Children's books of magic and fantasy Quiz

Answer: a sand fairy

The Psammead, or Sand Fairy, is a magical creature that has the power to grant wishes. It is extremely ill-tempered, however, and the wishes never QUITE work out. This is the first book of three about the same children, the others being "The Phoenix and the Carpet' and "The Amulet".

These books are wonderfully rich-textured and magical, though the hundred-year-old slang can be a bit difficult for modern children.

Answer: exploring the house

While the children are exploring the house, Lucy stays behind to check out the wardrobe. Inside are several long fur coats, and she can't resist stepping in to rub her face against them. Lucy discovers that the wardrobe is a doorway to the land of Narnia, where "It's always winter, and never Christmas". Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy eventually meet Aslan the Lion, and help free Narnia from the spell of the White Witch.

This book is the first, (or second, depending on how you're counting), of "The Chronicles of Narnia", by C.S. Lewis.

Answer: a mouse

From "Prince Caspian", and "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", in CS Lewis' Narnia series. Reepicheep is a talking mouse, much larger than an ordinary mouse, and so much more gallant and brave.

Answer: coin

The coin gives only half of what you wish for. For instance, wishing to be on a "desert island", would just get you to a desert. A funny and exciting book.

Answer: The Sword in the Stone

This 1938 book by T.H. White is the basis for the Disney movie. It is followed by three more books, which are all together called "The Once and Future King", and tell the entire tale of King Arthur. These books are full of gentle humour and warmth, but may be a bit heavy going for some children. A good read-aloud.

Answer: a hidden door to a different world

It is the door to The Island, in fact, whose young Prince has been kidnapped. It's up to a pretty strange crew to rescue him. "The Secret of Platform 13", by Eva Ibbotson (1994).

Answer: Dorothy

"The Wizard of Oz", by L. Frank Baum. Most people know this story from the 1939 movie, but they may not know that there are many books in the series, and many more adventures. Dorothy goes back to Oz several times, once even bringing with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Although the books are a hundred years old, they are still quite readable for modern children.

Answer: Omri

"The Indian in the Cupboard" by Lynne Reid Banks was followed by several more in the series. It was made into a pretty good movie in 1995.

Answer: Smaug

Bilbo is brought along by the dwarves to be their 'burglar'. In a goblin-cave, he finds a magic ring that makes him invisible, which certainly helps in the burglaring! The ring later causes all kinds of trouble, but that's another book.

Answer: the dormouse

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", by Lewis Carroll, (Charles Dodgson) started as a story told to Alice Liddell and her sisters, on a picnic on July 4, 1862.

Answer: a pirate

This book, and its companion, "Rewards and Fairies", are wonderful books, thick with magic and history, but have the same drawback as some others the same age. The stories themselves are not difficult to understand, but the topical references and slang are almost impenetrable to a child a hundred years later. When I read these books as a child, there were whole great stretches that I just didn't 'get'. Maybe that's not important, though, as the half-understood bits just added to the atmosphere of mystery and magic.

Answer: mice

The witches have a plan to get rid of all the children in England, by selling them poisoned sweets that turn them into mice. Then, watch out for the traps! Just one of the many strange and wonderful children's books by Roald Dahl.

Answer: a witch

She has taken it up rather late in life. As she says: "...ever since I was a girl, I've had a bit of a gift for witchcraft, but somehow - what with piano lessons and looking after my mother - I never seemed to have the time to take it seriously." This delightful book, not at all like the movie, was written by Mary Norton, who also brought us "The Borrowers".

Answer: The Never-Ending Story

This book was written by Michael Ende (in German) in 1979, translated to English in 1983. It has been made into both live action (1984) and animated movies.

Answer: Dudley

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" ("...The Sorcerer's Stone" in the U.S.), by JK Rowling, was published in 1997, and has grown into a huge success. Several sequels have been published, with Harry and his friends a year older in each book. There were seven book in the series in all.