BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSPoppy is a small deer mouse who lives with her enormous family in an abandoned farmhouse near the edge of Dimwood Forest, where a great horned owl named Mr. Ocax rules through fear, demanding that the mice ask his permission before going anywhere. When Poppy's bold boyfriend Ragweed is killed by Mr. Ocax after the two mice sneaked out to Bannock Hill without permission, Poppy is left grief-stricken and blamed by her family for the disaster that follows: Mr. Ocax refuses to let the overcrowded family move to a new home nearby, claiming her rule-breaking is the reason. Determined to discover the real truth, Poppy sets out alone through the dark forest to find out what the owl is actually hiding.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Poppy
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 Poppy. 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 golden mouse with an earring get snatched off a hilltop while nibbling a hazelnut?
✓ Answer
Poppy by Avi
Ragweed brazenly stands in the open on Bannock Hill munching a hazelnut when Mr. Ocax dives and kills him with a single clamp of his talons. The earring later survives the owl's pellet.
- First half
In what book does a father mouse shut himself in his boot study, whimpering that the family is doomed?
✓ Answer
Poppy by Avi
After the failed meeting, Lungwort curls into the toe of his boot study and refuses to come out. Sweet Cicely tends him while he mutters that the whole family is doomed, blaming his daughter's trip to Bannock Hill.
- First half
In what book does a mouse fit pink lady's slippers onto her feet and spin around in an orchard?
✓ Answer
Poppy by Avi
Crossing Old Orchard on her secret journey, the heroine plucks lady's slipper flowers and twirls as if she were dancing in pictures. She is brought up short by her mother's warning that an alert mouse is a live mouse.
- Second half
In what book does a mouse mistake a porcupine's home for a safe hiding spot from a fox?
✓ Answer
Poppy by Avi
Fleeing a fox, the small mouse dives into a hollow log only to discover it belongs to a grouchy porcupine who turns out to be her unlikely ally.
- Second half
In what book does an owl threaten to dump a young mouse's dead carcass on her father's porch?
✓ Answer
Poppy by Avi
Furious that the mouse has been talking to the porcupine, Mr. Ocax swears the only way she'll ever get back to Gray House is as a dead body on Lungwort's front porch.
- Near the end
In what book does a heroine creep up to a sleeping orange cat and politely shout hello?
✓ Answer
Poppy by Avi
Convinced the old cat is too feeble to be dangerous, the brave mouse tiptoes up with her quill ready and politely shouts a hello to wake him for a chat.
