Gift-Wrapped Characters Christmas Quiz

This post was originally published on Picture Book Den, a blog about picture books by picture book authors and illustrators.

When I was a child, part of the excitement of the run-up to Christmas was shaking, squeezing and even sniffing the gift-wrapped presents beneath our Christmas tree in an attempt to deduce what was inside. For this year's Christmas quiz, I've gift-wrapped 10 picture book characters. Since shaking, squeezing and sniffing are not options, you'll have to work out who they are from their outlines alone. How many can you identify?

Click on each image to reveal the answer

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How did you do?

10	All present and correct: Your picture book character recognition skills are exemplary!
7–9	Gifted: You know your Seuss from your Scheffler.
4–6	Some contents missing: Not bad, but perhaps you should add a few picture book classics to your Christmas list.
1–3	A bad wrap: You need to brush up on your picture book knowledge.

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My delightfully dark Christmas picture book The Santa Trap, illustrated by Poly Bernatene, is available in a UK paperback print-on-demand edition from Hatchling Books and a US Hardback edition from Peachtree Publishers.

Missing Vowels Christmas Picture Book Puzzler

This post was originally published on Picture Book Den, a blog about picture books by picture book authors and illustrators.

Following on from previous Christmas Quizzes in 2015 and 2016, here's another set of picture book puzzles for you to solve. This year I've taken my inspiration from the "Missing Vowels" round of BBC quiz show Only Connect. For those unfamiliar with the show, I've taken the titles of ten classic picture books, removed all of the vowels and punctuation marks and changed the spaces between the words. For example, THE GRUFFALO might be changed into THG RF FL.

How many ‘disemvowelled’ book titles can you recognise? Click on each image to reveal the answer. To make things more Christmassy – there's a festive theme to the even-numbered titles.

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How did you do?

10	O for outstanding: Your knowledge of picture book titles is exemplary!
7–9	A for advanced: A good effort. You know your Child from your Chichester Clark.
4–6	I for intermediate: Not bad, but perhaps you should add a few picture book classics to your Christmas list.
1–3	U for ungraded: A disappointingly Gruffa-low score. You need to brush up on your picture book knowledge.

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My sparkling seasonal story Diamond in the Snow, illustrated by Vanessa Cabban, has just been re-published in a new edition from Walker Books.

Eyes-Only Advent Picture Book Quiz

This post was originally published on Picture Book Den, a blog about picture books by picture book authors and illustrators.

December is here again! So, following on from last year's quiz I thought I'd test your picture book knowledge with another Advent-calendar-like picture book challenge.

When I first started out in children's books, I was illustrating as well as writing. One of the pieces of advice my first agent, Gina Pollinger, gave me at our very first meeting was to study the work of successful illustrators and – in particular – how they drew their characters' eyes. "It's important to get the eyes right," she told me, "if you don't, the character won't come alive and children will not believe in them." Although I never really made it as an illustrator, this is still an excellent piece of advice to any budding picture book illustrator.

So, for this year's quiz, how many of these classic picture book characters can you recognise from the eyes peeping out from the Christmas tree foliage below? Click on each image to reveal the answer. To make things a little more festive – there's a common theme to the even-numbered images.

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How did you do?

10/10	Eagle-eyed: Brilliant! You have 20/20 picture book vision.
7-9/10	An attentive pupil: A good effort. You know your Blake from your Briggs.
4-6/10	Not bad looking: But perhaps you should add some new reading glasses to your Christmas list.
1-3/10	Blinking awful: Are you sure you had your own eyes open?

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Follow the fiendishly funny exploits of evil-eyed über-brat Bradley Bartleby in my Christmas picture book, The Santa Trap, illustrated by Poly Bernatene and published by Macmillan Children's Books.

Christmas Picture Book Quiz

This post was originally published on Picture Book Den, a blog about picture books by picture book authors and illustrators.

Christmas in the Emmett household is a time of treasure hunts, puzzles and quizzes.  So I thought I'd bring a little picture-book-based "quizzy-fun-fun" (to use a phrase coined by my son) to this blog.

Here are ten classic picture book covers that, by the magic of Photoshop, have been turned into stained glass windows. Can you guess the title of each book? Click on each image to reveal the answer.

Here's a really easy one to get you started.

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And here's a particularly festive one to finish up with!

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How did you do?

10/10	Picture book perfect! Congratulations. You're obviously a picture book devotee.
7-9/10	Pretty good. You know your Sendak from your Scheffler.
4-6/10	Not bad, but perhaps you should add a few picture book classics to your Christmas list.
1-3/10	That's an appallingly Gruffa-low score. You need to brush up on your picture book knowledge.