We enjoyed reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater all through the month of February. The original story leaves off with Mr. Popper and his penguins accompanying Admiral Drake, the great Arctic explorer, and his crew on an expedition to the Arctic to start a colony of penguins there. We have spent several weeks writing, editing, and rewriting an additional chapter to tell the story of what we thought happened to Mr. Popper and his penguins when they traveled to the Arctic and settled there. We are publishing as they are ready so keep watching this page for more posts. We hope you have as good a time reading our stories as we have had writing them.

Mrs. King’s 2/3 Class

Chapter XXI
In the Arctic
By: Leo, Grade 2

Prologue:

Please read this extra chapter, please. Yeah I know, I know, there are only 20 chapters. But the adventure continues. JUST READ THE CHAPTER!

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Mr. Popper woke up. He had been on the ship for many days. He was worried about Mrs. Popper. When he got out of bed, Captain Cook, Greta, Columbus, Victoria, Nelson, Jenny, Magellan, Adelina, Scott, Isabella, Ferdinand, and Louisa were waiting for him. “Hello,” said Mr. Popper. Then Scott ran away! Scott had found the steering wheel! He thought it was a training wheel! He started to run on it.The captain of the ship tried to grab Scott, but Scott got off the wheel and out onto the ice. When Mr. Popper and the 11 penguins got off, Scott was waiting for them on the Russian tundra. “Ork, ork, ork, ork,” said Captain Cook, scolding Scott.

Time went by. When they were halfway through their Arctic adventure, they finally saw a polar bear. “Ork!” said Captain Cook. (Where is Greta?) Greta was in the water being chased by the bear. She was very fast! The polar bear was not. Then Greta jumped out of the water and landed feet first on a chunk of ice! The polar bear was so fixed on Greta that he bumped into the ice cap! Then Admiral Drake sped up on a snow mobile. “Get on!” he shouted. Admiral Drake took them to his laboratory. The penguins got X-rayed and had their monthly reflex check Then Admiral Drake said, “Let’s go fishing!”

After two months, again while they were fishing, Mr. Popper thought about this Arctic thing. He went over to Admiral Drake and said, “Can I go home?” “Yes,” said the Admiral. So the penguins stayed in their part of Russia and Mr. Popper went back to Stillwater. And they all lived happily ever after!

Well, that’s the end. Oh, and by the way, there are no more chapters! Bye!

Chapter XXI
Mr. Popper’s Expedition
By: Alena, Grade 2

When the ship left New York, Mr. Popper said, “I shall miss my wife and children.” Captain Cook was tobogganing down the side of a cabin. (They were on deck.) Mr. Popper was too busy talking with Admiral Drake, so he did not notice Captain Cook who was going at tremendous speed. Crash! BANG! These awful noises were made by first Mr. Popper and then Admiral Drake falling. Mr. Popper fainted and Admiral Drake was badly shaken. Of course Mr. Popper was revived to his senses. Captain Cook was standing over him and orking politely, “Ork! Gook! Gork!” “All right,” said Admiral Drake. When Captain Cook was tired of gorking around Mr. Popper, he went to Greta, Nelson, Columbus, Scott, Victoria, Louisa, Jenny, Magellan, Adelina, Isabella, and Ferdinand. “Gook,” said Greta. Captain Cook looked and saw that Victoria and Isabella were doing something that was unmistakably a tap dance! “Gook, gork, ork, ook!” (What the heck) “Gook,” said Greta (Yes, of course)
After four and a half days they reached Elephant Island. Everyone got off the ship including the penguins. “Gork! Ork!” (How very like home) Admiral Drake was very fascinated about how much Mr. Popper knew about the Arctic. It was snowy and cold and desolate, but the penguins were very happy. They were tobogganing along orking happily. A lemming popped up right in front of Adelina. “Gork! Gook! Ork! Ork!” What a peculiar creature! She called Greta with a particularly loud gook. Greta swerved around, bounced, and landed right in front of Adelina. “Gook?” (Yes?) Gork, gook, gork, ork, ork! (This strange creature popped up right in front of me!) Gork, ork, gook! (That is surprising!) And then they caught up with the others. So far the experiment was successful!
Tomorrow was Mr. Popper’s birthday, so Admiral Drake planned a surprise! First he found all sorts of party decorations. On a dusty shelf, he found a book. Now what’s so queer about a book, you might think. But the book was certainly queer. It was leather bound and its pages were frail and yellow. The book had no title and all it had on its 1034 pages were pictures. No, not ordinary pictures, they were colorful having many wonderful designs with pictures inside. “Oh yes! I will give this book to Mr. Popper!” When out of the book slipped out a piece of paper. It said, Dear Admiral Drake, I know you are doing an experiment on penguins. Yes, they will survive in the Artic.
Good luck, a friend
It was written in the same handwriting you read it.

So Mr. Popper’s birthday was celebrated and Admiral Drake gave the book to Mr. Popper and told what had fallen out of it and even read the letter. While he did so he saw the first mate fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat. “You know something about this old fellow!” he demanded. “Tell us!” “Well I dunno if I should say so!” he said, “But I wrote the letter myself.” “How did you know?” asked Mr. Popper. “I did the experiment without anyone noticing!” “Good!” said Mr. Popper, “Now I don’t have to worry about Mary!” “Who’s Mary?” “My wife,” was the reply. So after Mr. Popper’s birthday, they sailed at full speed to Stillwater. Just in time for November too! So every April Mr. Popper went to Antarctica. And everyone lived happily ever after. Finis

Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Chapter 21
By: Stephen P.
When they sailed off, Mr. Popper and the penguins said good-bye. It took days, but finally they got to the Arctic. Admiral Drake showed them his house. When the penguins got there, the first thing they did was look around and say “Ork.” The penguins went outside. They saw a polar bear and the penguins went over and played on his back. The polar bear roared. The penguins ran. Then they saw a dog sleigh. The penguins went on the dog sleigh and the dogs ran so the polar bear couldn’t catch up to them. The penguins went back to the house. When Mr. Popper saw them he said, “Did you see something?” The penguins said, “Ork, ork, ork!” Admiral Drake said, “Did you see a polar bear?” One of the penguins said, “Ork!” Admiral Drake said that must mean yes. Then he said that it was dark and they should go to bed. They all agreed.
The next day, Mr. Popper went outside. He saw something move so he went over. He couldn’t believe his eyes. It was a penguin. He brought it back. Admiral Drake was surprised. He checked it out and he said it was a girl. Then he brought it back. The penguins crowded the penguin and she said, “Ork.” It looked like one of the penguins liked her. Then all of the penguins played with her.
The next week, Mr. Popper saw 18 penguins. One of the penguins got married to her and Mr. Popper knew which one was the one who liked her most. They named some of these penguins Stephen, David, Mike, Dianne, Michelle, and Jon. All of the penguins were happy. Then Mr. Popper asked Admiral Drake where that first penguin came from. He said, “I think there was another scientist who was doing the same test, but he lost the penguin so he couldn’t do the experiment.”
The penguins went outside to eat krill. All of the penguins got krill, but then a big fish came and when the penguins saw the fish they were terrified. They swam so fast out of the water. Then they saw a house. They went into the house. The penguins heard a voice so they got more scared. They saw a scientist. The scientist said, “Hello. Why are you here?” The penguins didn’t say one word. Then the scientist said, “You must be cold. Come over here. I have the fire going.” The penguins did do that. They liked the scientist and he liked the penguins.
Mr. Popper said, “Do you know where the penguins are?” Admiral Drake said, “No, they must be outside.” Mr. Popper said, “No, they’re not.” “Well it’s too dark. We should go to bed.” The next day, Mr. Popper and Admiral Drake went outside to find the penguins. They looked everywhere. Mr. Popper was about to give up, but then he saw the house. Mr. Popper went over and knocked on the door. The scientist opened the door and said, “Hello.” Mr. Popper said hello to the scientist. Mr. Popper said, “Did you see 12 penguins?” The scientist said, “Yes, they are in my house.” “Why,” Mr. Popper said, “These are my penguins.” The scientist said, “Ok, here you go.” When one of the penguins saw him they said, “Ork.” Mr. Popper said thank you to the scientist and they went home.
One day Admiral Drake said, “It’s time to leave.” Mr. Popper said, “What? That can’t be true!” Admiral Drake said, “Yes, it is true. The boat is right over there.” Mr. Popper saw that it was true and said, “Was the experiment a success?” Admiral Drake said, “Yes.” Mr. Popper said to Admiral Drake, “Am I going to leave without the penguins?” Admiral Drake said, “You can see them next year.” Then Mr. Popper said good-bye to the penguins, and a tear came down his face. Then he said, “I will see you next year.” Mr. Popper packed up his bags. He went on the boat and all of the penguins waved goodbye. Mr. Popper waved goodbye and the boat sailed away for Stillwater. The End.

Chapter XXI
By: Taylor, Grade 3

Mr. Popper brought the penguins to the edge of the boat. They almost pushed each other off the boat. Then Nelson fell off so Captain Cook jumped in and got him. It was hard to get up but all of the penguins leaned down and grabbed each other. Then an hour later, they were there, at the North Pole. Captain Cook, Greta, Columbus, Louisa, Nelson, Jenny, Magellan, Adelina, Scott, Isabella, Ferdinand, and Victoria got off the boat. They all started sliding. Then there was trouble. A big white hairy thing was coming toward them. Santa Claus arrived and his reindeer scared the polar bear away but one reindeer bit the polar bear. The polar bear ran far away and told his friends, so they never saw a polar bear again.

Mr. Popper got a call from the people down south. The polar bears had run all the way to Antarctica. All the penguins there were scared so they decided to put the polar bears in a zoo.

The next day, the penguins did a show for the seals. The seals liked it a lot. After the seals left and the show was over, Mr. Popper called Mrs. Popper and the children on the radio. They were happy he called. He told them all about the polar bears and the show for the seals. After Mr. Popper finished talking, he went to have some dinner. After he was done, the penguins went to get their dinner. Then they all went to sleep.

In the morning, they all played a game of baseball. The penguins’ team won. After, the penguins went sliding. When they were done they had breakfast. Mr. Popper had scrambled eggs and bacon. The penguins had fish. The penguins liked it there a lot. The kids called Mr. Popper to tell him they were coming up to the Arctic so they could live there. Mr. Popper was really happy. He went to tell the penguins. The penguins were really happy. They played some soccer while they waited, then they had lunch.

After a few days, they heard a big boat. They knew it must be Mrs. Popper and the children. The penguins went straight to the boat. The kids and Mrs. Popper walked off the boat. The penguins started sliding all around. Mr. Popper took the kids to their new house and to their rooms. After everyone was done unpacking, the penguins did a show for them. Then they had some dinner and went to bed.

In the morning, they got another call on the radio from Antarctica. They were sending up some penguins. In a few days, they heard another big boat. Then they saw a whole bunch of penguins coming off the boat. All of the penguins started tobogganing and going all over the place. Penguins continued to get sent up to the Arctic, and they all liked it there.

The End.

Chapter XXI
The Arctic
By: Gabriel, Grade 2

            Mr. Popper and Admiral Drake left the gangplank. As they were sailing, Admiral Drake pointed out a whale. Mr. Popper said, “I’m hungry.” Admiral Drake gave Mr. Popper some krill to eat. Mr. Popper ate it all in ten seconds. Mr. Popper said, “That was appetizing.”  

        After three days they arrived on the tundra in the Arctic. Something big was walking towards them. It was big and hairy. It was a polar bear! It opened its mouth and almost ate Nelson! Fortunately, Captain Cook was tobogganing down a hill and knocked over the polar bear. “Thanks, Captain Cook,” everyone said. “Ork!” said all the penguins. Then the penguins started to push each other into the water! Columbus fell into the water! He came back up. Then all the penguins dived into the water knowing it was safe. They all came back up with twenty fish in their beaks. “I think that will keep them satisfied for awhile,” said Admiral Drake. Then they heard a loud crack! They were on thin ice, not land. Mr. Popper almost fell in but he jumped on a glacier. All of the other penguins and Admiral Drake did, too. They finally got to the house.

     “Here is your house,” said Admiral Drake. Mr. Popper walked inside and fell asleep. When he woke up, he found that he was on the floor. He had fallen off the bed in his sleep. He could not find Admiral Drake. He called his name and Admiral Drake came in a snap. “I couldn’t find you.” said Mr. Popper. “Well, here I am,” said Admiral Drake. Then Admiral Drake, Mr. Popper, and the penguins went out to play. They had a snowball fight until the afternoon. Then they played hide and go seek. Then they went to bed.

            So far the penguins had been doing fine in the Arctic. Then they saw a seal coming towards them! They turned around and ran. They saw another. They had been surrounded. But the penguins had a lot of energy and started to slap the seals. The seals ran away. The day was saved (for now).

            The next day, they went to the ocean to let the penguins eat. Then they saw a seal. But, it was no problem because the penguins handled it (again). They pushed the seal off into the water. But it didn’t work as planned. The seal came back up. So Mr. Popper, Admiral Drake, and the penguins ran away. (It’s a relief, isn’t it?)

They went back to the houses. They had to talk about how to let the penguins eat safely. Finally, they came up with a plan. Mr. Popper and Admiral Drake would go to the ocean and make a fake penguin. They would put it near the ocean. If a seal came up, it would not be safe for the penguins to go in. If one did not come up, it would be safe. And guess what? The plan worked! It was safe. Since the penguins hadn’t eaten in a long time, it was about an hour until all the penguins came back up from feeding. They decided to do that each time the penguins got hungry.

            It was finally time to go back to Stillwater. It took three days to get there. Mr. Popper’s family was very happy that he got home safely. The penguins stayed in the Arctic. Mr. Popper and his family lived happily ever after.

Chapter XXI
By: Sam B.

When they got to Greenland the penguins slid down the gangplank and said, “Ork, Ork!” Everyone else followed.  “I hope you like it here,” Admiral Drake said.  “Let me get you to your house.”  “There is plenty of fish here,” said Admiral Drake “Ork!” said Greta. (Where did Scott go?) “Ork! Ork! Ork! Ork!” said the other penguins.  This is not good!  But where did he go?  Meanwhile Scott, still on the ship, was in the captain’s room eating everything in sight.  Then he found the captain’s wheel and he turned the ship around.  Then he pulled the fire alarm and there was no fire.  “Ork!” said Scott.  “Penguin, what did you do?” he said to himself.  “I’ll have to turn it off.”  And he did.  Meanwhile the search party was not going well.  “I can’t find him!” everyone said.  “Ork, Ork, Ork, – I give up.” “Me, too.” “Me, three.”   Mr. Popper heard the alarm and the sailors saw the ship turning.” “That must be Scott; who else would do those things?” said Mr. Popper. He went back to get Scott. “There you are! Bad penguin!” Then they joined the others. “Now let me get you to your house,” said Admiral Drake. “But is it far from here?” asked Mr. Popper. “Yes,” Admiral Drake said.  The penguins slid on their bellies while Mr. Popper and the Admiral took a dogsled. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”  “Yes! Yes! Very nice. Thanks, but is Scott here?” (Ha-Ha)

Mr. Popper stayed in the house and was making hot chocolate. The penguins loved it outside! Two hours later they even had a snowball fight.  “I’ve forgotten to close the window! Let’s put this snow outside,” Mr. Popper said. He did.  When the penguins came in, one of the workers said, “I will stay here with the penguins,”  “That is a good idea,” Mr. Popper said. He went exploring.

Later, Mr. Popper wanted to talk to his wife, so he went back to the ship and used Admiral Drake’s radio. He talked for half an hour – they were all fine and had plenty of money – while Captain Cook was sliding off all the furniture back at the house.

“So when should I go home, Admiral Drake?” asked Mr. Popper when he went back to the house. “Oh, in a few months,” replied Admiral Drake. “Ok, that sounds good,” said Mr. Popper.

Later when everybody was inside, Admiral Drake saw a polar bear coming closer to them. He got his harpoon ready. They made a barricade around the door, so the bear couldn’t get in. The polar bear heard a pack of wild, Arctic foxes and went after them. He was never seen again.

A few months later, Admiral Drake said the mission was a success. Could he keep a male and female with him there? Mr. Popper said, “Yes.”

They all got ready to leave except for Scott and Louisa who stayed in the Arctic. Mr. Popper and the other penguins got home safely to Stillwater and had a big party.

The End

Chapter XXI
The Last Chapter
By: Mike T.

When they got to Greenland the penguins were thrilled that they were there. When they were walking off the ship the penguins got side tracked by a room filled of fish and shrimp. They waddled in the room and by accident they got locked in. The penguins didn’t really care though with all that food. Then Mr. Popper realized that the penguins were gone. He went to tell Admiral Drake that the penguins got lost. Drake and he got nervous that they might get hurt. Then they heard “orks.” They followed the sound to the freezer. They opened the door and the penguins were eating all the shrimp and fish. “I don’t think they were worried at all,” said Mr. Popper. “Ork!” said Captain Cook, like he meant “yes, you’re right.” Mr. Popper got all the penguins in order and led them off the ship. The scientists were wondering what they were doing. “Oh, nothing,” said Admiral Drake. They all went in the scientists’ building and ate lunch. The penguins got a little hungry (again!) and so they stole the scientists’ fish. Then the scientists chased the penguins to the water and the penguins jumped in with the scientists following. Mr. Popper and the Admiral helped the scientists out of the water and dry off. The penguins looked guilty. “Ork,” the penguins said in an apologetic way. Then, they saw polar bears and went to play with them. They played nicely until the penguins climbed on the polar bears’ backs; then they got wild. The polar bears shook the penguins off and charged at Mr. Popper and the Admiral. They both ran into the house before the polar bears could get them. The penguins just waddled off in the other direction until they saw an igloo. They went inside and saw a seal hunter. The seal hunter was bewildered to see them. The penguins annoyed the seal hunter by orking until he got mad. The penguins got scared and ran outside, climbed on a dog sled and made it move without the dogs. The seal hunter chased after them. He got tired after a long time and stopped following the penguins. Back at the scientists’ house Mr. Popper and the Admiral got ready to go on snow mobiles and look for the penguins. They looked for an hour, but they still couldn’t find them. Then they kept on riding and found the seal hunter. He told them where the penguins went and told them they had his dog sled. Mr. Popper and the Admiral followed the tracks to a hole in the ice. They decided to go to the edge of the thin ice. When they got to the ice they could see the penguins now. But the penguins suddenly just disappeared. When Mr. Popper and the Admiral got closer they realized that there was a cliff. They figured that the penguins tobogganed down the cliff. They abandoned the snow mobiles and slid down the cliff. When they got to the bottom they saw the penguins again. They called to them and the penguins didn’t even hear them calling. Mr. Popper and the Admiral finally got their attention. The penguins went toward Mr. Popper. Then they heard a loud howl. It kept getting louder and louder. Then it just stopped. They saw Arctic foxes around them. They just kept circling around them. Suddenly there was barking. It wasn’t the foxes; it was the huskies and seal hunter. The huskies scared the foxes away. “You saved us,” Mr. Popper said. “Ork,” said the penguins. They all got on the dog sled which the seal hunter found nearby. He rode them back to their snow mobiles and they all went home. The next day Mr. Popper kept an eye on the penguins because he didn’t want to go through that trouble again.
The penguins always stayed away from the polar bears because they weren’t sure if the polar bears would attack them. The experiment went better than the scientists thought. The penguins did well in the Arctic. They were happy to be in a place like Antarctica again. The experiment was a success because the penguins didn’t die and had no problems living there. Penguins could live in the Arctic. Mr. Popper was happy to be in the Arctic with the scientists. He liked doing all the experiments with them. He was sure Mrs. Popper and the kids were doing well without him, and he couldn’t wait to tell them about his trip. Mr. Popper had a problem, however. The penguins didn’t want to leave and Mr. Popper wanted to get back home. He tried to take the penguins go on the ship but it didn’t work. The penguins kept going the other direction and tobogganing down the hill. Mr. Popper knew then that the penguins would not leave. He also realized that the penguins would have a better life in the Arctic. So Mr. Popper said his goodbyes and got on the ship and left.

Epilogue
Mr. Popper quit his house painting job and started to help out at the theaters. Mrs. Popper helped, too. They got a bigger house in Stillwater and lived happily ever after.

The penguins grew up and instead of the people giving them food; the penguins caught their own fish. The penguins always got chased by the seals and polar bears, but the penguins always got out of it. The penguins lived happily ever after also.
The End