Children's Lit Titles in Latin (Part 4): Animals Quiz

Answer: Aliciae Adventus in Terra Mirabili

Aliciae is the genitive possessive case of "Alicia," meaning "of Alice" and the adventures in the title are those of Alice's. "Adventus" means "adventures" or "arrivals." The preposition "in" is the same in Latin. "Terra" is "land" or "world" in this case. "Mirabili" "wonderful" the adjective describing "Terra."

An all-time classic in literature Lewis Carroll's 1865 children's novel follows a young girl named Alice from her fall into a rabbit hole and then out into a fantasy world filled with whimsically anthropomorphic animals such as the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit.

Answer: Fabrica Animalium

And the whole theme of these books could probably be termed "Animal Farm" as in "Fabrica Animalium" with "Fabrica" meaning "farm", referring to a place where animals are kept, and "Animalium" being the genitive plural form of "Animal," as in the possessive "of animals."

Author George Orwell's 1945 classic "Animal Farm" has been required reading in many schools for many years. Set on Manor Farm, the animals get tired of being exploited by the human farmer Mr. Jones, and so they revolt. The pigs take over and rename if Animal Farm as they establish a new animal society base on the precept "All animals are equal."

Answer: Chronica Aquae Fluentis

Walter Hooper, an expert on the estate of C.S. Lewis said that Lewis got the name of his land of Narnia from a classical atlas he used as a boy around 1914. Lewis saw the name of a town called Narni, in Italy, and liked the sound of it. The etymology of that town Narni The etymology of Narni is linked to the word "Nar," which means "river" or "flowing water." Which all leads to
"Chronica" for the Latin word meaning "chronicles" and then "Aquae Fluentis", "Aquae" being the genitive form of "water", and "Fluentis" meaning "flowing" modifying "Aquae."

"The Chronicles of Narnia" is comprised of seven fantasy novels published between 1950 and 1956, following the adventures various children transported through a portal to the magical world of Narnia. There they encounter a host of talking animals and mythical creatures.

Answer: Terrorificae Dentes, Terrorificae Ungulae, et Terrorificae Dentes in Terrorificis Maxillis

Since the Gruffalo is a made-up name with no Latin translation, we look to how he is described/defined by the author Julia Donaldson, and that is as such: "terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws". "Terrorificae" is Latin for "terrible" or "fearsome," "Dentes" is plural as in "teeth", "Ungulae" are "claws" or "talons," and "Maxillis" translates to "jaws."

The story has a very clever plot. A mouse encounters a fox, then an owl, and finally a snake, and each invites him to dinner but the mouse knows they want to eat him. The mouse tells them he'll be dining instead with a "Gruffalo" and describes this made-up creature as having "terrible tusks, terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws". The predators scurry away scared. But then the mouse comes across an actual Gruffalo! Told he will eat the mouse, the mouse replies that the mouse is the most fearsome animal. He follows the mouse through the woods and they encounter the same three predators the mouse met earlier. They are of course frightened and flee, but the Gruffalo thinks they were scared of the mouse not him. So he too, runs away.

Answer: Ludus Adventurus

The word "Jumanji" doesn't actually have a specific Latin translation since it is something of a made up word by author Chris Van Allsburg. However, he did derive the word from a real Zulu word that means "many effects," a fitting name for the board game in his story that the kids play with. And "Many Effects" translates into "Multa Effecta" in Latin. However, in looking up the Zulu translation of "Many Effects" I get "imiphumela eminingi" from several sources. It feels like a big stretch to base "Jumanji" on Imiphumela eminingi" so perhaps we should think of Jumanji as meaning "Adventurous Game" since that's fully in the spirit of what "Jumanji" is in the story. And "Ludus Adventurus" is Latin for "Adventurous Game".

Peter and Judy Shepherd, are a brother and sister who after being left home alone when their parents go out, they come upon a mysterious board game when they go out to the park. They bring it home wanting to play it, but they discover a note warning them that the game must be played to the end. They decide to play and soon the adventurous game conjures up adventures and chaos in their home as jungle animals actually appear in their house.

Answer: Liber Iunguli

"Liber" is Latin for "book". Now, although the English word "Jungle" is derived from the Hindi language, "iunglus" is a Latin word for the idea of a dense, tangled forest habitat, which is an apt description of a jungle. "Iunguli" is the genitive case of iunglus, to indicate possession, as in "Book of the Jungle."

Just like "Just So Stories", "The Jungle Book" is a collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling, about the adventures of Mowgli, a young boy adopted and raised by wolves that found him in India's jungles. Among the friends he makes are Baloo the bear and Bagheera the black panther. The major threat to Mowgli in the stories is a fierce and cunning Bengal tiger named Shere Khan.

Answer: Fabulae Justae

"Fabulae" translates to "stories" and "Justae" is the plural form of the adjective meaning "just so" or "proper" which goes along with nature of Kipling's "Just so Stories" that explain how various animals acquired the features that make them unique.

Rudyard Kipling created the stories mainly for his daughter whom he refers to in the book as "Best Beloved". He published the book in 1902. There are thirteen stories all together, and as mentioned they explain such things as "How the Leopard Got His Spots" and "How the Camel Got His Hump." While not being scientifically accurate, they do stir the imaginations of children reading them.

Answer: Vera Mater Anserina

"Vera" is the Latin adjective for "real" or "true", preceding the noun that it modifies, which in this case will be "Mater", the Latin word for "mother". "Anserina" is the feminine adjective form (since it's a Mother Goose) meaning "of a goose."

"The Real Mother Goose" is often considered the "standard" of the "Mother Goose" collection; it was illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright and published in 1916. The origin of "Mother Goose" goes much further back, to the 17th century, although her actual identity remains a mystery. French author Charles Perrault gave us the term "Mother Goose" in the 18th century when his adaptation of the fairy tales took hold. Amongst the stories were "The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots", "Diamonds and Toads" and several others.

Answer: Dies Aegrotationis pro Portare Filius Ignis

"Dies" means "day" in Latin. "Aegrotationis" is derived from "aegrotatio" meaning "sickness" or "illness", and "Aegrotationis" is the genitive case indicating possession as in a "day of sickness."

"Pro" means "for", and then we can get a bit ultra specific here in translating the name Amos McGee, instead of leaving it alone which a likely real translation of the book might do if were actually translated by a publisher. The name Amos derives from the Hebrew verb עמס (amas) meaning "to carry" and the word "carry" is translated into Latin as "portare." So, we can perhaps say Portare will be the first name instead of Amos. And the surname McGee is derived from the Irish name Mac Aodha, meaning "son of fire" and "son of fire" translates to the Latin "Filius Ignis" which can function as the surname in the title.

The story, written by Philip C. Stead, and illustrated by Erin E. Stead is about a dedicated zookeeper, named Amos McGee. One day he gets sick and can't report to the zoo to care for the animals. They love him so much though that they make unexpected visits to him. The book won the 2011 Caldecott Medal because of its art work and themes of friendship.

Answer: Fabula Parumfacere

Author Hugh Lofting chose the name "Doctor Dolittle" for purposes of irony since to outsiders it would appear the doctor did little doctoring, and might thusly appear lazy as he talked to his animals. But the reality was he cared deeply about them, and committed his talents as a doctor to them. So we'll combine the Latin words for "do" and "little" as did Mr. Lofting. In Latin "To do" would be "facere", while the adverb sense of "Little" can be translated as "parum" or "paululum." Combining these, as the English book title does, we can have "Parumfacere" or "Paululumfacere." And for "the Story of" we would use "Fabula" instead of "Historia" since it is a work of fiction.

"The Story of Doctor Dolittle" was first published in 1920, and spawned a series of other books. In the series, Dr. John Dolittle champions the cause of animals, learning to talk with them, and setting sail with those animals he made friends with to help other animals around the world.