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Florence Atwater (1896 to 1979) and Richard Atwater (1892 to 1948) were the co-authors of Mr. Popper’s Penguins. He was a classics professor at the University of Chicago and she had an MA in French Literature from the same university, where she took one of his classes. They married in 1921 (she was 25 and he was 29) and had two children. Richard wrote the first version of Penguins and then had a stroke in 1934, which left him unable to write or speak until his death in 1946. Florence took up teaching to support the family but also submitted the manuscript for publication, which was rejected. Undaunted, she rewrote the story and it was finally published to great success in 1938, winning a Newbery Honors Award in 1939. Her rewriting must have been extensive enough so that she qualified as a co-author.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a wonderful book, suitable for upper elementary and above readers. It is also a great family read-aloud book. The premise of keeping penguins in a small house in the little town of Stillwater makes for all kinds of amusing situations. The main character is Mr. Popper, a simple house painter who dreams of exploring the Polar regions of the earth, North or South. He is fascinated by Admiral Byrd’s expeditions to the South Pole region (Admiral Drake in the book), which he actually carried out in the 1930s. Because of the letter of appreciation that Mr. Popper had sent to Drake, when Drake is broadcasting live on the radio from the South Pole (a very big deal in the 1930s), he sends a greeting to Mr. Popper over the airwaves and tells him to expect a surprise in the mail. That surprise turns out to be a live penguin, and this classic story zooms off from there!
Although Mr. Popper’s Penguins is indeed a wonderful story, I can’t help but think that its enduring appeal – it has not been out of print since 1938 – is also partly due to Robert Lawson’s wonderful and light-hearted illustrations. One can’t help but grin at the delightful pictures, which are beautifully united with the story. Robert Lawson was a famous illustrator, and wrote and illustrated Rabbit Hill, Ben and Me, and many other wonderful stories. Maybe I will review some of his books in the future for Plumfield.