Children's Lit Titles in Latin (Part 6): Bears Quiz

Answer: Ursus Nominatus Conventus Populi Paddae

"Ursus" means "bear," and "Nominatus" translates to "called" or "named."
The place Paddington, in Middlesex means "settlement of Padda's people", derived from the pre-7th century Olde English personal name "Pad(d)a" (of unknown origin), and the Olde English "tun", meaning "farm, or settlement." And "settlement of Padda's people" translates to Latin as "Conventus Populi Paddae" with "Conventus" meaning "settlement" or "gathering," "Populi" meaning "of the people," and "Paddae" being the genitive form, indicating possession, of the name Padda.
Published in 1958, "A Bear Called Paddington," by Michael Bond, introduced the character Paddington Bear, from "Darkest Peru" and would go on to appear in 29 books in all by Mr. Bond, the last published posthumously in 2018.

Answer: Ursus Transiit Montem

"Ursus" means "bear" in the singular. "Transiit" is the past tense of the verb "transire," meaning "went" or "crossed." "Montem" is the accusative case of "mountain", indicating the object being crossed. William Kotzwinkle, author of the book "E. T.: The Extraterrestrial" on which the screenplay was based, wrote "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" about a bear who stumbles upon a draft of a novel written by a struggling author named Arthur Bramhall.

The author had buried it for safekeeping, while heading out to celebrate with champagne. Oops.

The Bear not only digs it up but takes it to New York, pretending to be the author. He becomes a literary sensation. Nice, right kids?

Answer: Ursidae Glaesum Ad Scholam Ire

Ursidae refers to "bears," a Latin term for a bear family. The name Berenstain is of Jewish origin, derived from the traditional name Bernstein; the alteration of it, aka Berenstain came about came about when an immigration officer tried to record the name phonetically as he heard it pronounced by author Stan Berenstain's grandfather, who immigrated from Ukraine.

In German, Bernstein means "amber" (literally "burn stone"). And The Latin word for "amber" can be translated as "glaesum." Ad means "to," and Scholam translates to "school," in the accusative case. Ire means "to go." The book follows Sister Bear who is nervous about her first day entering kindergarten, while Brother Bear is eager about their first day of school. Once at school though, Sister Bear meets her classmates, and they all play and join in activities. Gradually Sister Bear's anxiety recedes and transform her initial anxiety into joy.

Answer: Tessitura ribbata

Corduroy is a type of fabric with a distinctive ribbed texture. A suitable translation could be: "Tessitura ribbata" (meaning "ribbed fabric") Written and illustrated by Don Freeman, "Corduroy," tells the story of a teddy bear named Corduroy who longs for someone to come into the store and take him to a home.

A little girl named Lisa comes one day and sees Corduroy and loves him and wants her mother to buy him, but the mother points out that he's missing a button. So that night, Corduroy goes looking around for his button, but is saddened upon not finding it.

Not to worry though, because the next day Lisa comes with her money saved from her piggy bank and buys him, and when back home she sews a button onto him. It feels kind of like how the movie "The Diary of Bridget Jones" ends.

Answer: Circinum Aureum

"Circinum" translates to "compass," referring to the instrument used for navigation, and "Aureum" means "golden," derived from "aurum," Latin for "gold." "The Golden Compass" is the first book in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy following an 11-year-old girl named Lyra Belacqua, in a parallel universe where human souls inhabit animal companions called daemons.

The character Iorek Byrnison is a panserbjørn, or armored bear, and is a powerful ally to Lyra. Iorek had lost his armor to humans that deceived him and was forced into the humiliating role of shaping metal for the same humans that betrayed him.

When Lyra learns this, she helps him reclaim his stolen armor.

Answer: Aurantiaca et Tres Ursidae

"Aurantiaca" is a Latin term derived from "aurum," meaning gold, and has often been used in Latin literature to signify a golden-haired character. "Et" translates to "and" and "Tres" means "three." "Ursidae" is the plural form of bear, which if singular would be "ursus." Based on a 19th-century English fairy tale, James Marshall's 1988 book "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" won a Caldecott Honor Book award.

His version abides by the most well-known of the three versions of the fairy tale, that is, it features a young blonde girl and a family of three bears. Earlier versions of the fairy tale had a mean old woman in place of a little girl, and three bachelor bears instead of a bear family.

The second version replaced the old woman with a young girl but the bachelor bears stayed the same.

Answer: Volo Meum Petasum Redere

"Volo" means "I want" and "Meum" means "my." "Petasum" means "hat." "Redere" means "to give back" or "to return." Jon Klassen wrote and illustrated "I Want My Hat Back," the tale of a bear searching for his red pointy hat, which he lost. He asks a lot of different animals in the woods for help (including a fox! Hey that's a bear AND a fox).

But the frog, turtle, snake, and armadillo say they haven't seen it. Something's fishy though because the rabbit who also denied seeing it, is wearing...a RED POINTY HAT! The bear then asks a deer who tells the bear that he saw a hat fitting that description on the rabbit.

The bear rushes back to confront the rabbit. And then without being overt, the book implies that the bear ate the rabbit. Yes. This is a children's book.

Answer: Ursus Parvus

With "Ursus" meaning "bear" and "Parvus" meaning "little" or "small," this title keeps the meaning of the original title while using Latin grammar and vocabulary.
Published in 1957, "Little Bear," written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by the famous Maurice Sendak, features four short stories:
What Will Little Bear Wear?: Little Bear feels cold playing outside and keeps getting more clothing from mother for help with clothing.
Birthday Soup: Little Bear fears that his birthday might be forgotten.
Little Bear Goes to the Moon: Little Bear imagines traveling to the moon with a helmet he made.
Little Bear's Wish: Little Bear shares his dreams and wishes with Mother at bedtime.

Answer: Iamus Venationem Ursi

Iamus is the first-person plural form (we) of the verb "ire," which means "we go" or "we are going." Venationem translates to "hunt" or "hunting," derived from the noun "venatio," and Ursi is the genitive case of "ursus," meaning "of a bear." "We're Going on a Bear Hunt," written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, follows the adventures of a family and their as they go on a bear hunt.

Their journey takes them through a great many adverse conditions including a deep cold river, traipsing through thick oozing mud, a large dark scary forest, and a snowstorm.

They finally reach a cave and are suddenly face to face with a bear. They panic and retreat hurriedly back through all the obstacles they encountered.

Answer: Vinnius Flāre

"Vinnius" can be a Latinized form of "Winnie;" adapting "Winnie" to "Vinnius" maintains a phonetic similarity. "Flāre" can be used to describe the action of blowing air to remove or send something away. After all, in the first chapter of "Winnie-the-Pooh", the author suggests that Pooh got his name because his arms were so stiff that when a fly landed on his nose, he had to blow it off, making a sound like "pooh." The all-time classic children's literature book, A. A. Milne's "Winnie-the-Pooh", follows the adventures of the lovable bear named Pooh in his home, the Hundred Acre Wood.

His friends include the timid but loyal Piglet, the Debbie-Downer donkey Eeyore, the grumpy yet practical Rabbit, and the human boy Christopher Robin, their leader.