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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSWhen Tom Long is sent to stay with his uncle and aunt at their cramped flat in a converted Victorian house, he expects nothing but boredom. His brother Peter has measles, the flat has no garden, and Tom is stuck indoors under strict rules about bedtime. Then, one sleepless night, the old grandfather clock in the downstairs hall strikes thirteen, and Tom creeps down to investigate. When he opens the back door, which by day leads only to a paved yard full of dustbins, he finds himself stepping out into a wide, beautiful garden with lawns, yew trees, a greenhouse, and flower beds glowing in the moonlight. Each night Tom returns, and each time the garden is there, seemingly belonging to a different century. There he meets Hatty, a lonely orphan girl who seems to live in Victorian times, and who turns out to be the only person in that garden who can see him.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Tom's Midnight Garden
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 Tom's Midnight Garden. 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 slowly squeeze his shoulder, hip, and heel through a shut door?
✓ Answer
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Frustrated that doors stay closed against him, Tom presses his side against a shut door with all his will. To his amazement his body squeezes through in a thin slice, with his nervous head coming last. Before his head follows, he is afraid he might lose his nerve and get stuck.
- First half
In what book does a girl insist her family's bush grew from a slip of the burning bush Moses saw?
✓ Answer
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Hatty shows Tom a plant she calls the Burning Bush, whose leaves James says smell of lemon-verbena. She claims it would blaze up if lit at midnight on Midsummer Eve, and that it grew from the very bush in the Bible. When Tom doubts her, she is offended.
- First half
In what book does a flock of geese trample a lawn and leave green messes on the grass at sunrise?
✓ Answer
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
The geese from the meadow follow Hatty's hidden tunnel through the hedge and waddle out onto the dewy lawn. Their droppings and scattered breast feathers cause uproar in the household and lead to Hatty's worst punishment so far.
- Second half
In what book does a bandaged girl lift a floorboard to show a hidden picture of her parents?
✓ Answer
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Sitting up in bed with a bandage on her head, Hatty jumps out to show Tom her secret hiding place beneath the floorboards of her bedroom cupboard. Among her treasures is a small brown picture of her mother and father, whom she once pretended were a king and queen.
- Second half
In what book do gilded letters across a swinging pendulum spell out the words "Time No Longer"?
✓ Answer
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
When Hatty unlocks the grandfather clock, Tom reads the gilded words shining on the swinging pendulum bob. Then she opens the dial-door to show him a Bible reference written low on the face. The phrase comes from the Book of Revelation and becomes the key to his understanding of his strange visits.
- Near the end
In what book do two skaters travel down a frozen river all the way to a great cathedral town?
✓ Answer
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Hatty and Tom skate from Castleford down the Great Ouse all the way to Ely during the famous frost. The cathedral tower seems to dodge them for a long time before they finally reach the town and go ashore.
