The Tale Behind The Tale of Mr. Popper's Penguins
Inspiration and Penguins
Age 7 - Adult
What inspires an artist or an author to create? In the case of the authors behind the creation of the classic story Mr. Popper's Penguins inspiration happened when the family took a trip to the local movie house to see a newsreel about Admiral Byrd's trip to the Antarctic. The penguins in the film sparked Richard Atwater's imagination and the book he wrote along with his wife, Florence, has entertained children for generations since. In the first part of this episode Winking Kat describes the sometimes fun, sometimes tragic tale of how the book was written and the tenacity it took to get it published.
But are all the tricks the penguins do in the book for real? In the second half of this bonus Tale Behind The Tale episode, we interview, John Samaras, the lead zookeeper for penguins at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, to find out. You'll be surprised at how similar and talented real penguins are to Captain Cook and Mr. Popper's other penguins in the story. There are some things, however that real penguins cannot do. Which tricks do you think they are?
If you ever enjoyed reading Mr. Popper's Penguins or are just a big penguin fan, you'll enjoy this episode of Winking Kat Tales.
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Thank you to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and John Samaras for their time and help with this project. For more information about the Woodland Park Zoo visit their website at:
Woodland Park Zoo: All for Wildlife - Woodland Park Zoo Seattle WA