activity pack the best stories ever...

vintage children’s classicswww.worldofstories.co.uk

ACTIVITY pACk

The best stories ever

writtenContents

In this pack are activities on the following books:


vintage children’s classics

is a 21st-century list aimed at and shaped by 8-12 year-olds

and the adults in their lives. The range, consisting of original and

unabridged texts with beautiful illustrations and maps has been created

after extensive research. The books have colourful, character-driven covers

and will include exclusive extra material - ‘the backstory’. The list will be

supported by a new website designed especially for our readers.

www.worldofstories.co.ukA brand new website designed for 8 –12 year-old bookworms

Featuring six worlds filled with the best stories ever written

• Find recommendations for your next book choice

• Discover more about your favourite books

• Enter quizzes, download why don’t you sheets, play games, find special wallpapers

and much more

• Read the latest book news and hear from your favourite authors

• Enter fantastic competitions including the chance to see your work in print

(And for the parents – inspiration on what to encourage

your child to read next)


Judge a book by its cover

Can you fi t the book covers to the stories?

The Wind in the Willows · Treasure Island The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

The Secret Garden · The Railway ChildrenAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland


Which book does each character belong to?

The Wind in the Willows · Treasure Island The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

The Secret Garden · The Railway ChildrenAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland


About the Book

‘�Ho!�ho!�I�am�the�Toad,�the�motor-car�snatcher,�the�prison-breaker,�the�Toad�who�always�escapes!’�

Tired of spring cleaning, Mole ventures above ground into the warm sunshine, and happens upon

his friend Ratty. Together they picnic on the sparkling, burbling river, brave the sinister Wild Wood

in wintertime to visit the bad-tempered Badger, and take to the open road in a caravan with dear,

silly old Toad. But when Toad’s attention turns to motor cars, his reckless behaviour goes from bad

to worse. Badger, Rat and Mole must save their friend from ruin, and Toad Hall from the clutches of

the rascally Stoats and Weasels.

About the Author

Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh on 8 March 1859. He was brought up by his grandmother

and spent much of his time exploring the woods and wildlife near his home, but was also a clever

pupil and captain of the school rugby team. He was later sent to work in a bank, which he disliked,

but it was while he was working there that he began writing, and soon became a successful author.

The Wind in the Willows is based on letters and bedtime stories that Grahame thought up for his

son, Alastair, who was nicknamed ‘Mouse’. A neighbour convinced Kenneth that he should turn

the stories into a book, but when he did, it was rejected by all publishers except one. It wasn’t until

the then President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, said how much he loved the book

that readers began to take notice. After that, The Wind in the Willows became a bestseller, and

was even turned into a play with the help of A. A.Milne, the author of the Winnie the Pooh stories.

Kenneth Grahame retired from the bank when The Wind in the Willows was published in 1908, and

he died in 1932.


Warm up

Mole is a small animal of large feelings. He loves his little home, but loves adventure just as

much, and often his curiosity gets him into trouble! Though he is new to the world above

ground at the start of the book, he quickly makes friends with Ratty, Badger and Toad and

has all sorts of adventures.

Now try describing yourself

My name is

I am years old

I look like

I like

I don’t like

My best friends are

We like

My favourite character from a book is


Crossword time

Answer these questions about The Wind in the Willows to complete this crossword

Down

1. The name of Otter’s son who goes missing. (6) (Hint: read chapter 7)

2. Toad’s favourite transport before caravanning. (5) (Hint: read chapter 1)

5. Ratty’s favourite place in the world. (5) (Hint: read chapter 1)

Across

2. Mole’s bad tempered but helpful friend. (6) (Hint: read chapter 1)

3. What Mole is doing before leaving home at the beginning of the book. (6,8) (Hint: read chapter 1)

4. Where Toad is sent for twenty years. (6) (Hint: read chapter 6)

1 2

3

4 5

Crossword time – answers

Answer these questions about The Wind in the Willows to complete this crossword


1 2

3

4 5

S P R I N G C L E A N I N G

B A D G E RO

T

IVER

PO

TLY

P R I S O N

Down

1. The name of Otter’s son who goes missing. (6)

2. Toad’s favourite transport before caravanning. (5)

5. Ratty’s favourite place in the world. (5)

Across

2. Mole’s bad tempered but helpful friend. (6)

3. What Mole is doing before leaving home at the beginning of the book. (6,8)

4. Where Toad is sent for twenty years. (6)


How many characters from The Wind in the Willows do you know?

See if you can work out which of these descriptions

describes the following characters:

A small animal of large feelings. He loves his little home, but loves adventure just as much,

and often his curiosity gets him into trouble!

A wonderful host with excellent manners, he has a very kind heart,

but can be a little impatient.

We’re told this bad-tempered fellow ‘simply hates company’,

but he’ll always help an animal in need.

Boastful, conceited, and madcap, he has obsessions, generally with modes of transport,

and will throw all his money into them, only to be distracted by something new.

Mole, Ratty, Badger, Toad


Why Don’t You?Look and listen to birds in your garden:

• The easiest bird to spot is the magpie, with their black tails and hoods and white chests.

Magpies have a loud, harsh, clacking call, and are seen as villains because of their bullying

behaviour.

• Blue-tits are tiny, pretty birds with blue hats and backs, yellow bellies and white cheeks.

They sing a repetitive ‘see-see – hu-hu-hu-hu’.

• Great-tits look similar to blue-tits, but they are larger, with black caps, white cheeks and a

distinctive black stripe running down their tummies. They sing ‘tee-cha, tee-cha, tee-cha’.

• Blackbirds have a gorgeous, deep, flutey song, best heard on sunny spring evenings. The males

are easy to spot with their black plumage and bright yellow bills. But look around because his

mate won’t be far away, with dowdier, brown feathers.

• You’ll identify the song thrush from the dark spots that speckle his sides and creamy belly and

his brown back. The song thrush’s song is made up a huge variety of phrases, each repeated

two or three times in succession. The most musical of garden birds, the call of song thrushes has

inspired many poets.

• After escaping from jail, Toad finds himself in a wood where he is alarmed by the sound of ‘night-

jars’. Night-jars are small nocturnal birds that are difficult to spot because the marking on their

feathers resembles tree bark and foliage. Their song is very distinctive – a low, repetitive ‘churring’

that can go on for several minutes. It is best heard near woods at dusk during the summertime.

• Birds are always grateful for some extra food, not only in winter when the ground is hard and it’s

difficult to dig for worms, but also in summer when there are chicks to feed. Leave out crusts of

bread, leftover cake mix, bits of fruit, nuts and seeds – birds are particularly fond of sunflower

seeds – on high flat surfaces. You can buy bird feeders to hang on branches in your garden from

pet shops or garden centres. If you keep a regular supply of food you’ll attract all sorts of birds –

keep a note of the different species that come visiting. Visit the RSPB website (www.rspb.org.uk)

to hear the different bird calls and find out more about British birds.

Toad, Badger, Mole, Water Rat


About the Book

‘�Oh�my�ears�and�whiskers,��how�late�it’s�getting!’

Would you be surprised to see a white rabbit take a watch out of his waistcoat pocket? It certainly

seems a remarkable sight to Alice and, full of curiosity, she follows him down a rabbit hole into a

very strange world. She meets a disappearing cat, plays croquet with a bad-tempered queen, joins

a mad hatter’s tea party and becomes entangled in the case of some missing tarts. In Wonderland

nothing but out-of-the-way things happen...

About the Author

Lewis Carroll’s real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and he was born in

1832, in Cheshire. As a young boy Lewis was excellent at reading and at school

he showed himself to be a bright pupil. His natural gift for numbers led him

to study maths at the University of Oxford. He did very well there although

later on he admitted that he often didn’t work hard enough. He suffered

from a stammer but he was very good at mimicking people, telling stories

and playing charades. After university, Lewis Carroll had a varied career. He

continued living in his Oxford college teaching maths and writing books

about mathematics, and he was ordained a church deacon, although he

never became a priest. But he also pursued his love of writing stories and

photography. As well as his Alice books he wrote many poems, articles and

short stories and became a skilled photographer. He never married but he adored

children and spent a lot of time with his young friends, playing with them and

taking photographs.


Who’s WhoHow many characters from Alice in Wonderland do you know?

See if you can work out which of these descriptions describes the following characters:

Alice

The March Hare

The Queen of Hearts

The White Rabbit

Utterly nutty, full of nonsense and very fond of tea and his friends The Hatter and

Dormouse

A nervous creature in a constant rush, very keen

on his pocket watch

A curious and polite little girl of seven who loves her

pet cat Dinah.

Foul-tempered, croquet-playing who loves to shout

‘Off with their heads!’

Now make up your own descriptions of your favourite Alice characters eg.The Cheshire Cat, the Dormouse


Be nonsensical!Make up your own nonsense verseRemember the Mad Hatter’s version of this famous nursery song?

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat How I wonder what you’re at! Up above the world you fly Like a tea tray in the sky.

Try making up your own version of ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’, ‘Jack and Jill’ or ‘Three Blind Mice’.

Keep the structure but change key words for something completely unexpected.

Or make up your own limerick – a funny little rhyming poem of five lines. Here’s a famous one:

There was an Old Man of Peru,Who never knew what he should do;So he tore off his hair,And behaved like a bear,That intrinsic Old Man of Peru. You could start by using facts from your own life and giving them a bizarre twist.

For instance, if you live in York, and you have a brother, your limerick could begin

‘There was a young brother from York, who would only ever eat pork’.



Discover and make up your own brillig words

Find the first verse of ‘The Jabberwocky’ in the book.‘Jabberwocky’ is one of Lewis Carroll’s most famous nonsense poems, and it’s wonderful to

read aloud. It’s a clever poem, because even though many of the words are made up, you can

still understand the story it tells. What could ‘brillig’ mean? What are the ‘mome raths’?

What does the ‘Jubjub bird’ look like?

Make up your own new words and describe a fantastical creature.


About the Book

Can�you�go�a�little�faster?�Can�you�run?�Long ago, at a time in history that never happened, England was overrun with wolves.

But as Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia discover, real danger often lies closer to home. Their new

governess, Miss Slighcarp, doesn’t seem at all nice. She shuts Bonnie in a cupboard, fires the

faithful servants and sends the cousins far away from Willoughby Chase to a place where they will

never be found. Can Bonnie and Sylvia outwit the wicked Miss Slighcarp and her network

of criminals, forgers and snitches?

About the Author

Joan Aiken was born in 1924 in East Sussex. She didn’t go to school until she was twelve

but she read hundreds of books and loved to make up stories. In her early twenties some of her

short stories were broadcast by the BBC and she began to make a career out of her writing. She

did lots of different jobs including working for the BBC, writing for TV adverts and magazine

articles. Her first book was a collection of short stories called All You’ve Ever Wanted.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was one of the first full-length novels Joan wrote and was

published in 1962. Originally written as a one-off spoof of the Victorian Gothic adventure stories

Joan had read as a child, this book became the inspiration for the series of ‘Wolves Chronicles’

that followed - a series of fantastic adventures set in her own invented world, a period of history

that never happened. Joan was finally able to become a full-time writer and she continued to write

books, mostly for children, all her life.


Wolves! sylvia is travelling to Willoughby chase on the train. check out this scene when a wolf jumps

into her compartment through a smashed window.

‘As if in contradiction of his words a sad and sinister howling now arose beyond the windows,

and Sylvia, pressing her face against the dark pane, saw that they were passing through a thickly

wooded region where snow lay deep on the ground. Across this white carpet she could

just discern a ragged multitude pouring, out of which arose, from time to time, this

terrible cry. She was almost petrified with fear and sat clutching Annabelle in a cold

and trembling hand. At length she summoned up strength to whisper: ‘Why don’t we

go on?’ ‘Oh, I expect there are too many of ’em on the line ahead,’ the man answered

carelessly. ‘Can’t just push through them, you see – the engine would be derailed in no

time, and then we should be in a bad way. No, I expect we’ll have to wait here till daylight

now – the wolves get scared then, you know, and make for home. All that matters is that the driver

shan’t get eaten in the meantime – he’ll keep ’em off by throwing lumps of coal at them I dare

say.’ ‘Oh!’ Sylvia exclaimed in irrepressible alarm, as a heavy body thudded suddenly against the

window, and she had a momentary view of a pointed grey head, red slavering jaws, and pale eyes

gleaming with ferocity. ‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ soothed her companion. ‘They’ll keep up that

jumping against the windows for hours. They’re not much danger, you know, singly; it’s only in the

whole pack you’ve got to watch out for ’em.’ Sylvia was not much comforted by this. She moved

along to the middle of the seat and huddled there, glancing fearfully first to one side and then

to the other. The strange man seemed quite undisturbed by the repeated onslaught of the

wolves which followed. He took a pinch of snuff, remarked that it was all a great nuisance and

they would be late, and composed himself to sleep again. He had just begun to snore when

a discomposing incident occurred. The window beside him, which must have been

insecurely fastened, was not proof against the continuous impact of the frenzied

and ravenous animals. The catch suddenly slipped, and the window fell open

with a crash, its glass shivering into fragments. Sylvia screamed.’


Can you draw a graphic novel strip of the wolf entering Sylvia’s carriage. What sort of expression do you think will be on Sylvia’s face and how do you think

she will be positioned in the train?


Setting the Scene‘ IT WAS dusk – winter dusk. Snow lay white and shining over the pleated hills, and icicles hung

fromthe forest trees. Snow lay piled on the dark road across Willoughby Wold, but from dawn men

had been clearing it with brooms and shovels. There were hundreds of them at work, wrapped in

sacking because of the bitter cold, and keeping together in groups for fear of the wolves, grown

savage and reckless from hunger. Snow lay thick, too, upon the roof of Willoughby Chase, the

great house that stood on an open eminence in the heart of the wold.’

Try writing the opening to a scary story. Remember to add lots of descriptive words and create an atmosphere of tension. What period is your story set in? Where does it take place?


About the Book

‘�Fifteen�men�on�the�dead�man’s�chest�Yo-ho-ho,�and�a�bottle�of�rum!’

When young Jim Hawkins discovers a map showing the way to Captain Flint’s treasure, he

and Squire Trelawney set sail on the Hispaniola to search for the gold. Little do they know

that among their crew is the dastardly pirate Long John Silver. Silver has a devious plan to

keep the gold all to himself. Can brave Jim outwit the most infamous pirate ever to sail the

high seas? Will he escape from Treasure Island alive?

About the AuthorRobert Louis Stevenson was born in 1850 in Edinburgh. He suffered from illness throughout his

life and had to spend large parts of his childhood in bed. As a result, he didn’t learn to read until

he was seven or eight, but he loved to tell stories to his mother and nurse. Robert loved to travel and

he spent a lot of time in his twenties travelling in Europe and writing about his experiences. When

he was 26, Robert met an American woman called Fanny. They married in San Francisco in1880 and

returned to Britain with Fanny’s twelve-year-old son Lloyd. That same year, during a rainy holiday in

Scotland, Robert and Lloyd drew a treasure map for fun and it was this that inspired Robert to write

Treasure Island. When the book was published in 1883 he dedicated it to Lloyd.

In 1888 the family set off for a three-year-long tour of the South Pacific

which eventually ended when they bought a house in Samoa. Robert

was loved by the Samoan people and continued to write until the

day he died, very suddenly, aged just 44.


Draw a pirate‘ I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest

following behind him in a hand-barrow; a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man; his tarry pigtail falling

over the shoulders of his soiled blue coat; his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails;

and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cove

and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so

often afterwards: “Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest – Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” ’

This is the wonderfully atmospheric description of Jim’s first meeting with a pirate.Try drawing Billy Bones from the description above.


NamesThe pirates in Treasure Island have wonderfully descriptive names

Billy Bones Long John Silver Blind Pew Captain FlintHave a go at making up your own pirate name and then fill in this

pirate passport for your pirate self

Pirate name:

Name of your ship(stolen of course):

Favourite activity:

Thing that most makes you angry:

Favourite scar:


Read on to find out lots more about Treasure Island . . .

Is Treasure Island a real place?

Many people have speculated about whether Treasure Island is a real place. Legend has it that

when Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy his mariner uncle told him about his travels to Norman

Island in the Caribbean. Some say this might have inspired the image of a ‘treasure island’ in

Robert’s mind.

Were any of the characters real people?

Long John Silver himself was modelled on a real person called William Ernest Henley, who Robert

met when he was 25. William had one leg but was very active, clever and full of vitality. Robert

wrote to Henley after the publication of Treasure Island and said: ‘I will now make a confession. It

was the sight of your maimed strength and masterfulness that begot Long John Silver...the idea of

the maimed man, ruling and dreaded by the sound, was entirely taken from you’.

Israel Hands was also the name of a real person – an 18th-century pirate. He is famous for working

with the infamous pirate Blackbeard, also mentioned in Treasure Island. Robert Louis Stevenson

brings Israel Hands to life as an evil, murdering pirate in his fictional version.


Make your own treasure map‘The doctor opened the seals with great care, and there fell out the map of an island, with latitude and longitude, soundings, names of hills, and bays and inlets, and every particular that would be needed to bring a ship to safe anchorage upon its shores. It was about nine miles long and five across, shaped, you might say, like a fat dragon standing up, and had two fine land-locked harbours, and a hill in the centre part marked ‘The Spy-glass’. There were several additions of a later date; but, above all, three crosses of red ink – two on the north part of the island, one in the south-west, and, besides this last, in the same red ink, and in a small, neat hand, very different from the Captain’s tottery characters, these words: ‘Bulk of treasure here’.

Use this empty map to draw your own island with buried treasure. When you’ve created your design you can make it look really old by cutting the edges out unevenly, rolling and scrunching it up and then covering it in cold tea. Once dried it will look as old as Jim Hawkins’ own treasure map!


TheSecretGarden

About the Book

“��‘People�never�like�me�and�I�never�like�people,’�Mary�thought.”�

When Mary Lennox is sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody says she is the

most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It is true, too. Mary is pale, spoilt and quite contrary.

But she is also horribly lonely. Then one day she hears about a garden in the grounds of the Manor

that has been kept locked and hidden for years. And when a friendly robin helps Mary find the key,

she discovers the most magical place anyone could imagine...

About the Author

Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in 1849 in Manchester but when her father died Frances’s

mother emigrated with her sons and daughters to Tennessee in the United States. Life there was

harsh and they were quite poor but the young Frances would entertain herself and her siblings

with stories. And then in 1868, at the age of eighteen, she went out with her sister to pick grapes

and made enough money from that job to buy paper and stamps. She wrote out a romantic tale

and sent it off to a magazine. Marvellously, her story was accepted and from that day forward she

became the breadwinner in her family, writing up to six stories a month.

When she married a man called Swan Burnett in 1872, she kept up her writing. Frances’s two sons,

Lionel and Vivian, would sleep beneath her desk as toddlers.

It was unusual for a woman to earn her own money and support her family in the way that Frances

did so people in nineteenth-century England and America were very surprised. Many

newspapers and magazines were interested in her private life and wrote about her, much

like they do about celebrities today.

In 1890, something very sad happened and Frances‘s son, Lionel, died at the age of

sixteen. When she wrote about Colin in The Secret Garden Frances might have been

thinking about her own son and wishing that his sickness could have been cured. Her

other son, Vivian, lived and Frances once made him a real velvet suit. The sight of him

in his smart suit inspired her to write her book Little Lord Fauntleroy.


TheSecretGarden

QuizWhich character from The Secret Garden are you most like?

Take this quiz to find out.

Mostly a’s

You’re Mary Lennox

You can be bad-tempered and dislike people, but underneath your cross exterior you can be loyal and a fierce supporter of your friends. You don’t like being fussed or told what to do; you do like skipping, gardening and robins.

Mostly B’s

You’re Dickon Sowerby

You are kind to all living creatures and love spending all of your time outside. Calm and forgiving, you are wiser than your age and a good secret keeper. You don’t like being indoors; you do like roaming the moors watching the animals.

Mostly c’s

You’re Colin Craven

You are spoilt and bossy and love to moan about how ill you feel, however, you can be strong and loyal to your friends. You don’t like being looked at or being outside; you do like people waiting on you and secrets.

What do you most dislike?

A Other people

B Being indoors

C Fresh air

What are your worst and best qualities?

A You are bad tempered sometimes, but you can be thoughtful, you love gardens and you try to help your friends.

B You don’t have any bad qualities, you are kind, you love animals and you can keep secrets

C You are selfish, throw tantrums and order people about. You can also be grateful, plucky and loyal to your friends

You see a robin, do you:

A Get a queer feeling in your heart, like him enormously and feel quite sure he is looking at you and finding out all about you.

B Make a twitter almost like the robin’s own and have a good old chat

C Robins? You don’t see robins because you rarely go outside

Your favourite way to spend your time is:

A Skipping and gardening

B Rambling over the moors, watching wildlife

C Moaning

Answers:


TheSecretGarden

Secret PlacesMary Lennox discovers a secret garden at Misselthwaite Manor that has been locked

away for many years.

If you discovered a secret place what would it be like? Can you imagine what you might see? What would you do there? And who would you tell your secret to?


TheSecretGarden

Mary Dickon

MisselthwaiteGarden

Skipping

RobinYorkshire

ColinMr Craven

Martha

A S K I P P I N G M I P EJ N A V A R M G L R V T MU E R T Y U N O K C I D RR N K G M V O D P A J F CY E M A R T H A W W M A SC V M R J I T H x A C q zO A C D F J T T I P P L ML R U E N L N U O A I A E I C R N E N O R C I W x NN R D S M R Y K R B M N ET M S L I Y N I B O R P SA I Y O R K S H I R E O PM A R Y N H S K I W O P P


TheSecretGarden

Design your own bookmark

‘Things are crowding up out of the earth,’ she ran on in a hurry. ‘And

there are flowers uncurling and buds on everything and the green veil has

covered nearly all the grey and the birds are in such a hurry about their nests for fear they may be too late that some of them are even fighting for places in the

secret garden. And the rose-bushes look as wick as wick can be, and there are

primroses in the lanes and woods, and the seeds we planted are up, and Dickon

has brought the fox and the crow and the squirrels and a new-born lamb.’

Can you imagine what the secret garden looks like when spring arrives?

Try and capture your picture of the garden here in pencils and crayons

and make your very own secret garden bookmark.


About the Book

‘Stand�firm’�said�Peter,��‘and�wave�like�mad!’They were not railway children to begin with. When their father mysteriously leaves home Roberta

(everyone calls her Bobbie), Phyllis and Peter must move to a small cottage in the countryside with

Mother. It is a bitter blow to leave their London home, but soon they discover the hills and valleys,

the canal and of course, the railway. But with the thrilling rush and rattle and roar of the trains

comes danger too. Will the brave trio come to the rescue? And most importantly, can they solve

the disappearance of their father?

About the Author

E. Nesbit was born in 1858, and named Edith, although her family called her Daisy. Tragedy

struck when Edith was only four because sadly her father died. In addition, one of Edith’s sisters,

Mary, was very ill with tuberculosis. The family spent several years moving around to try to improve

her health and as a result, Edith spent large parts of her childhood at boarding school or staying

with relatives. She was a teenager by the time the family eventually returned to England and

settled in Kent. When she was nineteen Edith met and married Hubert Bland but their marriage

was very turbulent.

Edith was to keen on politics and founded the Fabian Society, a socialist movement which laid the

foundations for the modern Labour Party. She also wrote throughout her life to support her family.

She published forty books for children and co-wrote many more with other writers. The Railway

Children was published in 1906 and has never been out of print since. Edith has been described as

‘the first modern writer for children’ because many of her stories combine real life with fantastical

events, beginning a literary tradition followed by writers including C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling.

She also wrote many books for adults.


QuizCould you pass as a railway child? Take this quiz to find out… Circle the correct answer.

1) What present did Peter receive for his tenth birthday? (Hint: read chapter 1)

a) A cricket setb) A model enginec) A bat and balld) A toy aeroplane

2) What do the family have for breakfast on their first morning at Three Chimneys?(Hint: read chapter 2)

a) Apple pieb) Sardine sandwichesc) Scrambled eggs and toasted muffinsd) Hot buttered toast

3) What name do the children give to the 9:15 train?(Hint: read chapter 3)

a) The Red Dragonb) The Skylarkc) The Leopardd) The Green Dragon

4) What is Bill the Bargee’s baby called?(Hint: read chapter 8)

a) Thomas Georgeb) Reginald Horacec) Alfred Williamd) Peter Archibald

5) What do Bobbie, Peter and Phil argue about right before they go on the paperchase? (Hint: read chapter 11)

a) About whether or not spiders can fly.b) About whether or not sharks ever sleep.c) About whether or not swallows can read.d) About whether or not elephants blink.

Answers 1b) A model engine 2a) Apple pie 3d) The

Green Dragon 4b) Reginald Horace 5c) About whether

or not swallows can read.


Steam TrainsDo You Know?

How do they work? To get a steam train going you need two things: fire and water. A big fire is

made, normally with coal, and this heats water to create a huge amount of steam. The pressure of the

trapped steam makes pistons go back and forth and this turns the wheels.

First full-size train: The first train journey in the world took place in Wales on 21st February 1804,

more than a century before The Railway Children was written. The steam engine was built by Richard

Trevithick who had been employed by the industrialist, Samuel Homfray. Samuel had bet another

man 1,000 guineas that could build the first working steam train. He won the bet with Trevithick’s

design which hauled 10 tonnes of iron and 70 men at a speed of 5mph.

Boom time: During the 1830s and 40s the railways boomed in Britain as steam power brought more

prosperity to many Victorians. The government authorised thousands of miles of tracks to be built. By the

time The Railway Children was written there was an extensive network of rail tracks all over the country.

The end of steam trains: In Britain the use of steam trains gradually died out during the middle part

of the century. Diesel trains were introduced in the 1930s, and although they took a while to take off,

they eventually proved themselves to be cheaper and more powerful than steam trains.

Draw your own steam train

More In The serIes

If you liked these books why not try...

Have more fun online at www.worldofstories.co.uk

activity pack the best stories ever...

Documents