Winter Reading With Dad

Winter Reading With Dad

Debuting on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download December 6

Did you know that Mr. Popper's Penguins is actually based on a children's book from 1938? Here we will examine some other books that dads can read with their children this winter that have also been turned into some of our family favorite films. Titles will include books such as Fantastic Mr. Fox, Shrek! and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Jim Carrey (A Christmas Carol) stars in MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS, available on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download December 6th.  The whole family will be full of laughs watching Mr. Popper, a driven businessman, inherit six adorable and mischievous penguins. As Mr. Popper quickly gets attached to his winged roommates, his life quickly unravels: the deal he’s long been working on with a formidable socialite, Mrs. Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury), is derailed and Popper almost lands in jail.  While Popper’s penguins turn his swank New York apartment into a snowy winter wonderland - they teach him valuable lessons about family – human and otherwise!

1)    Fantastic Mr. Fox

Roald Dahl’s 1970 novel, Fantastic Mr. Fox, is a story about a fox and his family who steal chickens, ducks and turkeys from three mean and wealthy farmers in order to survive. After the farmers stake out his foxhole, Mr. Fox burrows underground to discreetly steal his food, and along the way he meets Badger and other starving animals, who are in danger because of the farmers’ siege on the hillside. The animals band together to create an underground city and continue to feed off of the farmers’ stores, while they wait outside of the foxhole in vain.

2)    Shrek!

Though you may not have heard of the 1990 children’s book, William Steig’s Shrek! was the inspiration for the famous film franchise. Dads will enjoy reading their young children this hilarious, familiar tale on cold winter nights. Shrek! is an illustrated book about a young, ugly ogre who adventures into the world to find a princess who it is rumored is as ugly as he is (and who it’s prophesized he will marry). On his trek, he encounters a witch, a knight, a huge dragon and, of course, the beloved Donkey!

3)    Mr. Popper’s Penguins

Originally published in 1938, Mr. Popper’s Penguins tells the story of a poor house painter and his family, who live in the small town in the 1930s. The Poppers unexpectedly come into possession of a penguin, and then get another penguin that mates with the first penguin, and they have ten baby penguins! In order to support them and pay for the freezing plant he installs in his house, Mr. Popper puts the penguins in a circus act. He eventually realizes that this isn’t the best life for his beloved penguins, and he takes them to the North Pole to live a proper life.

4)    A Series of Unfortunate Events

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of children’s books that follow the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire after their parents' death in a fire. The children’s distant cousin, Count Olaf, takes custody of them, and openly plots to steal their inheritance. After the children are removed from his care, Olaf begins to hunt the children down, which results in a series of unfortunate events. Dads might want to read these books with their children to help teach them about morality, society, and being brave and self-reliant.

5)    Harry Potter

To some kids, and adults, the Harry Potter series of books (which tell the story of a boy wizard born to fight the evil Dark Lord, Voldemort) are an essential part of their life long reading experience. From Sorcerer’s Stone to The Deathly Hallows, the Harry Potter franchise is something of a legend (maybe as much of a legend as The Boy Who Lived himself!). If you’re one of the few that hasn’t read these books yet, make sure to check them out (along with a glass of warm Butterbeer) this winter.