BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSJeremy Thatcher is a small, talented sixth grader in Blodgett's Crossing who loves art but has a miserable art teacher, a bully named Freddy who torments him, and a girl named Mary Lou Hutton who wants to kiss him. One afternoon, while running from all three, he gets lost and stumbles onto a strange magic shop called Elives' Magic Supplies. The peculiar owner sells him a shimmering, colorful sphere for a quarter, insisting it wants Jeremy rather than the other way around. That night Jeremy discovers the sphere is actually a dragon's egg, along with a sheet of instructions telling him exactly how to hatch it under the full moon.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a stuffed owl on a cash register turn its head and begin to hoot?
✓ Answer
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
When Jeremy walks to the back of the magic shop, he sees an owl perched on the cash register and assumes it is stuffed. Then the owl turns its head, looks directly at him, and starts hooting. The old shopkeeper tells the owl to be quiet, saying he already knows the boy is there.
- First half
In what book does a mother walk into her son's room and never notice the creature crawling up his arm?
✓ Answer
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
When Jeremy's mom comes up to ask about the noise, the dragon is crawling up his arm and settles on his shoulder while they talk. She never reacts to it, she only tells Jeremy to stop twitching and says he looks like he has Saint Vitus' Dance. Jeremy starts to suspect the dragon is invisible to her, which makes hiding it easier but leaves him looking like he is having a nervous breakdown.
- First half
In what book does a boy read that fire-breathing beasts may crave milk because their mothers cannot nurse their young?
✓ Answer
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
While reading the dragon reference book, Jeremy discovers that dragons love milk, possibly because dragon mothers can't nurse their babies. The book describes villages that kept dragons calm by offering them troughs of milk. Jeremy decides to try this trick himself and it works perfectly, putting the dragon right to sleep.
- Second half
In what book does a boy's pet chase cats across a dinner table, causing total chaos?
✓ Answer
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
During a dinner party at the Thatcher house, Tiamat chases the kitchen cats into the dining room and across the table. Cats step on plates, glasses tip over, and a dog pulls the whole tablecloth onto the floor. The room is destroyed in under two minutes.
- Second half
In what book does a pet suggest gerbils for dinner when asked to eat fewer chicken livers?
✓ Answer
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
When Jeremy asks Tiamat to cut back on chicken livers because he will have to start buying them himself, she sends him a mental image of a plateful of dead gerbils as an alternative meal. Jeremy quickly decides he would rather keep buying the chicken livers.
- Near the end
In what book is a boy grabbed by his sides and snatched into the air outside his school?
✓ Answer
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
Tiamat leaps from the school roof and grabs Jeremy with her claws, carrying him into the sky. His stomach lurches as the world falls away beneath them. When he squirms, she warns him to hold still by sending an image of a body falling from a great height.
