Finding Fictional Friends in Europe Quiz

Answer: Switzerland

"Heidi", written in 1880 by Johanna Spyri, tells the story of an orphan girl who goes to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Amongst the most popular books to come from Switzerland, it was originally written in German (one of the country's official languages, along with French and Italian).

The first time the "Heidi" story was made into a movie, Shirley Temple played the character.

Answer: Italy

Originally written about in "The Adventures of Pinocchio" (by Carlo Collodi) and released in 1883, the well-loved tale of Pinocchio is possibly best-known for becoming a very early Disney movie. The book (and film) tells of a wooden puppet who wished to be a real boy.

The original story took place in Tuscany, Italy, where Geppetto carved him into a marionette. The tale is believed to be one of the best-selling of all time.

Answer: France

The stories about Madeline Fogg were written by Ludwig Bemelmans starting in 1939 and the 7-year-old boarding school girl with the red hair ended up becoming one of the most famous French children in the world. Throughout her adventures, Madeline goes to a convent school in Paris, France with eleven other little girls.

Answer: Sweden

The red-headed and freckled Pippi Longstocking was the strongest girl in the world in her book series. Hailing from Sweden, Pippi was 9 years old in her book series created by Astrid Lindgren in the 1940s. The "Pippi Longstocking" series would be translated into English in the 1950s, starting her streak of international fame and making her one of the better-known strong girl characters in children's literature.

Answer: England

The lead character in a series of seven books featuring adventures in and around the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter first appeared in books in 1997 and, over the decade to follow, became one of the best-selling figures in literature as a whole.

As the series unfolds, Harry heads to school to learn magic and leaves a mundane life behind only to discover that he's a much more important figure in the world than he ever could have imagined. Much of the series takes place in England with Harry's tale beginning on Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey. Series author JK Rowling is also from the UK.

Answer: Spain

Although "The Story of Ferdinand" was written by American author Munro Leaf in 1936, this children's book features a bull living in the capital of Spain, Madrid. While most bulls fighting in the rings of Spain once upon a time were considered angry, Leaf wrote Ferdinand to be a different kind of bull--one who would rather spend time smelling the flowers than fighting.

Answer: Belgium

Appearing amongst "The Adventures of Tintin" starting in 1929, Tintin was created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Prosper Remi, better known as Hergé. Though Tintin and his white wire fox terrier, Snowy, travelled the world in their many adventures, his home base was always his home city, Brussels. Jamie Bell played Tintin in the live-action movie based on the stories, released in 2011.

Answer: Germany

One of the many fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, the story of "Hansel and Gretel" was first written in 1812, telling the tale of two medieval German youngsters who wandered the woods only to find a house made of candy and an evil witch inside. The story is considered a classic, being part of the same collection as standards like "Rapunzel", "Snow White", and "Rumpelstiltskin" (amongst countless others).

Answer: Ireland

One of the more modern characters from this collection, Artemis Fowl is found in the series named after him, written by Eoin Colfer as early as 2001. These stories involve a 12-year-old boy genius whose skills, money, and smarts allow him to navigate the complicated world of magic and intrigue as a criminal mastermind.

While the series takes Fowl around the world, his home base is in his home country of Ireland in a massive mansion.

Answer: Scotland

While Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson is better known for "Treasure Island", his other major novel, "Kidnapped", was also written with kids in mind, featuring a teenager named David Balfour in the main role. In the story, David is kidnapped and stowed away on a ship leaving from Edinburgh, and the adventures therein involve his journey to get back home. "Kidnapped" was published for the first time in 1886.