Maybe it’s because we visited the penguin house at the St. Louis zoo. Maybe it’s because several of my friends are elementary schoolteachers and are selecting their curriculum for the coming year. Whatever the reason, I have been thinking about Mr. Popper’s Penguins lately.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a silly, unrealistic story about a man who is obsessed with the exploration of the poles. One day, for some indiscernible reason, Mr. Popper sends off for a penguin of his very own. The penguin is curious about his new environment, but soon begins to fall ill. Discovering the penguins need companionship, Mr. Popper sends off for a lady penguin and the inevitable happens. Now the proud owner of a whole penguin family, Mr. Popper teaches them tricks and he and his family take their strange show on the road.

I loved that book when I was a kid. Something about a touch of the exotic invading the familiarity of domesticity appealed to me. I think at one time I wanted to turn our basement into an ice skating rink and keep penguins there.

I need to get it and read it again. Like the movie Grease, Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a silly story, but it’s such a cheerful one that you can’t help but smile.

Ice skating, anyone?