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Children’s literature quiz: test your knowledge

The last thirty years have witnessed one of the most fertile periods in the history of children’s books: the flowering of imaginative illustration and writing, the Harry Potter phenomenon, the rise of young adult and crossover fiction, and books that tackle extraordinarily difficult subjects. The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature provides an indispensable and fascinating reference guide to the world of children’s literature and to celebrate the release of the new edition, we bring you this quiz to test your knowledge.

1. When was The Very Hungry Caterpillar first published?

a) 1969
b) 1962
c) 1970
d) 1974

2.‘Once upon a time…’ is a formulation that has been used for the beginning of many traditional stories for how long?

a) Over 8 centuries
b) Over 10 centuries
c) Over 6 centuries
d) Over 12 centuries

3. True or false. Beauty and the Beast is a fairy story that first appeared in English in 1757, in a translation from a French narrative.

a) True
b) False

4. What children’s book did author Roald Dahl not write?

a) Danny, the Champion of the World
b) The Enormous Egg
c) The Magic Finger
d) James and the Giant Peach

 5. Author Beatrix Potter of the ‘Peter Rabbit’ series of books kept which of the following as a pet?

a) A rabbit named Peter
b) A hedgehog named Mrs Tiggy
c) A white rat named Sammy
d) All of the above

 6. Which children’s book does this quote belong ‘To die will be an awfully big adventure’:

a) The Jungle Book
b) Treasure Island
c) Mary Poppins
d) Peter Pan

7. The character Hush, from the Australian picture book Possum Magic, didn’t begin her life as a possum, what animal was she originally?

a) A rat
b) A wombat
c) A mouse
d) A rabbit

8. The first draft of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was titled what?

a) Wicked
b) The Emerald City
c) The Land of Oz
d) Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz

9. Paul Jennings was the first writer to sell how many copies of his book in Australia?

a) 1 million
b) 750,000
c) 500,000
d) 900,000

10. True or false. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was an expansion of Alice’s Adventures Underground, which begun as an impromptu tale told to ten-year-old Alice Liddell.

a) True
b) False

 Answers for this quiz will be posted tomorrow! If you can’t wait until then, look up the answers in the The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature!

Oxford-Companion-to-Childrens-LiteratureAll information has been taken from the new edition of The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature. This accessible A to Z is the first place to look for information about the authors, illustrators, printers, publishers, educationalists, and others who have influenced the development of children’s literature, as well as the stories and characters at their centre. Written both to entertain and to instruct, this highly acclaimed Companion is a reference work that no one interested in the world of children’s books should be without.

One response to “Children’s literature quiz: test your knowledge”

  1. […] wait is over, the answers to our children’s literature quiz are here. Find out if you’re a children’s literature expert or whether you need to scrub […]

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