Mom & Me Book Club -- March 2022

 

Wow!  Where did March go?  I swear it feels like it came in like the Road Runner and went back out the same way!  It's been a busy month for sure.  Not only am I totally slacking on getting this post written, but I also slacked on developing good questions for our Mom and Me book club discussion this month.  Yikes.  We actually had an impromptu book club discussion on the way to school after I'd dropped off her younger brother and it was just the two of us in the car.  

I vow to do better for April.  But even so, March wasn't a wash.  We definitely discussed some great stuff in the short time we had, and this time my daughter even asked questions of her own!

Her questions were largely trivia questions (which gave us an opportunity to define what trivia questions are and why they are fun and important!  One of her questions was why did Captain Cook start feeling sick.  And her other question was what the names of all the baby penguins born to Captain Cook and Gerta were.

My questions were a little more general this time, but I aimed for a few thinking questions.  Here they are:

Did you like Mr. Popper's Penguins?  Her answer was yes!  And I knew it would be.  She loved this book!

What did you like so much about the book? 

Do you think the book was realistic?  Could it really have happened?

What do you think about the decisions Mr. Popper made in regards to the penguins and to his family?

I have to say, I am so excited she loved this book.  As for me...  It wasn't really my favorite.  But because she loved it so much, it bumps it up for me quite a bit.  And it's so completely innocent and perfect for young independent readers, and I really love that about it! 

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

 

Book Title: Mr. Popper's Penguins
Authors: Richard and Florence Atwater
Reading Level: Middle-Grade (all middle-grade)
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Content Rating: G (no concerns)
Tidbit: When house-painter Mr. Popper receives a package from Australia containing a penguin, hilarious antics ensue!

Mr. Popper makes a living by painting houses and wall-papering walls. But his real dream has always been to travel, especially to Antarctica. Since that isn't a possibility, he instead immerses himself in books and radio shows about penguins, the Antarctic, and the explorations there of Admiral Drake. One day, Mr. Popper gets the surprise of his life when he opens a large box shipped to him from Antarctica, and life gets kind of crazy in the Popper house!

I thought this story was cute, though definitely unrealistic. But my 8 1/2 year old LOVED it.  She kept laughing while reading, and when I would tell her what part I was in, she would say,  "isn't that hilarious!?!" That alone endears the book to me a bit more. And I think it would make a super-fun family read-aloud!

There was a movie made of this book in the 2010s, I believe.  It stars Jim Carrey.  I checked it out from the library and planned to have an enjoyable movie night with my kids.  Well, we lasted about 15 minutes.  My kids weren't all that interested, and honestly, they changed the details of the book almost from the word go; with Mr. Popper being a saavy and somewhat conceited sales-man in the movie. I was bummed we couldn't enjoy it, but it may be fun for others!

Look for my Mom and Me Book Club post coming soon for this book!  (I'm just slacking a bit on it.)

Bunnicula -- James Howe

Harold the dog and Chester the cat are two beloved pets that belong to the Monroe family. The Monroe family is a very well-educated family, and they treat Harold and Chester as members of the family, not merely as pets. Life is good for Harold and Chester, until one night the Monroes return from a night at the movies with a new addition: a small black and white rabbit. The two young Monroe boys are thrilled with the new pet, who they have named Bunnicula, since he was, after all, found in the theatre where they were watching Dracula. Harold and Chester, however, aren't so sure. And as strange things begin to happen -- such as vegetables turning white and Bunnicula managing to get out of his locked cage -- Chester becomes more and mor sure that Bunnicula is actually a vampire bunny! In an effort to protect himself and his family, Chester begins taking steps to thwart Bunnicula's vampire powers, but some of what he is doing is beginning to harm Bunnicula! Will Bunnicula be able to survive in his new home? And will Harold and Chester accept the new rabbit as part of the family?

Paint the Wind -- Pam Munoz Ryan

Maya lives a solitary life with her elderly grandmother who feels most things eleven-year olds like to do are a waste of time. Maya’s one outing, besides school, is her weekly, hour-long, chaperoned visit to the library. Maya is forbidden from even mentioning her own mother’s name because her grandmother blames her mother’s love of horses for the death of both Maya’s mother and father. But when Maya’s grandmother dies unexpectedly, Maya is sent to live with her mother’s family in Wyoming, people she has not seen in six years. As Maya adjusts to her new life and her new freedoms in the open range of Wyoming where her family spends its summers camping and watching wild horses, Maya comes to understand her mother’s love for horses and she is able to identify with the wild horses’ need to be free.

This easy-to-read book is poignant and touching and leaves the reader with an uplifted feeling. Interspersed with chapters seen from one of the wild horse’s perspective, it offers the reader a chance to change perspectives and experiment with seeing situations in a different and completely new way, allowing his or her imagination to run wild.