Quiz: A Kiwi Christmas


The last time The Sapling did a Christmas quiz was in our founding year, 2017. Since then, Aotearoa’s canon of Christmas books has continued to grow. Test your knowledge with our festive-themed quiz!

Questions

1. Heather Haylock’s Granny McFlitter series has its own Christmas-themed title, Granny McFlitter: The Knit Before Christmas. Which one of these is NOT a Granny McFlitter book?

  1. Granny McFlitter: The Champion Knitter
  2. Granny McFlitter: A Country Yarn
  3. Granny McFlitter and the Curious Critter
  4. Granny McFlitter’s Eggcellent Easter

2. In 2017, Fifi Colston taught The Sapling to make a Christmas craft inspired by what book?

  1. The Christmas Tree Tangle, by Margaret Mahy
  2. A Kiwi Night Before Christmas, by Yvonne Morrison
  3. Slinky Malinki’s Christmas Crackers, by Lynley Dodd
  4. A Pūkeko in a Ponga Tree, by Kingi M. Ihaka

3. Out of those books listed above, which one is the oldest?

4. True or false: Cowshed Christmas is by Joy Cowley and Gavin Bishop.

5. Sarina Dickson penned two Christmas-themed books in 2022, including The Chaos Before Christmas. What is the name of the other book?

  1. The Fairies’ Night Before Christmas Activity Book
  2. A Kiwi Jingle Bells
  3. My Kiwi Christmas
  4. The Gnomes’ Very Berry Christmas

6. In A Kiwi Night Before Christmas, “Twas the night before Christmas/and all round the bach/not a ____ was stirring”?

  1. Ruru
  2. Possum
  3. Kākā
  4. Gecko

7. Who illustrated A Kiwi Night Before Christmas?

  1. Donovan Bixley
  2. Martin Baynton
  3. Deborah Hinde
  4. Ruth Paul

8. True or false: “The Night Before Christmas” is the actual name of the classic 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore.

9. What is the correct spelling for the reo Māori word for Christmas?

  1. Kirihamete
  2. Kirahimete
  3. Kirihimete
  4. Kirihemete

10. Finally, what year was Joy Cowley’s Greedy Cat’s Christmas published?

  1. 1985
  2. 2022
  3. 1995
  4. 2015

Answers

1. C – Granny McFlitter and the Curious Critter is not part of the series. Check out Becks Popham’s review of The Knit Before Christmas here.

2. A – Fifi taught us to make a Tangled Christmas Star inspired by A Christmas Tree Tangle. 

3. D – A Pūkeko in a Ponga Tree was first published in 1981. 

4. True!

5. A – The Fairies’ Night Before Christmas Activity Book. The Gnomes’ Very Berry Christmas is also by Sarina Dickson, but was published this year. 

6. B – “…Not a possum was stirring/Not one we could catch”!

7. C – Deborah Hinde.

8. False – it’s actually called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, though it is more often known as “The Night Before Christmas”.

9. C – Kirihimete.

10. B – Greedy Cat’s Christmas was first published in 2022.