People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball.
I’ll tell you what I do.
I stare out the window and wait for spring.
–Rogers Hornsby
Only, today is Opening Day (well, technically I guess it was yesterday but for Phillies fans it’s today) and someone missed the memo about baseball being a SPRING sport.
Here I’d been stressing over what kind of April Fool’s Day prank I could play on my kids this morning, that wouldn’t make a mess or make them late for the bus… Mother Nature got smart and played a joke that got them jumping out of their beds in a jiffy.
“Quick! Look out the window, guys! It’s snowing!”
And at that very moment, the snow was thick and furious and freaking unbelievable It tapered off to pretty much nothing in moments, so my pictures aren’t too impressive… April Fool’s on Mom, too.
Well done, Mother N. How the heck am I gonna top THAT?!
– Richard & Florence Atwater, Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Perhaps I’m being overly dramatic. The “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” that is slated to arrive in theaters this summer doesn’t ruin the quietly lovely 1938 classic so much as it barely even resembles it.
In short, from what I’ve seen of the trailer, the only way the movie gets away with calling itself “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” is
Jim Carrey plays a man named Mr. Popper, and
penguins are involved.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins, the Newbery Award Honor Book penned by Richard & Florence Atwater, is a simple story of a simple house painter who dreams of places he has never been. In particular, he is taken with the cold white expanses of the Poles, and follows the stories of the Polar expeditions via National Geographic, the radio, the picture show. He writes a letter to Admiral Drake, far away on an Antarctic expedition, and Admiral Drake sends him a penguin of his very own. As one might guess, the crazy antics start there.
I reread this tonight, I’ve read it aloud to each of my children in their turn from the very copy I read as a child, and I still think it’s funny. Not in-your-face Jim Carrey funny, maybe, but sweetly funny and easily imaginable to a child. How would your household be turned upside down to accommodate such a guest?
The solutions are practical; the concerns realistic. Where will the Poppers find the money to support an exotic animal with specific needs, when money is tight already? Yet there is no squabbling, no question that the family will support Mr. Popper and his passion; and Mr. Popper himself attends with great patience to the needs of the animal entrusted to his care; “nothing was ever too much trouble for him.” Until one day, he is greatly rewarded for his patience, his dreaming, his simple passions, his love and his stewardship.
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I had always thought Mr. Popper’s Penguins was one of those books EVERY kid reads, like Ramona the Pest and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (please tell me all kids read those). Until I was lucky enough to be invited to a sneak peak of a feature at the Camden Adventure Aquarium, and got to actually pet a penguin and talk to his trainer.
“Do they really say ‘Ork‘?” I asked him.
He looked confused, so I helped him out. “Like in Mr. Popper’s Penguins. The book?”
He shook his head. “Never read that one,” he said.
He. Was. A. Penguin. Trainer. and he’d never read the book. I expressed my shock to the friend who had come with me, and she’d never read it either.
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So when I heard they were making a movie of Mr. Popper’s Penguins, I thought GOOD. Maybe now kids will go and discover this sweet book and its gentle humor and love. I thought about who I wanted to play Mr. Popper, the house painter, an untidy man splattered with paint and with bits of wallpaper clinging to his hair and whiskers. Sitting in his armchair with his pipe, his book and his globe.
I thought Hugh Laurie. I thought, maybe Matthew Broderick.
UGH. Jim freaking Carrey, the ruiner of childhood classics.Horton Hears a Who, the Lemony Snicket series, How the Grinch Stole Christmas AND A Christmas Carol weren’t enough for him, oh no. He’s like the Grinch who stole children’s lit.
In the trailer, these words come out of Jim Carrey’s mouth.
“I’m not coming in to work today. Because I have a pest problem.”
“I don’t like you, I don’t need you, I don’t want you in my life!”
Dude. Mr. Popper would NEVER say such things.
It looks like the plotline goes like this: Jim Carrey is a high-powered something or other; penguins are thrust upon him; he doesn’t like, need or want them. He probably deals with them to make his children happy, grows attached to them after teaching them to dance, loses his job due to his seemingly manic behavior, but regains the love and respect of his family.
I’ve seen that movie before, frankly. The details were different but the message the same. Liar Liar anyone? Dr. Doolittle?
Why couldn’t they make a movie that celebrates a family that is close and strong and loving to begin with… and stayed that way? That celebrates penguins for being penguins, instead of being a CGI-enhanced dance troupe?
Kids are going to see this spectacle, and Jim Carrey making an exaggerated ass out of himself as usual. I’m still going to see it, because I LOVE PENGUINS. It will probably be mildly amusing, taken on its own merits.
What kills me is the idea that some of those kids will go to read the book afterwards… and be disappointed by the comparison. “Not as good as the movie.”
The book is quiet. Simple. The real Mr. Popper is practically the anti-Jim Carrey.
I KNOW Hollywood is capable of producing a good children’s movie that stays true to the story (Because of Winn-Dixie springs to mind). Why don’t they? Why do they insist on doing things like introducing a love story into The Lorax?
In any case, I implore you.PLEASE. Buy your kid a copy of the book and read it with them, or to them BEFORE you see the movie. It will all be worth it if kids actually read and love the story… so that they can enjoy it with their own kids. If they grow to love penguins, real penguins, and work to preserve their habitat.
Gah. Stupid Jim Carrey.
Oh, and P.S…
Guess who’s playing Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple in the Disney remake?
Children are born true scientists. They spontaneously experiment and experience
and reexperience again.
They select, combine, and test,
seeking to find order in their experiences—
“which is the mostest? which is the leastest?”
-R. Buckminster Fuller
It seems impossible that spring break and Easter are only a few weeks off, what with a Nor’easter on its way and the SNOW word being bandied about, but the weatherman assures me that indeed it is coming.
I’ve been in a state of mild panic about what to do with these kids during their break; Jeff works full-time, I work from home full-time. I can’t take them anywhere fun during the day, but I’m not about to let them sit in front of a screen all day (you know, like I do. Cue guilt). And while I’m cool with “just go outside, boredom is good for you” a few days a week, it seems like an unfair way to spend an entire vacation.
Happily, while public schools are on break, local KinderCare Spring Camps are in session! We have lots of KinderCare centers in Northern Delaware. I’d always thought they were just for toddlers and preschoolers, but the camp has full-day programs for both preschool and school-aged children.
And— this was the kicker for me— the theme this year? “The Secret Science of Dirt.”
Did you know…
that some types of monkeys eat dirt?
that it can take hundreds or thousands of years to make just one inch of dirt or soil?
that soil or dirt can be of different shapes?
that one cup of soil may hold as many bacteria as there are people on Earth?
that the weight of all the bacteria in one acre of soil can equal the weight of one or two cows?
I know, right? Dirt is fascinating! I can’t wait until I (I mean, the kids and I) get some free time and can stick some dirt samples from our yard under the microscope.
Younger kids get five days of hands-on science lessons, veggie cooking, and craft-making, while the school-agers get five days of planting and tending vegetables, making compost, creating garden-related crafts, and preparing veggie treats. At the end of the week there’s a “Dig it! Science Fair” that parents are invited to attend (so stinkin’ cute).
Looking ahead to summer, they’ve got 12 more themed weeks of educational fun available: Wilderness 101; Dig Ancient Egypt; Wild, Wild West; Scienterrific; Spectacular Sports; Animal Antics; Gross and Gooey Science; Kids’ Kitchen; Sports Smarts; Art Expo; Splish Splash! and Feats of Science.
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When I was in high school, I was part of a traveling chemistry road show and performed some simple experiments for grade-school kids. Like any normal 16yo, I signed up for this because it got me out of school for an hour or two once a month, but I really really enjoyed it, because kids of that age eat that stuff up. At first it seems like magic, but when you break down the processes to whatever their comprehension level is (and folks, it’s higher than you think) you just see the dawn break, you can hear the click in their minds as it all slots into place. And then they’re racing to apply that new knowledge in as many other places as they can think of.
It’s such an amazing and exciting thing to experience, and I’m so excited that Cass will get a chance to do some hands-on science in a fun environment, making new friends in the process. (Yes, I could do all these activities at home, but that’s not as cool, is it? I WISH. I’m hoping the third-party wow factor will make science experiment time with MOM more fun. Not that MOM isn’t willing to do them all by herself, because Mom is a total nerd like that.)
Teaching should be such
that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift
and not as a hard duty.
-Albert Einstein
Want all the dirt on KinderCare camps? All ya had to do was ask:
KinderCare Spring Camp: The Secret Science of Dirt
KinderCare Summer Camp: 12 week-long camps make kids the experts
and while I’m thinking about it, you should totally check out the documentary Dirt! The Movie, which is available for streaming on Netflix. You’ll learn lots of cool facts about dirt and its importance, and the implications of the way we’ve been treating it. But you’ll also be amazed by the passion people have for the land beneath our feet.
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Disclosure time! KinderCare is sending Cassidy to a week of spring or summer camp (depends on availability). Although a review of that week is not required of me, you know I’ll be sharing all the details with you. Cass is excited!
So, now what to do with the boys? Aged 10 and 13, any ideas?
