Children's Literature: Titles and Characters

These are questions where the title (or the name of a leading character) is the answer, so to mention the author and/or title in the "question", as we do in Children's Literature – General, would give it away.

The Chronicles of Narnia

The following table lists the seven books in "suggested reading order". Wikipedia quotes Lewis, the author, writing to a young fan: "When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last, but I found I was wrong."

In truth, having read them in this order, I'm not convinced. You can't (in my opinion) read The Magician's Nephew without itching to get on with the Narnia story; and having read The Lion, you can't read The Horse and his Boy (which has very little to do with any of the other stories) without itching to get back to Narnia. My advice (for what it's worth) is to read them in publication order – but just read numbers 1 and 3 whenever you feel like it.

1955	Prequel to the second book (first to be published)		The Magician's Nephew
1950	First to be written and published		The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
1954	(Doesn't really fit in to any logical or chronological sequence)		The Horse and his Boy
1951	Title character is King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel and Emperor of The Lone Islands		Prince Caspian
1952	Title refers to the ship that was built by the above character		The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
1953			The Silver Chair
1956			The Last Battle

Name of the White Witch

Jadis

Peter Pan

1902 adult novel, in which Peter Pan first appeared		The Little White Bird
Play premiered on 27 December 1904		Peter Pan, or The Boy who Wouldn't Grow Up
"To die will be an awfully big adventure"		Peter Pan, Act II
1906 republication of the relevant chapters from The Little White Bird, illustrated by Arthur Rackham		Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens
1911 novel based on the play: first line "All children, except one, grow up."		Peter and Wendy
"She asked where he lived. 'Second to the right,' said Peter, 'and then straight on till morning.'"
"You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." Tedious talk this, but being a stay–at–home she liked it. "And so," he went on good–naturedly, "there ought to be one fairy for every boy and girl." "Ought to be? Isn't there?" "No. You see children know such a lot now, they soon don't believe in fairies, and every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead."
"When a new baby laughs for the first time a new fairy is born, and as there are always new babies there are always new fairies."

Winnie–the–Pooh

Lives with his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood		Winnie–the–Pooh
Collective title of the second volume of Winnie–the–Pooh stories, published in 1928		The House at Pooh Corner
Character for whom the House at Pooh Corner was built		Eeyore
Character who arrives in the Hundred Acre Wood in the second story in The House at Pooh Corner, "and [according to the title of the story] has breakfast"		Tigger

Beatrix Potter

"What type of creature is (or was) Beatrix Potter's ... " is a popular style of question. Many of them (e.g. Squirrel Nutkin, from the second tale) are given away in the titles; here are some that aren't.

Mrs. Tiggy–Winkle		Hedgehog
Mr. Jeremy Fisher		Frog
Miss Moppet		Kitten
Samuel Whiskers		Rat
Ginger (in The Tale of Ginger and Pickles, 1909)		Tomcat
Pickles (in The Tale of Ginger and Pickles, 1909)		Dog (terrier)
Timmy Tiptoes		Squirrel
Mr. Tod		Fox
Appley Dapply, Cecily Parsley ('presenters' of nursery rhymes, in two collections – 1917 and 1922)		Rabbits

Loses his tail in a fight with the owl Old Brown, in Beatrix Potter's second book (1903)		Squirrel Nutkin
In her third book (1903), the tailor (whose work was finished by mice) was from (English city)		Gloucester

Thomas the Tank Engine (and Friends)

The Railway Stories of the Rev. W. Awdry were around when I was a child, and I believe they were on the radio; but I only remember them from the books.

The First Book

Title of the Rev. W. Awdry's first Railway book

The Three Railway Engines

The first book contained four stories:

	Edward's Day Out		Edward and Gordon
	The Sad Story of Henry		Edward, Gordon and Henry

The Eleven Numbered Engines

Question setters love to ask things such as "What was the name of the Big Engine?"

Eleven of the engines had numbers on the North Western Railway (which ran on the Island of Sodor, and was separate from The Other Railway – which represented (and satirised) British Railways. The following table lists the first seven, with their numbers, the number of the book whose title first referred to them, the 'epithet' by which they were referred to in that title, their colours (only a few of which are in the epithet!) and (under Notes) any other relevant information. The final (hidden) column gives their names; some are more obvious than others!

No.	Book	Epithet	Colour		Name
1	2	the Tank Engine	Blue		Thomas
2	9	the Blue Engine			Edward
3	6	the Green Engine			Henry
4	8	the Big Engine	Blue		Gordon
5	3	the Red Engine			James
6	11	the Small Engine	Green		Percy
7	7	the Tram Engine			Toby

Nos. 8 to 11 are not known by 'epithets' in the same way as Nos. 1 to 7:

No.	Notes		Name
8	Ex–Great Western Railway (No. 5741); real name Montague		Duck
9	The twin Scottish engines, who first appear in Book 15		Donald
10			Douglas
11	Ex–GWR tank engine (No. 1436); rescued by No. 10 in Book 23		Oliver

Other

Sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl)

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Down the Rabbit Hole is the title of the first chapter of		Alice in Wonderland
Teenage criminal mastermind created by Eoin Colfer (series, 2001–)		Artemis Fowl
Rebellious teenager created by the prolific children's author and screenwriter Andrew Davies – adapted for television by him and first broadcast 1981–4		Marmalade Atkins
First appeared in French, in a book published in 1931; wife Celeste, children Pom, Flora, Alexander and Isabelle; subject of a Canadian animated television series, 1989–91; also the subject of an orchestral piece by Francois Poulenc (1940)		Babar the Elephant
Title character eats only snozzcumbers		The BFG
The Camels are Coming (1932 – including The White Fokker, which had appeared earlier the same year in a magazine) was the first book to feature		Biggles
Algy (the Hon. Algernon) Lacey was the cousin, and Ginger Hebblethwaite was another close associate, of
Full title (after the initial, familiar shortened form) reads: … His grooms and companions … The Autobiography of a Horse … Translated from the original Equine		Black Beauty
Ginger and Merrylegs are friends of the title character
In a series written by Mary Norton, the Clock family – teenager Arrietty, and her parents, Homily and Pod – are		The Borrowers
Little helicopter created by the Duchess of York		Budgie
"The Fat Owl of the Remove", or "the Heavyweight Chump of Greyfriars"		Billy Bunter
The (other) 'Famous Five' – (1) form head boy Harry Wharton, (2) Bob Cherry, (3) Frank Nugent, (4) Johnny Bull, and (5) Hurree Jamset Ram Singh, the Nabob of Bhainpur (an Indian prince) – and Michael (Micky) Desmond, a good–natured Irish boy (known as 'young Tipperary') were schoolfellows of
Most likely to say (when caught sneaking tuck): "I say, you fellows. Oops yarooooh! Look here, it wasn't me. Stoppit! Oh, crikey, wow–wow–wow!"
Thing One and Thing Two are the mischievous companions of (Dr. Seuss character)		The Cat in the Hat
Hilaire Belloc's 1907 collection of verses, including Jim, Who ran away from his Nurse, and was eaten by a Lion, Henry King, Who chewed bits of string, and was early cut off in Dreadful Agonies, Matilda, Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death		Cautionary Tales for Children
1952 novel by E. B. White, about a pig called Wilbur who makes friends with a barn spider		Charlotte's Web
Roald Dahl, 1975: the story of a boy who lives with his father, fixing cars and poaching pheasants for a living. The father tells his son a story of a big friendly giant, which evolved into the much–loved children's novel first published in 1982		Danny, the Champion of the World
Tommy Stubbins (a local boy), Matthew Mugg the Cat's–meat–man, Prince Bumpo, Polynesia the parrot, Gub–Gub the pig, Jip the dog, Chee–Chee the monkey, Dab–Dab the duck, Too–Too the owl, and the Pushmi–Pullyu (a two–headed gazelle–unicorn cross – llama in the film): associates and pets of		Doctor Doolittle
Patchwork elephant created by David McKee, in a series of 43 books published 1968–2021, and originally voiced for television by Johnny Morris		Elmer
Walter Boggis, Nathan Bunce and Franklin Bean are poultry farmers in (Roald Dahl story)		Fantastic Mr. Fox
Weird creatures created by Ricky Gervais, including the Honk, the Grundit, the Puddloflaj and the Mernimbler		Flanimals
Character in children's literature, has a wife called Mildew and a son called Mould		Fungus the Bogeyman
Roald Dahl story about a small boy who is left alone with his nasty grandmother and makes her an extra–special concoction; Grandma grows so big that her head breaks through the roof of the house		George's Marvellous Medicine
Classic 1999 children's story by Julia Donaldson, about a mouse that outwits a fox, an owl and a snake by telling them about a monster that is its friend, which it thinks it has made up – but then meets!		(The) Gruffalo
Complete this rhyming couplet: "Silly old Fox, doesn't he know, There's no such thing as a ... "
Fictional dog that lived at Donaldson's Dairy (in a series of books by Lynley Dodd)		Hairy Maclary
Winnie–the–Pooh: chapter 5 is entitled "In Which Piglet meets a ... "		Heffalump
Orphan girl, sent to live with her unsociable grandfather in the mountains after her aunt Dete gets a job (as a maid) in the city		Heidi
Peter the goatherd (who lives with his mother Brigitte and his blind grandmother) is the best friend of
In a series of children's books by Francesca Simon, Perfect Peter is the brother of		Horrid Henry
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is the protagonist, and supposedly the author, of (series of children's books, published between 2003 and 2015)		How to Train Your Dragon
British version of Mabel O'Donnell's Alice and Jerry (series of "basal reading" books published in the USA from the 1930s)		Janet and John
Charles Edwin Jeremy Darbishire – a mild–mannered, short–sighted clergyman's son – is the best friend of		Jennings
Venables, Atkinson, Temple, Bromwich Major, Pettigrew and Marshall are other schoolmates of
"Fossilised fish–hooks!" was a catchphrase (used to express surprise or exasperation) of
Collection of stories for children by Rudyard Kipling: telling how various animals acquired their distinctive characteristics – e.g. How the Leopard got his Spots		Just So Stories
Pen name of Daniel Handler, narrator of a series of books with the collective title A Series of Unfortunate Events – from The Bad Beginning, 1999, to The End, 2006		Lemony Snicket
Cedric Errol is better known as		Little Lord Fauntleroy
Sarah Crewe is the heroine of (Francis Hodgson Burnett's)		The Little Princess
The March sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy – are the central characters of		Little Women
Paddington Bear's aunt, who lives in a home for retired bears in Peru		Lucy
Cornish girls' seaside boarding school, featuring in a series of six books by Enid Blyton (1946–51) – protagonist Darrell Rivers		Malory Towers
The tyrannical head teacher Miss Trunchbull, and the sympathetic teacher Miss Honey, feature in (Roald Dahl novel)		Matilda
Series of children's books about an incompetent witch and her stripey cat, originally written by Helen Nicoll and illustrated by Jan Pienkowski		Meg and Mog
English name of the small female rabbit created by the Dutch writer and illustrator Dick Bruna (1927–2017), who appeared in approximately 30 books for young children, between 1953 and 2019 (known in Dutch as Nijntje)		Miffy
Attended Neil Armstrong Comprehensive School		Adrian Mole
It was winter for 100 years, but never Christmas, in		Narnia
Known in France as Monsieur Oui Oui		Noddy
Bumpy Dog, Mr. and Mrs. Tubby Bear, Tessie Bear, and the mischievous goblins Sly and Gobbo, are friends or associates of
'Marmalade' cat that appeared in 19 books written and illustrated by Kathleen Hale, between 1938 and 1972 (she died in 2000 aged 101)		Orlando
Mr. Gruber – a Hungarian immigrant, who owns an antique shop on London's Portobello Road – is the best friend of		Paddington Bear
Was given a hat by his Uncle Pastuzo
"I shall stay until the wind changes"		Mary Poppins
Roberta (Bobbie), Phyllis and Peter are		The Railway Children
Real–life location of the fictional Punchbowl Farm, setting of over 25 books (1948–69) by Monica Edwards (d. 1998)		Romney Marsh
Largely set at Misselthwaite Manor, a country house on the Yorkshire moors; central character is ten–year–old Mary Lennox		The Secret Garden
The Walker family (siblings John, Susan, Titty and Roger), their mother Mary and their baby sister Bridget (nicknamed Vicky), Nancy and Peggy Blackett, their uncle Jim (James Turner, commonly referred to as Captain Flint) and their widowed mother Molly Blackett, are characters in (series)		Swallows and Amazons
Book of children's stories by J. K. Rowling, published 2008 – purporting to be the book of the same name mentioned in the final Harry Potter book		Tales of Beedle the Bard
1922 children's classic by Margery Williams: subtitle How Toys Become Real		The Velveteen Rabbit
Created by Martin Handford; known as Holger in Denmark, Charlie in France, Walter in Germany, Waldo in USA and Canada		Wally (as in Where's Wally?)
Associates include twins Wilma and Wenda (friends), Odlaw (his nemesis), Woof (a dog) and Wizard Whitebeard
Subtitled A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby; set on St. Brandan's Isle		The Water–Babies
Classic 1963 story written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak (US), about a boy named Max who imagines a mysterious forest and sea in his bedroom		Where the Wild Things Are
Violet Elizabeth Bott is a thorn in the side of		William (Brown)
Hubert Lane is an arch–rival of
Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs is the full name of		The Wizard of Oz
Piper at the Gates of Dawn (title of Pink Floyd's first LP) is a chapter title from		The Wind in the Willows
E. H. Shepard (1931) and Arthur Rackham (1940) are probably the most famous of at least ten artists that have illustrated (book first published in 1908)
Lived on Scatterbrook Farm		Worzel Gummidge

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24