Richard and Florence Atwater

Richard Atwater saw a documentary at Richard Byrd's exploration of the Antarctic. After seeing the documentary he was inspired to write Mr. Popper's Penguins. He first wrote the story to entertain his two daughters, but later after he suffered a stroke and could not work his wife, Florence Atwater wored to get the book published.

At first no publishing company would publish the book, so Mrs. Atwater revised the beginning and ending of the book. This made publishers take a second look and in 1938 the new copy was published. In 1939, Mr. Popper's Penguins was awarded the Newberry Honor.