Category: Children’s Author Trivia Answers

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Answers to Children’s Author Trivia Volume 47

I guess I’m a bit late this week. As the old saying goes, better late than never.

Now to reveal the authors who wrote books about horses:

1. Our first author wrote numerous books with horses in them (and even one about a donkey), but probably her most famous is about a wild horse that lived on an island off the coast of Virginia.

Marguerite Henry is surely best known for her classic Misty of Chincoteague, but she wrote many other stories about horses. The book about the the burro was Brighty: of the Grand Canyon.

Being an author and writing books were a natural for Henry because her father was a publisher. Her books were award winners.  Justin Morgan Had a Horse won a Newbery Honor and King of the Wind won the Newbery Medal.

 

 

2. Our second author’s book about a horse in difficult circumstances has been made into a movie by none other than Steven Spielberg!

We had featured War Horse by Michael Morpurgo here at Wrapped in Foil previously, but it is such a part of popular culture, we decided to use it again. It is the story of World War I shown through the eyes of a horse.

If you go to the previous post, you will see the puppet horses used in the stage version.

The movie trailer for Steven Spielberg’s version:

 

 

3. Our final author has been writing since she was seven. Many of her books are mysteries. The heroine of our featured book gets into trouble due to her reaction to the death of her favorite horse. Can she figure out what really happened?

Figuring out this book and author, Shadow Horse by Alison Hart, were the most challenging of the three questions. Her first book, that she wrote and self-published at the age of seven, was The Wild Dog.

Here’s a moving video trailer for Shadow Horse:

 

 

 

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If you are in the mood to play more Children’s Author Trivia, simply click on the icon below for a list of previous questions (or you can click on the “Children’s Author Trivia Questions” category in the left sidebar).

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Answers to Children’s Author Trivia Volume 46

Our books about dogs were apparently easy to recognize. 🙂

1. Our first book is about a boy who hides a dog that does not belong to him. Although the author has written many books with about a female character named Alice, this book about a boy and a dog is probably her most widely read.

When Phyllis Reynolds Naylor wrote Shiloh, she probably had little idea how wildly popular it would become. Besides winning the Newbery and several other awards, it was made into a movie. She also wrote two sequels, Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh.

By clicking the links to authors names, you can find out more about them and their books. For example, it turns out that Phyllis Reynolds Naylor writes the first draft of her books by hand!

2. The title of this hugely-popular Newbery Honor book relates to a dog that is named after a grocery store. Need we say more?

Yes, the dog in Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo is named for the grocery store chain. Like Shiloh, it won the Newbery and was made into a movie.

3. Our third author is also an illustrator. His beginning reader featuring dogs on the go is a classic.

Storyboard artist and writer P. D. Eastman used dogs as characters in several of his children’s books. In addition to Go, Dog. Go! (I Can Read It All By Myself Beginner Books), he also wrote I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words and Big Dog, Little Dog.

P.D. Eastman worked with Ted Gesel (Dr. Seuss) in the army during World War II.

 

 

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If you are in the mood to play more Children’s Author Trivia, simply click on the icon below for a list of previous questions (or you can click on the “Children’s Author Trivia Questions” category in the left sidebar).

Enjoy!

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Answers to Children’s Author Trivia Volume 45: Books about Cats

Heather and her crew know their authors who have written about cats. 🙂

1. Our first author’s book about cats is touted as “the oldest American picture book still in print.” It is one of the few picture books to win the Newbery Honor award, which it did in 1929. Another clue:  the author had to add an accent to her name because so many people mispronounced it. Do you recognize the author or her book?

It is Wanda Gág’s wonderful little picture book Millions of Cats that is supposed to be the “the oldest American picture book still in print.”

Wanda Gág life story is a fascinating one. She was both an artist and a storyteller. Her father was a photographer and painter who died when she was only 14. As the oldest of seven children, she had to grow up quickly and become the chief breadwinner. Somehow she managed to support her siblings and continue her schooling at the same time, studying to become an artist.

Eventually she moved to New York where she showed her art. Her work caught the attention of a children’s book editor and Millions of Cats was born. It was thought to be innovative at the time because the story was laid out in a two-page spread format and because she used hand lettering. Later she went back to her German roots and translated and illustrated folktales.

Why did she add the accent? Her name sounds like “gog” rather than gag. (Unfortunately I couldn’t get Amazon’s widget to produce it).

2. Our second author based her books about cats on actual cats she knew. Her first book, which she both wrote and illustrated, was about a cat who wore a red scarf. It was published in 1944.

Esther Averill was also an artist first (is this a trend?) She started out drawing cartoons, which were published in her local newspaper. Like Gág, she also ended up moving to New York. After a variety of jobs, such as starting her own publishing company, and working at a library, she wrote and illustrated her first book about cats, Jenny and the Cat Club.

Her cat character, Jenny Linsky, was modeled after her own cat (although I doubt her real cat wore a red scarf!) Her books were popular, leading to an entire series of wonderful cat books.

3. Our third author’s book about a cat also won a Newbery (in 1950). Her tale was inspired by a trip to Vermont. Rather than wearing red, this author’s cat was blue.

Catherine Coblentz wrote her book, The Blue Cat of Castle Town, after she visited Castleton, Vermont. The blue cat that inspired the tale is featured in an embroidered carpet that is now in the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The blue cat is in the middle of the bottom row.

Charlotte’s Library has a recent review.

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If you are in the mood to play more Children’s Author Trivia, simply click on the icon below for a list of previous questions (or you can click on the “Children’s Author Trivia Questions” category in the left sidebar).

Enjoy!

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Answers to Children’s Author Trivia Volume 44

Seems like our visual clues stumped everyone.

1. This author started out as an English teacher who wrote adult mysteries on the side. When he started writing children’s books, however, they became so popular that he began writing full time. One of his books has been made into a movie. Do you know who he is?

(Photograph from Rick Riordan’s Press Kit page)

I am really surprised that no one recognized Rick Riordan because his books are so wildly popular.  According to his website, he has over 30 million copies of his book in print.

Rick Riordan started out writing the Tres Navarre mysteries for adults while he was teaching. His first children’s book, The Lightning Thief, was based on a bedtime story for his son. The popularity of that book launched the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Since then he has added the Kane Chronicles and the Heroes of Olympus books, as well as participated in The 39 Clues.

2.  Do you know who this impish author who loves to write about science is?

(Photograph from Fiona Bayrock’s Press Kit page)

I have to admit Fiona Bayrock has written one of my favorite children’s picture books, Bubble Homes and Fish Farts, but I didn’t think many people would recognize her.

Here’s what she has to say about herself:

Over the years, Fiona has chased questions through most of the “ologies”, talking to scientists around the world about all kinds of neat stuff, and then sharing what she finds with the most curious beings on the planet—kids. “Amazing science is all around us. Every day, I share the small part that appears in my magnifying glass.” she says. Her goal is to inspire kids to ask questions about their world, to have them make connections and create their own Eureka! moments by ‘checking stuff out’. Her writing is conversational in style and peppered with humour, wordplay, hands-on activities and simulations to make complicated concepts kid-friendly and easily understood.

Fiona lives with her family in rural Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Hopefully we’ll be seeing more books from her soon.

(Thanks to the authors for supplying photographs on their websites. Please go visit their websites, they are full of cool information.)

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If you are in the mood to play more Children’s Author Trivia, simply click on the icon below for a list of previous questions (or you can click on the “Children’s Author Trivia Questions” category in the left sidebar).

Enjoy!