83 pages • 2 hours read
Richard Atwater, Florence AtwaterMr. Popper's Penguins
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1938A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 15-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 15 Summary: “Popper’s Performing Penguins”
The theater manager tells Mr. Greenbaum that the closing act, “The Marvelous Marcos,” have not arrived, and the audience is demanding a refund. Mrs. Popper suggests that the penguins be allowed to rehearse on the stage in order to entertain the theatergoers. The penguins march out and perform their tricks in response to whatever piece she plays on the piano. The birds march, have a flipper fight, and toboggan down from ladders, while “[t]he manager and the audience […] all [hold] their sides, laughing” (102). The manager orders ice cream cones for the penguins as well as for Bill and Janie.
Mr. Greenbaum tells the Poppers that they are “real troupers—the kind we need in show business” (104) because they helped the manager by performing unexpectedly. He offers them a 10-week contract at $5,000 per week. Mr. Popper asks his wife if this is acceptable, and she responds, “Yes, that’s very satisfactory” (104). The penguins’ first performance will be the following Thursday in Seattle.
Chapter 16 Summary: “On the Road”
The family prepares for the road trip by purchasing new clothes and straightening the house. Mr. Greenbaum pays them their first week’s salary in advance. The first thing they do is to pay the engineer who installed the freezing plant in the cellar; then they pay the company who shipped fresh fish to them for the penguins.
Mr. Popper orders two taxicabs to transport the family, the dozen penguins, and “the eight suitcases and pail of water with the live fish for the penguins’ lunch” (108). The drivers race each other to the station; each one wants to arrive first to let the people see the penguins exit their cabs. They race on the way, and when they “tried to pass each other, one of the fenders got torn off” (109).
Mr. Popper wants to ride in the baggage car with the penguins to keep them calm; he must guide the birds through every car on the train to reach the rear. On the way, the penguins are excited when they see the ladders in the sleeping car. They immediately start climbing up the ladders into the upper berths. The passengers are upset: “One old lady screamed that she was going to get off the train […] A gentleman wearing a clergyman’s collar suggested opening a window, so that the penguins could jump out” (110). The conductor and the brakeman help to remove the birds.
Mrs. Popper is concerned that the children will miss 10 weeks of school; however, Mr. Popper advises her that travel can be very educational.
The penguins are very popular when they perform for the first time in Seattle. The children help their father get the birds off the stage so that the next act, a tightrope walker named Monsieur Duval, can perform. The penguins become very interested in this act and “[walk] out on the stage again to watch him more closely” (112) as the acrobat dances on the overhead wire. The audience is very amused when they see the penguins watching the performer; they laugh loudly and cause Monsieur Duval to lose his balance. He is very angry when he sees the birds, who look as though they are laughing at him, and calls them “stupid things” (114) in French.
Chapters 15-16 Analysis
The Popper family penguins perform their audition in front of a live audience at Mr. Greenbaum’s theater. This is the result of a serendipitous circumstance: When the last act of the day fails to appear for their performance, Mrs. Popper suggests that the penguins perform instead; the act is very well received. The birds perform the skits rehearsed in response to specific songs that Mrs. Popper plays on the piano. This is an example of a learning method known as “operant conditioning”; i.e., the animal performs a particular behavior in response to a unique stimulus.
The birds are very excited when the audience claps, and they make a variety of sounds such as “Gook!” and “Ork.” Penguins vocalize frequently in the wild in order to communicate with each other about nesting territories, help with partner and chick recognition, and plan defenses against intruders. One reason the Poppers’ act is so successful is because it is built upon behaviors that the penguins enjoy, such as tobogganing. Penguins are flightless birds; their “wings” are actually flippers. In the Antarctic, these animals can walk at a speed of only 2 mph due to their pear shaped bodies and short feet. Tobogganing across the ice is a much speedier option for them, especially on slopes that allow them to develop momentum. This behavior is used to escape predators, such as seals; however, wild penguins toboggan in groups for enjoyment, as well.
The authors emphasize the fact that Mr. Popper’s ethereal nature does not result in cheating tradesmen. They write that he pays the engineer and the fish company as soon as he receives his first pay check. The penguins continue to be a wonderful source of entertainment for their audiences. They are never more popular than when following their basic instincts, e.g., displaying their natural curiosity by returning to the stage to watch an aerialist perform on a tightrope. While the Poppers profit by having the animals perform, they do not require the birds to engage in behaviors that would be counter to their natural instincts.
