One of our all-time favorite read-aloud books is Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater.

This is such a fun story of a regular guy, Mr. Popper, who is given a penguin. Soon he is given another penguin because the first one was lonely and soon after that there are 10 baby penguins in the picture! Mr. Popper remodels his home to accommodate the penguins and eventually comes to the conclusion that he should train his penguins to perform an act (which could pay for the remodeling, the fresh fish and other costs associated with a dozen penguins). The show goes on the road and the crew have some laugh-out-loud moments on the stage.

While there are a few educational tidbits in this book, we love it more for the fun storyline than anything else. Just the idea of having a pet penguin sends your imagination soaring. The reading level for this book is around 4th grade, but as a read-aloud it is appropriate for ages 5-10. We've read it numerous times in the last few years and both my daughter and I want to pick it up and enjoy it again.

Four thumbs up - from me and my daughter - for Mr. Popper's Penguins!