Animals in Children's Books Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pig

Wilbur appears in the book 'Charlotte's Web' which was written by E B White and first published in 1952. The story is about Wilbur, a pig who is the smallest in the litter when he is born, leading the farmer to decide to kill him. Fern, the farmer's daughter, persuades her father to let her keep Wilbur as a pet, but he is eventually given to Fern's uncle who intends to slaughter him for food when he is big enough.

Charlotte is a spider who lives in the barn, and has a plan to save Wilbur's life by making him famous. She weaves messages into her web to achieve this aim, which has the desired effect, with Wilbur living a long and happy life.

Answer: Pig

Gub-Gub is a pig in the 'Story of Dr Dolittle'. Written by Hugh Lofting, this was the first of a series about a veterinary surgeon (an animal doctor) who learned the secret of talking to animals. The books came out between 1920 and 1952.

Gub-Gub appears in most of the books, and is among the first animals that the doctor is able to talk to and understand when the pig responds. He is one of the many pets kept by Dr Dolittle, with a duck named Dab-Dab and a monkey called Chee-Chee being just two of the others. Gub-Gub even has his own book in the series, called 'Gub Gub's Book: An Encyclopedia of Food', as the pig is very fond of food.

Answer: Pig

Like the other two pigs in the quiz, the pig called Babe has appeared on the cinema screens. He originated in a book, though, called 'The Sheep-Pig' and written by Dick King-Smith, a former farmer, in 1983. The book was renamed 'Babe, the Gallant Pig' in the USA.

The story is about a piglet, which is won at a fair by a farmer. The piglet is destined to be eaten when fattened up. A sheep dog named Fly begins to teach Babe how to herd sheep and Babe is able to save the farmer's flock from being stolen. The farmer realises that Babe is worth training and spends time teaching him. Babe and his owner eventually win first prize at a competition, meaning that Babe's future is assured.

Answer: Mouse

The books about Basil began with 'Basil of Baker Street' which first appeared in 1958, written by Eve Titus. Basil is a mouse who lives in the basement of Sherlock Holmes's house in Baker Street and solves crimes in the mouse world aided by Dr David Q Dawson, who writes the stories down. Like his human counterpart, Basil has an arch enemy, called Professor Ratigan.

Eve Titus wrote five books in the series, with the last one coming out in 1982. She also wrote about another mouse, named Anatole, but Basil is probably better known. In 2018 the character was revived with Cathy Hapka writing about him - Eve Titus had died before then. Two more have been published, in 2019 and 2020.

Answer: Mouse

Reepicheep is a mouse who appears in three of the seven books in the 'Chronicles of Narnia' stories written by C S Lewis. His first appearance is in 'Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia', which was published in 1951.

Reepicheep is depicted as a talking mouse. In 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' Aslan the lion was freed from the ropes tying him down when mice gnawed through them, and mice were given the power of speech as a reward. Reepicheep is a brave mouse, armed with a rapier and wearing a red feather in a gold headdress. His role in 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' (1952) is much bigger as he sacrifices himself to break a curse. Reepicheep does reappear, though, in the final book, 'The Last Battle', greeting the main characters as they reach what appears to be heaven.

Answer: Mouse

Matthias is a mouse who appears in the 'Redwall' series, written by Brian Jacques, a British author. The first book came out in 1986 with Matthias as the main character, an orphaned mouse who lives in at Redwall Abbey as a novice monk. When the Abbey is attacked by an evil rat named Cluny the Scourge, Matthias becomes a warrior and leads the defence.

The book was so successful that Jacques wrote another twenty-one stories based on Redwall Abbey, both prequels and sequels. Matthias appears in six of them and is mentioned in several others. We also learn that he has a son, named Mattimeo, who steps into his father's paw prints as a warrior mouse.

Answer: Cat

Crookshanks was Hermione Granger's companion in the 'Harry Potter' books. He is described as being half kneazle, which gave him his large size, lion-like appearance and a fierce intelligence. In the books, Crookshanks is the first to spot that Scabbers, Ron's rat, was not what he seemed to be.

Other cats in 'Harry Potter' are owned by Arabella Figg, the 'squib' (a witch who can't perform magic) who keeps a close watch over Harry while he is living with the Dursleys. These cats are called Tufty, Mr Paws, Snowy and Tibbles, but are not as well known as Crookshanks.

Answer: Cat

Dinah is the name of Alice's cat in Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', which first appeared in 1865. You will probably know that Alice follows a white rabbit into a magical world called Wonderland and meets many strange characters while there. Lewis Carroll also wrote a follow up, called 'Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There' in 1871.

Dinah is Alice's faithful companion and is with her when Alice becomes bored and falls asleep. During her time in Wonderland, Alice mentions Dinah frequently and is worried that she might not be looked after without Alice being with her. Alice also has cats in the second story. They are two kittens, named Snowdrop and Kitty, but they are not so well known as Dinah.

Answer: Cat

There are actually two book series about a cat named Mog. The first features 'Meg and Mog' and was written by Helen Nicoll, with the first book coming out in 1972. Meg is a witch, although not a very good one, while Mog is her faithful cat. The books also feature an owl, and are aimed at younger children.

Judith Kerr wrote a completely unrelated series of stories of another Mog, with the first book being called 'Mog the Forgetful Cat'. It came out in 1970 with numerous sequels featuring Mog's adventures until 'Goodbye, Mog' covered Mog's death in 2001.

It's not too surprising that two different authors chose the same name as 'moggie' or 'moggy' is a name often used to describe a cat with no particular breed.

Answer: Horse

Mary O'Hara is the author of the book 'My Friend Flicka', which was first published in 1941. Flicka is a filly, a young female horse, who is saved by the love of her young owner. Two further novels followed, called 'Thunderhead', about Flicka's foal, and 'Green Grass of Wyoming', which came out in 1943 and 1946.

The plot of the story involves a ten year old boy, named Ken, who is rather too dreamy for his father's liking. His older brother has his own horse and Ken's father, reluctantly, allows Ken to choose one for himself. Ken picks Flicka, a horse with mustang blood which makes her difficult and wild. Both Ken and Flicka have obstacles to overcome, but the story ends well.

Answer: Horse

'Misty of Chincoteague' was written by Marguerite Henry in 1947. This story about a horse was just one of nearly sixty titles she wrote about real animals. Chincoteague ponies are semi wild horses which live on Assateague Island, off the coast of Maryland and Virginia. They may be descendants of Spanish horses who swam to the island, although there are other theories.

The book tells a story which begins with this legend, when a Spanish galleon is wrecked and horses arrive on the island. Centuries later, two children buy two of the wild horses, a mare they name Phantom and her foal, called Misty. The children eventually allow Phantom to re-join her wild herd while keeping Misty.

The story was inspired by a real horse named Misty, with a similar heritage, but the events are fiction.

Answer: Horse

'Black Beauty' is a novel by Anna Sewell, written while she was ill and meant to highlight the poor treatment of horses. It was written in 1877 when horses were used for many purposes, including transport, pulling Hansom cabs, an early type of taxi, delivery carts, such as for coal, and working underground in coal mines.

The story is written as if told by Black Beauty himself as he goes through his life, beginning as a carriage horse, which is a pleasant life for him, before being sold to various other owners, some of whom are extremely cruel.