The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill Quiz

Answer: Shot by hunters

Mr Koala is sleeping in a tree when he is shot repeatedly by hunters. He cannot understand what is happening because, as the book says, 'they had no idea such things as guns were in the world, or that a human being had a heart so cruel that he would take pleasure in seeing a poor little body riddled with bullets hanging helplessly from the tree top'.

When Mrs Koala realises that her husband is dead, she and Blinky Bill move away; her friend Angelina Wallaby carries them on her back.

Answer: Mrs Grunty

Mrs Grunty lives in the tree where Mrs Koala and Blinky make their home. She tells Mrs Koala about how she was taken away from her family as a child and kept as a pet, but the man who captured her released her into the wild when he saw how unhappy she was. Mrs Grunty has a son called Snubby, though Blinky doesn't get on with him because he thinks Snubby is a bit of a goody-goody.

She is prone to headaches and constantly complains about Blinky's behaviour to Mrs Koala, telling her she needs to discipline Blinky more.

Answer: Peppermints

Blinky Bill likes the peppermints because they remind him of eucalyptus (gum) leaves, his favourite food. Miss Pimm, the shopkeeper, catches him stealing peppermints and chases him around the shop. Blinky hides in a bin of oatmeal, and manages to escape from the shop while Miss Pimm is distracted, though he leaves a terrible mess behind. Customers later wonder why the shop's biscuits taste of eucalyptus!

Answer: He pulls Madam Hare's tail

Bobbin, a little girl rabbit, invites Blinky to the rabbits' party, and while he does tread on her toes as they dance, that's not why he gets kicked out. Madam Hare, Mrs Rabbit's friend, dances with Bobbin's dad Brer Rabbit and is a terrible show-off. Blinky keeps pulling her tail, and eventually she catches him at it and gives him a good kicking with her long legs.

The rabbits throw Blinky out of their party for causing trouble, and Madam Hare kicks him out of the burrow and chases him, but Angelina Wallaby comes to the rescue.

Answer: The lucky dip

Mrs Possum has organised the bazaar to raise money for some rabbits who lost their homes in a bush fire. Blinky is given the task of running the lucky dip. Each animal has to give him a present in order to have a go. Mrs Silver-eye gives Blinky a berry and gets a feather, Mrs Lizard gives him a dead fly and gets a stone - much to her annoyance - and Master Trapdoor Spider threatens to poison Blinky and gets a frog, who eats him. Madam Hare causes trouble again when she kicks several parcels out of the lucky dip and runs away with two, only to find that she has a nettle leaf and a bundle of straw.

Other customers run away with the rest of the parcels.

Answer: Pulls his moustache

Blinky is amazed by Mr Smifkins' whiskers, thinking it's even more impressive than Mr Wombat's whiskers, and tries to pull some of the hairs out to give to his mother and Mrs Grunty for sewing and padding cushions. He wakes Mr Smifkins up and the farmer chases him around the house.

He eventually catches Blinky and puts him in a box, but Blinky gets out and makes a mess all over the kitchen, stealing milk and jam. Blinky decides that the Smifkins' house is too dangerous after his new friend, Mr Mouse, is killed by a trap.

Answer: A fat dead rabbit stuffed with prickly plants

After Belinda lets her evil plan slip, Blinky rushes off to warn the rabbits. Luckily, Great Granny Rabbit has prepared for the possibility of this happening by filling the body of a dead rabbit with prickly plants. The rabbits place the dead rabbit near a bush and put grasss in his mouth to make him look like he's eating. Belinda turns up and sees the dead rabbit.

When she tries to eat him, she gets a mouthful of thistles and thorns! All the rabbits come over to laugh at her, and Blinky makes her promise never to eat rabbits again.

Answer: Kangaroo

Splodge is getting fed up with his life at the zoo, and when a bunch of kids throw peanuts at him and an old woman pokes him with her umbrella, he decides it's time to run away. In the previous chapter, Blinky and Mrs Koala were captured and taken to the zoo, and although they enjoyed it at first, they ended up missing their home, and the other koalas kept getting mad at Blinky. Blinky talks Splodge into taking him and his mother with him, as they come from the same area of the bush. Splodge tears a hole in the fence and carries Blinky and Mrs Koala away on his back.

Answer: She washes behind her ears

Nutsy is a little orphan koala who keeps taking the best gum leaves. Blinky eventually spots her and threatens to kill her, and tells her that he hates girls. Nutsy insists she isn't a girl, but Blinky suspects she is one because she's 'too clean for a proper boy'.

He asks her if she washes behind her ears, and she says yes, which - according to Blinky - confirms she's a girl. Mrs Koala is very taken with Nutsy, and as Nutsy has no family, she moves in with Mrs Koala and Blinky. Despite claiming to hate girls, Blinky ends up becoming friends with Nutsy.

Answer: A boarding house

Mrs Koala decides to set up a boarding house in the tree where she and the kids live, with Splodge acting as manager. Blinky and Nutsy run away because neither of them fancy living in a boarding house, and they end up helping a sick porcupine and going to watch the pelicans have a meeting. Blinky and Nutsy return home, and Blinky stuffs leaves down his trousers to protect him from his mum's spanking, claiming they're for bedding.

The guests arrive the next day, including Mr Tree Kangaroo - a very troublesome guest - and a family of goannas. Blinky and Nutsy steal some vegetables for the guests from Farmer Scratchet, and Splodge helps them carry the vegetables home in a basket, which they later use as a lift for guests who can't climb.

The book ends with everyone having a party in the tree.