Mr. Popper's Penguins

An avid follower of Admiral Drake's radio broadcasts from the South Pole, housepainter Mr. Popper, of Stillwater, USA, receives an astonishing delivery from the Admiral, which has delighted readers for more than 50 years. Audio listeners have a singular opportunity to delight in this visit of penguins to 432 Proudfoot Avenue. Nick Sullivan brings unflappability to the tale. He is composed and straightforward as he enlivens each new character--from optimistic Mr. Popper to the exasperated-but-ever-polite Mrs. Popper to the delighted Popper children, who are ever ready to adapt to life with their new housemates. Sullivan also delivers fine penguin impersonations as Captain Cook and Greta, who are stars in the cross-country adventure of Popper's Performing Penguins. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

March 29, 1993
Aside from the alliterative appeal of a pop-up Mr. Popper, it's hard to see how the children's classic benefits from this particular format. From the arrival of a penguin at the Popper home through the household's adjustments to the formation of Popper's Performing Penguin touring show, the key episodes of the original receive hasty--needfully abridged--treatment. Despite the condensation, a great deal of text crowds the pages, lessening the book's fascination for younger readers. Older readers, on the other hand, will probably not be impressed with the paper engineering. Most of it lacks sophistication (pull a tab, and a penguin flaps its wing or sleds down a hill); in some places it's just silly (one pull-tab makes a penguin descend a slide--but only halfway). At no point, however, do the illustrations sustain the amount of text. Stick with the real thing. Ages 6-10.