Excerpt from the novel by Richard and Florence Atwater 85 wpm Mr. Popper’s Penguins Excerpt from the novel by Richard and Florence Atwater 85 wpm

Mr. Popper, the house painter, was coming home from work Mr. Popper, the house painter, was coming home from work. He was carrying his buckets, his ladders, and his boards.

He was spattered here and there with paint and tiny bits of wallpaper clung to his clothes, hair and whiskers.

The children of Stillwater looked up from their play to smile at him as he passed. “There goes Mr. Popper!”

No one knew what went on inside Mr. Popper’s head No one knew what went on inside Mr. Popper’s head. No one guessed that one day he would become famous.

Mr. Popper was a dreamer. He was always dreaming about far-away exotic countries. Yet, he had never left Stillwater.

He had never been to India, climbed the peaks of the Himalayas, or dived for pearls in the South Seas.

But what he regretted most was never having seen the great white expanses of ice and snow at the Poles.

He saw movies about the poles He saw movies about the poles. He read books and magazines and even put up pictures on his living room walls.

Mr. Popper longed to see the beauty of the Antarctic Mr. Popper longed to see the beauty of the Antarctic. The Antarctic, the isolated land of the penguins.

Penguins. Mr. Popper absolutely loved penguins Penguins. Mr. Popper absolutely loved penguins. He decided he wanted to get a penguin for a pet.