Chapters 17 and 18 Summary

Chapter 17: The birds become famous all across the country, and crowds are out the door at every venue. Actors in their shows, however, come to resent the penguins as show-stealers and nuisances who disrupt other acts. During one show in Minneapolis, an opera singer refuses to go on stage until the penguins are caged up in the basement. Mr. Popper obliges, but the penguins find a way out and are soon waddling around the orchestra pit, ruining the singer's act. The penguins slide up on stage and hide in the opera singer's dress, causing her to shriek instead of sing.

The family as well as the penguins become used to a life on the road. Mr. Popper has to fight at every hotel to keep the hotel managers from outlawing the penguins. Life in hotels proves to be quite expensive, and...