Mister Topsy-Turvy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift wrote and published "Gulliver's Travels" in 1726. Its original title contained 24 words: "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships." The book was an immediate success and is accepted as one of the true masterpieces of English literature.

Answer: Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll published "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" in 1865. It was immediately a hit with both adults and children and is accepted by scholars as being one of the greatest examples of "literary nonsense" genre. In chapter one, Alice follows a bespectacled white rabbit down a hole into Wonderland.

There she drinks a potion that causes her to shrink and a cake that transforms her into a giant. In chapter seven, Alice attends the Mad-Hatter's Tea Party where she is introduced to a number of bizaare characters.

In chapter eight, Alice makes the acquaintence of the Queen of Hearts and plays a game of croquet using flamingoes as mallets and hedgehogs as balls. The final two chapters involve a trial during which Alice defiantly speaks out against the Queen.

The Disney version of the story is thought to be far easier to understand than Lewis Carroll's original manuscript.

Answer: Brave New World

Huxley's "Brave New World" is set in London in 2540 AD. The population of the world is set at exactly two million. Children are literally manufactured in test tubes and genetically engineered to fulfill specific vocational roles within a five-caste social system. No one lives beyond the age of 60 and no one is a parent or has parents. Sexual activity with multiple partners is accepted and vigorously promoted.

A drug, soma, is used as a form of social control and group activity and games in the non-work hours is the norm. Solitary behavior and individual pursuits are both frowned upon and sanctioned.

Answer: Monkey Planet

"La Plančte des singes" was published in the United Kingdom as "Monkey Planet." In 1968, with the release of the movie adaptation, the book was released with the same name - "Planet of the Apes." The film was directed by Franklin J Schaffner using a screenplay adapted by Rod Serling and Michael Wilson. "Planet of the Apes" starred Charlton Heston and was a huge commercial success leading to four more movie adaptations over the course of the next 40 years.

The film deviates a little from the book, but the premise remains the same. Humans have become primitive and are hunted by the more intelligent and cosmopolitan primate species.

Answer: The Magician's Nephew

"The Chronicles of Narnia" were written by C.S. Lewis between 1949 and 1954 and published in London between October 1950 and March 1956. The series has sold in excess of 100 million copies and has been translated in over 50 different languages. The setting is a fictional world where the animals all talk, creatures from myth and legend inhabit the kingdom, and magic is a part of everyday life. Children who play central roles in the story are magically transported to Narnia to aid the Lion, Aslan, in battling the forces of evil. Within the pages of "The Magician's Nephew" the reader learns about the creation of Narnia and also learn more about the creation of the magic wardrobe.

The wardrobe is built from the wood of an apple tree that grows from an apple core that Digory planted in the back garden of his aunt's house.

The magic apple from Narnia, a gift from Aslan, had saved the life of his mother. It is this same wardrobe that provides a door back to Narnia in the later stories.

Answer: Mary Poppins

Australian Pamela Lyndon Travers gave birth to the "Mary Poppins" adventures which take place over the course of eight books. In 1964, Disney adapted the books to the big screen featuring Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews. In the very first book, "Mary Poppins" arrives on the east wind along with her traveling carpetbag.

The children, Jane, Michael and twins John and Barbara are quite a handful and run off their first nanny. Although she is stern, Mary Poppins takes them on an adventure with the Bird Woman, a birthday party with the animals at the zoo, a trip around the world with a compass, a tea party held on the ceiling, and a Christmas shopping trip with a real-live star from the Taurus constellation. Satisfied that the children are reformed, Mary Poppins leaves on the west wind.

Answer: Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket is the pseudonym for American children's author Daniel Handler. There are thirteen books in the series of "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Within these books, Lemony Snicket serves as both the narrator and a character. The first novel introducing Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire is "The Bad Beginning" which was released in September of 1999. The topsy-turvy nature of the improbable storyline, writing style, strange characters, and a predilection for the macabre has made it difficult to definitively assign a single genre to Snicket's work.

Answer: Muggles

J.K. Rowling decided to use the term Muggles to describe non-magic folk in her "Harry Potter" series. She based the term on the word mug (meaning someone who is easily fooled) and added "-gle" to make it sound more interesting. The word "muggle" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003 with the meaning "related to someone who is lacking a skill". Mudbloods is used to describe a person who has magic but who is born to non-magical parents. Squibs are those with no magical abilities that are born to magical parents. Finally, the Dursleys are Harry Potter's aunt, uncle, and cousin, under whose roof Harry resides for the first 11 years of his life.

Answer: England

William Brighty Rands was born in Middlesex, England on Christmas Eve 1823. He was one of the most renowned children's poets of the Victorian era. He was born into a family of candlestick makers and from an early age was enamored with languages. He taught himself Greek and Latin, and in his later years studied Chinese. The words of his beloved "Topsy Turvy World" poem are as follows:

"IF the butterfly courted the bee,
And the owl the porcupine;
If churches were built in the sea,
And three times one was nine;
If the pony rode his master,
If the buttercups ate the cows,
If the cats had the dire disaster
To be worried, sir, by the mouse,
If mamma, sir, sold the baby
To a gypsy for half a crown;
If a gentleman, sir, was a lady,-
The world would be Upside-down!
If any or all of these wonders
Should ever come about,
I should not consider them blunders,
For I should be Inside-out!

Chorus
Ba-ba, black wool,
Have you any sheep?
Yes, sir, a packfull,
Creep, mouse, creep!
Four-and-twenty little maids
Hanging out the pie,
Out jump'd the honey-pot,
Guy Fawkes, Guy!
Cross latch, cross latch,
Sit and spin the fire;
When the pie was open'd,
The bird was on the brier!"

Answer: Theodor Geisel

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born March 2nd, 1904 and passed away on September 24th, 1991. Dr. Seuss, as he is affectionately known, published 46 children's books containing colorful worlds, characters with non-sensical names, and storylines that continue to engage kindergarten children around the world. Perhaps his best known works include "Green Eggs and Ham" (1960), "The Cat in the Hat" (1957), "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (1957), and "Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose" (1948). Dr. Seuss's birthday has been adopted by the Department of Education in America as the National Read Across America Day.