, I'd be most appreciative!


Comments

Melanie said…
Joanna, if you check on the Sonlight curriculum website, they list by grade level classical read aloud books and read alone books. I have been using that this year for David. One of the libraries in Comnecticut has all of the books, so I use inter library loan and get the books for him. :)
November 8, 2014 at 3:14 PM
Ruth said…
Like Melanie said, I like to use other book lists such as Sonlight or My Father's World and such for suggestions. We also enjoyed Mr. Popper's Penguins and the Horse and His Boy earlier this year. Treasures of the Snow is on my list, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Patricia M. St.John is such a great author!! One series (albeit not "classical") that would be easy for him to read would be the imagination station series. They are not terribly long so he'd be able to whip through them. They are Christian books that also teach some history (a Christian alternative to the Magic Tree House books). Our public library does have the series, so maybe yours does as well! Nadia and Ian just eat those up so we fly through them (and Nadia can also read them on her own). Here's our list if it gives you some ideas: http://journeytoourchildren.blogspot.com/p/read-alouds.html I'm not sure what you're studying in history right now, but I'm always a big fan of trying to tie those together (read alouds and history). We just finished Toliver's Secret today. I had never read the book before, but I highly recommend it, and if you are studying early American history (takes place during the time of the Revolutionary War) it's a great time to read it! I also recommend the Dr. Doolittle series as well as the Pippi Longstocking series, Paddington Bear books, and also the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books.
November 8, 2014 at 5:19 PM
Carrie said…
Beverly Cleary's mouse collection - Runaway Ralph...boys and me loved them!
November 9, 2014 at 8:04 PM
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