Part 1
In the quiet little town of Stillwater lives Mr. Popper, a house painter with paint on his clothes and the South Pole in his head. He has never left town, but he reads every book about polar exploration he can find, and his hero is the great Admiral Drake, leader of the Antarctic expedition. One evening, the radio crackles with a miracle: Admiral Drake, broadcasting from the bottom of the world, sends a personal message — watch for a surprise, Mr. Popper! Days later a delivery man staggers up with an enormous crate, and out steps the surprise: a live penguin. Mr. Popper names him Captain Cook, after the famous explorer — a name picked with Bill and Janie, the Popper children. The dignified little bird inspects the house like a general inspecting a camp, discovers the bathtub, slides gleefully down its slippery sides, and turns the Popper family’s tidy, ordinary life upside down — while Mrs. Popper wonders aloud what a penguin will do to the family budget.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Words of explorers and iceboxes: expedition, admiral, dignified, inspect, budget… |
| Literary Elements | Character contrast, humor of the absurd, and setting |
| Cross-Curricular | Where penguins really live, how iceboxes worked, and why explorers used radio |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stillwater Dreamer — house painter Mr. Popper longs for the poles he has only read about. |
| 2 | The Voice from Antarctica — Admiral Drake answers Mr. Popper’s fan letter over the radio and promises a surprise. |
| 3 | Captain Cook Arrives — a crate marked ‘Keep Cool’ arrives; the family names the penguin, and he falls in love with the bathtub. |
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
- Captain Cook discovers the joys of the bathtub.
- Admiral Drake promises a surprise over the radio.
- A live penguin steps out and inspects the rooms.
- Mr. Popper reads about the poles and writes to Admiral Drake.
- A heavy crate with air holes arrives at the house.
Think back over the chapters. A house painter spends his evenings at the South Pole without leaving his armchair. A famous explorer says his name on the radio. And then a wooden crate with air holes stands in the hallway, rocking slightly — and out steps a small, solemn gentleman in a feathered dinner jacket who inspects the house, discovers the bathtub, and turns it into a private toboggan run. The dream did not come true exactly. Something better happened: the dream arrived by mail.
Penguins are birds, yet everything about them seems backwards. Their wings cannot lift them an inch into the air — instead, they have hardened into stiff, powerful flippers that make penguins some of the fastest swimmers in the ocean. Their thick coat of tiny feathers traps a layer of warm air against the skin and works like a waterproof diving suit. On land they walk upright with a slow, rocking waddle that looks clumsy and dignified at the same time, as if each bird were a tiny gentleman on his way to inspect something important. Nearly all penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere — along the coasts of Antarctica, South America, Africa, and Australia — and not one lives wild at the North Pole. In the water, everything changes: the waddler becomes a torpedo, twisting and diving after fish with astonishing speed. Scientists like to say a penguin is not a bird that failed at flying. It is a bird that learned to fly underwater.
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 1 “The Surprise Crate”
Admiral Drake sends Mr. Popper the surprise of a lifetime in a wooden crate. Now imagine a crate arrives at YOUR door from the place you dream about most. Where does it come from, what steps out (or spills out), and how does your family react? Describe the arrival in 6–10 sentences — and keep a straight face, the way the Atwaters would.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 1 Complete!
You finished Chapters 1–3 of Mr. Popper’s Penguins.
Here are your auto-graded results:
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Richard & Florence Atwater. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Richard & Florence Atwater’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.