Multimedia Curriculum

Mr. Popper lives a sensible life as a house painter, making just enough to live on. He often wishes he has seen the world before settling down - particularly the North and South Poles. As a busy summer of work ends, Mr. Popper prepares to spend his off-season reading about Arctic regions. He even writes to his favorite explorer, Admiral Drake. He does not expect that Admiral Drake will answer, but he does - and in a very unexpected way. With the arrival of a penguin named Captain Cook, life at the Popper's will never be the same! Captain Cook starts to get sick from loneliness, so a zoo sends its lovely penguin, Greta. Soon Captain Cook and his new mate lay eggs, and 10 new little penguins join the crowd. Complications set in as Mr. Popper, who doesn't even have money for roast beef or ice cream, starts buying enough shrimp for 12 penguins. Then he has the furnace removed and a freezing unit installed in the basement. Now suddenly faced with debts he can't pay, Mr. Popper comes up with a solution: he'll begin a performing penguin act! So begins the family's adventures across the country, living in hotels, performing on vaudeville stages, and making enough money to pay off their debts and more. Unfortunately traveling can be exhausting, and near the end of their tour Mr. Popper makes a terrible mistake. He takes them to the wrong theater, the penguins frolic with the seals, and chaos erupts. Luckily, as Mr. Popper and his penguins languish in jail, Admiral Drake arrives and rescues them. As the family heads for home, Admiral Drake offers to take the penguins to the North Pole, and invites Mr. Popper to accompany them. Interactive CD-rom.

One spring morning, Fern Arable sees her father going out to the hoghouse with an ax. Her mother tells her that some pigs had been born the night before, but one of them was a runt, so her father was going to do away with it. Enraged by what she saw as an injustice, Fern runs to her father and he agrees not to kill the baby pig - as long as she raises it herself. The pig is named Wilbur, and Fern cares for him happily. When Wilber turns five weeks old he is sold to Fern's uncle, Homer Zuckerman. Despite no longer being his caretaker, Fern visits him almost every day. In his new home Wilber makes new acquaintances among the animals, but soon grows lonely. Then he meets Charlotte, a spider who lives in the doorway over his pen. Charlotte says she will be his friend and Wilbur is excited, although he is alarmed by Charlotte's eating habits. Charlotte's kindness and good nature win Wilbur over, and they become good friends. Wilbur's new happiness is short-lived, however, when he learns that Mr. Zuckerman is planning to kill him at Christmastime and turn him into smoked bacon and ham. Wilbur goes hysterical at the news, but Charlotte hatches a clever plan that will save Wilbur's life and take them all the way to the county fair. The story of Charlotte's effort to save Wilbur is a lesson is selfless love that demonstrates the beauty of true friendship and sacrifice. Interactive CD-rom.

Mary Lennox lives in India with parents that are far too busy with friends and parties to spend much time with her. She is young, sickly, and a nuisance. Mary grows up with her Ayah (an Indian nursemaid) waiting on her hand and foot, becoming spoiled and tyrannical. After a cholera epidemic passes through, British officers reach the post where the Lennox family lives to find Mary is the only survivor still there. Mary is sent to England to live with her uncle, Mr. Archibald Craven, a hunchbacked recluse - and her only living relative. An accident ten years earlier took the life of his beautiful wife, leaving him lonely and bitter. When Mary arrives at Misselthwaite Manor she meets Martha, a kindly, down-to-earth servant, and one of twelve children from a neighboring farm across the moor. Martha befriends Mary in spite Mary's thoughtlessness and tells her about a locked garden: "Mr. Craven had it shut when his wife died so sudden. He won't let no one go inside." From that moment Mary is determined to enter this 'secret' garden. Mary's encounter with the garden - and another inhabitant of the Manor - will change her life, and the lives of others, forever. Interactive CD-rom.