Blue Balliett Trivia

1. Where was the last place Calder Pillay was before he disappeared?

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett (2)

Answer: Blenheim Park

According to the note Calder Pillay left for his dad, Walter, he was invited to Blenheim Palace to assist in some task. It is "The Minotaur," the sculpture by Alexander Calder, that disappeared from the Square.

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: A Lady Writing

The yellow jacket worn by the 'Lady' appears in many other Vermeer paintings, so do the pearl earrings that she is wearing. 'The Geographer' and 'The Astronomer' were made to be a 'set', displayed together. Many people think it is the same man in both paintings; what do you think?

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: A warm October night in Chicago

Most of the novel take place in Hyde Park, the area around Chicago University in Illinois. The university was founded by John D. Rockefeller, and first opened for classes in 1892.

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett (2)

Answer: Macaroni and cheese

This is while they are still on the plane en route to England. Petra "had only picked at her food, and was trying to write while Tommy ate. He made such disgusting chewing noises that it was hard to concentrate... By the time he'd finished, Petra had read the same question about five times: Is there a game that makes a player seem to disappear even if he or she is not really gone?"

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: 3

The letter recipients are a mystery until the end of the novel- do you remember who they were?

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett

Answer: The Museum of Contemporary Art

It is a school field trip to look at the different works by the great Alexander Calder. "Pieces borrowed from collections around the world filled the entire Museum of Contemporary Art."

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: The author of 'Lo!'

Charles Fort's book, 'Lo!' is a compilation of articles of unusual happenings; many having to do with frogs falling from the sky!

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett

Answer: A sculpture

It "has four dimensions, because it changes over time." Alexander Calder invented several such creations-thousands, in fact. And he inspired "some of the greatest minds of the time" including Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote: "A mobile, one might say, is a little private celebration ... a pure play of movement. ... There is more of the unpredictable about them than in any other human creation. No human brain, not even their creator's, could possibly foresee all the complex combinations of which they are capable. ... If you miss it, you have lost it forever. ..."

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: They were both going to be 12 on 12/12

Their 12/12 birthdays are just one of the '12' coincidences in the novel. Some others are: The title of the missing painting contains 12 letters, all characters' names have 12 letters, '1212' was written in a date book of a murdered man with no explanation.

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett (2)

Answer: She's his aunt

In chapter twenty-eight, we read: "Miss Knowsley, who had been shopping at the butcher's, dropped her bag of partridge breasts with a whump into the sawdust underfoot. She clapped both hands over her mouth and wailed, "My Artie! Oh, my poor laddie!" She had to be helped outside and then back to her house on Alehouse Lane. The police who now filled the town had heard her words, and two detectives escorted her back to her house."

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett

Answer: A teacher

"She had a flat face that fit her name and a tight helmet of hair the color of American cheese." Bettina Button's a seventh-grade teacher at the University School in Chicago, and is not very popular with her students. "She ignored questions, looked busy when she wasn't, and had the kind of ungenerous smile that stopped the moment it wasn't needed. According to Ms. Button, learning was a job that left little time to experiment and no time to talk."

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: Pablo Picasso

This is an interesting quote by Picasso, and gives an insight into his feelings about painting.

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett (2)

Answer: "Fall"

This is in chapter thirty-six, and everyone in the room is so relieved that he's still alive that they "clapped." "'Artie, dear! It's your Auntie Po! Fall! Yes, you had a little fall, my darling!' Arthur Wish only shook his head. 'Fall,' he said again. 'Under."' Later in the book, he manages to say "boy in falls," thereby helping the authorities to locate young Calder Pillay.

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett

Answer: A teacher

"Her long, swishy hair was forever trying to escape from clips and ties, and she wore earrings that didn't match." Isabel Hussey teaches sixth grade at the University School. In stark contrast to Ms Button, she "loved class investigations, understood noise and mess, and always listened... No classroom idea was too odd, and no approach too unusual-forever curious, she was not afraid of making mistakes."

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: The boy who lives next door has disappeared

Tommy, his mom, and his new stepfather (Fred) moved away from Hyde Park and are living in New York. There are a few things that are worrying Tommy. For example, he doesn't get along well with Fred and he misses his friend Calder. Also, he is very afraid and suspicious when his neighbor, a boy named 'Frog' has gone missing. Charles Fort's book containing information about frogs and Tommy's neighbor being named Frog is another coincidence in the novel (although according to Fort- there are no coincidences!).

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett (2)

Answer: "The Minotaur" falling in the water

Earlier in the book, five men had been hired to steal the 'Minotaur' and move it. But the plan fell through as the man who had hired them, Arthur Wish, was struck unconscious and therefore never met with the men. In the end, two of the five decided to "hand" the sculpture over to the authorities. "The sculpture was very heavy, but the two were masons and knew how to handle weight. They managed to tip and roll and tug until the sculpture was balanced on top of the old boards. Next they tied a large plastic covering over the top, one that said THAMES VALLEY POLICE-DO NOT DISTURB. The letters crumpled as the men lashed their load down with strips of police tape... 'Claimed they had no cell phone, and didn't want to leave the sculpture someplace where it might be stolen,' the police officer said, and then rolled her eyes. 'Again!'"

From Quiz "The Calder Game" by Blue Balliett

Answer: Cat

He is Mrs. Knowsley's pet. "He comes and goes on his own." The following description is from the first time Calder and Walter Pillay set eyes on the cat: "Calder and his dad watched as an immense, black barrel of fur rolled toward them. One beady, amber eye blinked up from the end of the barrel; the other eye was closed in a permanent wink. It was hard to believe that Pummy could stand."

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: "You will come to agree with me."

The thief says that he wants certain paintings that are said to be Vermeers to be reexamined, because they are not good enough to be done by the artist. Some art critics say they were done by a very young or an old and ailing Vermeer. The thief wants the attributions corrected or he will destroy 'A Lady Writing'.

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: Mrs. Sharpe

Mrs. Sharpe was the original owner of 'Lo!', and her husband was a Vermeer scholar. It was also Mr. Sharpe who was murdered while investigating Vermeer paintings in Europe and left the cryptic '1212' in his date book.

From Quiz Chasing Vermeer

Answer: Glitter Man

Fred Steadman, Tommy's stepfather is the thief. His real name is Xavier Glitts, and he is the leader of an international crime ring.

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