Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. I spent my childhood in Sussex, and set many of my books there. Later, I lived in Surrey, and set a series there as well. I wrote for children and adults, but am best known for two children's series, publishing in the 1940s-1960s. One of my best known characters was Tamzin Grey. As Margery Fisher put it: in Tamzin, I managed to write about a genuinely good character who was also interesting!
2. I was a somewhat reclusive author who illustrated my books. (I once terrorised a little girl who grew up to be a famous author herself.) I insisted on my books being published at a specific size. I specialised in animal stories, and my stories are still popular with young children today.
3. I wrote for both adults and children. My children's books comprised a single series, published in the 1950s. One of my best known characters was named Lucy Pevensie. I was friends/rivals with another author who is even more famous than I am. I must point out that we have both had books made into films.
4. I am a New Zealander, and my books have been popular with readers and critics for years. I write humour and fantasy as well as realism, and it is probably due to me that some children believe lions are vegetarian. One of my most recent books was called "Alchemy".
5. My writing career spanned seven decades, and I was still producing children's books shortly before my death. In later years I lived in Bath, but many of my books were set in or near Cumberland. I wrote both historicals and contemporaries, and one of my most enduring characters was named Bill Melbury. Like Bill, I was interested in history, mystery and literature.
6. I wrote a series about a group of children and teenagers known as the "Lone Piners". I was regarded as one of the better writers of long-running series, and, along with other writers of my period, pioneered the teenage friendship/romance genre. Casual readers might be pardoned for thinking I also pioneered gay YA romance.
7. I wrote a great many books about children who worked in the theatre. My most famous book was probably my first, which led to many of my books being published in American editions with titles that suggested they were a series. This re-titling has led to confusion for collectors who find (for example) that the title "White Boots" is the same book that they know as "Skating Shoes". Never mind, the confusion probably helped me to sell more books.
8. I was an actor who began writing children's books in my teens. My first book was probably my best known and it, like many others I wrote, was about children in the theatre. One of my later books was "Summer is a Festival", in which I had fun with Camelot.
9. Many of my titles are about children who act or are somehow involved in theatre. My first book, about a dancer, was published when I was in my teens. I often write about children from non-theatrical families, and include a lot of humour in my work. One of my characters, Jamie, is a boy ballet dancer who takes up dancing to impress the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, he ends up impressing a boy who is not of his dreams, but that's another story.
10. I have been writing children's books for many years, and have always been popular with readers who favour my brand of character-driven fantasy. In the wake of the Harry Potter popularity, my books have become better known, and some of my titles have been repackaged as a (very loose) series. My new popularity vaguely annoys my fans, who think I should have been as popular as this from the start.
Source: Author
Sallyo
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
Elanor before going online.
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