BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSRalph is a young mouse who lives with his family in a knothole in Room 215 of the old Mountain View Inn in the California foothills. He spends his days watching guests come and go, scrounging for crumbs, and longing for adventure. When a boy named Keith Gridley checks in during a Fourth of July weekend and sets a toy red motorcycle on the bedside table, Ralph is immediately drawn to it. He discovers that he can make it run by making a pb-pb-b-b-b sound, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship built on a shared love of speed.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Mouse and the Motorcycle
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 The Mouse and the Motorcycle. 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 boy race tiny cars along the stripes of a bedspread?
✓ Answer
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Keith makes vroom and pb-pb-b-b-b noises as he runs his toys on the striped bedspread, pretending the stripes are highways. The sound captivates Ralph.
- First half
In what book are an uncle's bones found in an owl pellet?
✓ Answer
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Ralph's mother begs him not to visit the ground floor and reminds him of Uncle Leroy. The family moved into the hotel after his bones turned up in an owl pellet.
- First half
In what book does the clang of vacuum cleaner attachments strike terror into a hidden listener?
✓ Answer
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Ralph hears the maid drag the tank in from the hall and clip on the long metal tube. The hungry machine devours dust as it swings closer and closer to him.
- Second half
In what book does a boy describe wrecking his bike into a tree because he forgot it had hand brakes?
✓ Answer
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Keith confesses his own embarrassing story to make Ralph feel better. He says he tried to use foot brakes that did not exist on the new bike and took an awful spill.
- Second half
In what book does a young hero announce, "I will tell you what we are going to do"?
✓ Answer
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Ralph rises up and tells the whole family his plan to lie low and rely on room service from Keith. Aunt Dorothy persuades Uncle Lester to listen because Ralph has already proven useful.
- Near the end
In what book does a hero run right over a sleeping man in a sleeping bag while searching for medicine?
✓ Answer
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Ralph is in such a hurry to find an aspirin that he races right over a man asleep on the floor. Three young men of college age are bunking in the ground-floor room he searches, and one is camping out in a sleeping bag.
