Kiddie Lit Trivia Quiz

Answer: Story of Babar

Jean de Brunhoff is the author of the French children's book "Histoire de Babar". Originally published in 1931, the story is about Babar, an elephant whose mother is shot in the jungle. Babar runs off to the big city and is taken in by "The Old Lady" who clothes him and hires a tutor. He eventually returns home and becomes king.

Answer: Shrek!

Cartoonist William Steig created a picture book, "Shrek!", about a huge, green ogre. The book was published in 1990 and depicts how Shrek leaves home and, in his travels, manages to save Princess Fiona. In 1995, Dreamworks acquired the rights and "Shrek" was turned into an animated film. The word 'shrek' comes from a Yiddish word meaning 'fear' or 'fright'.

Answer: Madeline

Author and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans created the delightful "Madeline" series, the first of which was published in 1939. The setting for the story is a Catholic boarding school in Paris "covered in vines" with "twelve little girls in two straight lines". Seven year old Madeline is the smallest, the most extroverted, and the only one with red hair.

Answer: The Giver

Created for a somewhat older crowd, "The Giver", by Lois Lowry, is a 1993 science fiction novel with twelve-year-old Jonas as the protagonist. Set in a supposedly Utopian society, the philosophy of "Sameness" is used to eradicate individual pain and strife, but has also succeeded in removing human emotions. In an effort to preserve order, the Community has eliminated everything else.

Answer: Stuart Little

Written in 1945, "Stuart Little" is E.B. White's first children's novel. Stuart is born to an ordinary New York City family, but he is four inches tall and looks just like a mouse. He is precocious and, at seven, he can speak and think like a sixteen year old. Stuart later befriends a bird named Margalo who is forced to fly away. We follow Stuart's adventures in his attempts to find his friend.

Answer: Bridge to Terabithia

In Katherine Paterson's 1977 book, "Bridge to Terabithia", two lonely children meet at school, become friends and create their own imaginary kingdom they call Terabithia. Jess and Leslie get to Terabithia by swinging over a creek on a rope. In this sanctuary, they are the rulers and even adopt a dog named Prince Terrien (P.T.). One day while Jess goes to an art museum, tragedy strikes.

Answer: James and the Giant Peach

Young James Henry Trotter is the protagonist of Roald Dahl's 1961 fantasy "James and the Giant Peach". When James' parents are killed, he is forced to live with his evil aunts who beat him and mistreat him. One day a mysterious stranger gives him a potion that creates a giant peach which is also inhabited by talking invertebrates. Together they have great adventures and wind up in NYC.

Answer: The Little Prince

"The Little Prince", written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, is a 1943 novella. In it, the narrator tells of his plane crashing in the desert where he meets the little prince who describes life on his tiny home planet (asteroid). The prince describes his love for a rose on his planet, as well as his experiences on other planets, all the while making wise observations about society and human nature.

Answer: Goodnight Moon

"Goodnight Moon" is a children's bedtime story written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. Published in 1947, it is a rhyming story about all the things a bunny says goodnight to before he falls asleep. I wonder how many mothers have put their toddlers to sleep with the soft rhymes and bright colored pictures of this wonderful book. "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon."

Answer: Dr. Doolittle

In 1920, Hugh Lofting gave us "The Story of Dr. Doolittle, Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts". Dr. John Doolittle is a naturalist and a doctor who has the ability to speak with animals in their own languages, e.g., "chattin' with a chimp in chimpanzee".

He uses the information he receives to better understand human nature and the world.