Who wants to be a...?

Teaching Pre K-8, Mar 2000 by Hurst, Carol Otis

A game for weighing students' wealth of literary knowledge.

There's a popular TV quiz show occupying the nation's attention. It seems to me that, while you can't offer huge amounts of money as prizes, you can make a literary quiz show.

You can run it in your classroom just like the one currently in vogue on TV, or in the format of any other quiz show, or even as a worksheet. No matter what, you'll need many questions that range from very easy to very difficult.

You'll find the answers to the following qualifiers and questions at the end of this month's column.

We've only got room here for 20 questions, plus qualifiers, but that's enough to get you started. You can organize a committee of kids to make up one of these contests for others or you can be your own quiz-maker. Will you do it? Is that your final answer?

QUALIFIERS

1. Put the following book titles in the order in which they were published:

a. The Secret Garden

b. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

c. Charlotte's Web

d. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

2. Name the authors of each of the following books and place their last names in alphabetical order:

a. James and the Giant Peach

b. Where the Wild Things Are

c. The Very Busy Spider

d. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

3. Put the following characters in order of size, going from smallest to largest:

a. Petunia

b. Babar

c. Aslan

d. Templeton

QUESTIONS

1. Who got mixed up with Little Sal while searching for blueberries?

a. Little Bear

b. Pooh

a Wilbur

d. her father

2. Who got into quarrels over whether or not their bellies had stars?

a. the Whos

b. the Sneetches

c. the Borrowers

d. the Wild Things

3. What is Dr. Seuss's real name?

a. Ted Geisel

b. Fred Geisel

c. Ted Gessell

d. Fred Doctoral

4. Where is the Little Boy who looks after the sheep?

a. asleep in his own little bed

b. in the very tip top of the tree

c. under the haystack fast asleep

d. hiding under the blueberry bush

5. What did Peter put in his pocket in Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats?

a. a popsicle

b. his mittens

c. a snowflake

d. a snowball

6. In James and the Giant Peach, what were the names of James' terrible aunts?

a. Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker

b. Aunt Tillie and Aunt Snip

c. Auntie Em and Auntie En

d. Aunt Mean and Aunt Ugly

7. In Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting, where do the boy and his father live?

a. in a little tiny house

b. in the jungle

c. at the airport

d. in the bus station

8. What can you see at Banbury Cross?

a. hot cross buns on the sidewalk

b. Mary Mary in her garden

c. beggars on horseback

d. a fine lady upon a white horse

9. How did the children get to Narnia?

c. through a broom closet

b. through a wardrobe

c. through a looking glass

d. through a tunnel

10. What are you supposed to go and tell Aunt Rhody?

a. that her laundry's blown away

b. that the pig ran away

c. that the old gray goose is dead

d. that the barn's on fire

11. In Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, what is Lilly's teacher's name?

a. Mr. Slinky

b. Mr. Swinger

c. Mr. Slinker

d. Mr. Slinger

12. In Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel, what causes the strange

bumps at the foot of Owl's bed?

a. his feet

b. his pillow

c. his cat

d. his umbrella

13. In Mike Mulligan and Hi Steam Shovel, what is th Steam Shovel's name?

a. Betty Jane

b. Sally Ann

c. Peggy Sue

d. Mary Anne

14. Which of these people usually writes and illustrates his or bei own books?

a. Jane Yolen

b. Phyllis Naylor

c. Maurice Sendak

d. Byrd Baylor

15. How old is the pease porridge in the pot?

a. five days old

b. seven days old

c. nine days old

d. three days old

16. What is Hank the Cowdog's official title - at least, according to him?

a. Chief of Ranch Security

b. Head of Our Ranch Detective Agency

c. Achief Life Guard

d. Chief of Ranch Investigations

17. In Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, where are the letters meeting?

a. underneath the berry tree

b. beside the footpath

c. on a hill far away

d. at the top of the coconut tree

18. In the first book in the series, who is the chief enemy of the inhabitants of Redwall?

a. Cluny the Rat

b. Badrang the Tyrant

c. Foxwolf Nagru

d. Gaboot

19. Who is the first character Alice sees after she falls down the rabbit hole?

a. the Red Queen

b. the White Rabbit

c. the Dormouse

d. the Cheshire Cat

20. Who is the first animal to crawl inside Nicki's mitten in Jan Brett's book The Mitten?

a. A sknowshoe rabbit

b. a bear

c. a mole

d. a hedgehog

ANSWERS

Qualifiers:

1. a. The Secret Garden

c. Charlotte's Web

d. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

b. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone

2. c. Carle

a. Dahl

d. Scieszka

b. Sendak

3. d. Templeton

a. Petunia

c. Aslan

b. Babar

Questions:

1. a. Little Bear

2. b. the Sneetches

3. a. Ted Geisel

4. c. under the haystack fast asleep

5. d. a snowball

6. a. Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker

7. c. at the airport

8. d. a fine lady upon a white horse

9. b. through the wardrobe

10. c. that the old gray goose is dead

11. d. Mr. Slinger

12. a. his feet

13. d. Mary Anne

14. c. Maurice Sendak

15. c. nine days old

16. a. Chief of Ranch Security

17. d. at the top of the coconut tree

18. a. Cluny the Rat

19. b. the White Rabbit

20. c. a mole

Carol Otis Hurst, a former librarian, is a master storyteller, a children's literature consultant and a Teaching Editor of Teaching K-8. E-mail: Carol Hurst@aol.com; www.CarolHurst.com