50 Fun Facts About The Breadwinner

In The Breadwinner, whose old clothes does Parvana put on so she can work in the market as a boy?

Her dead brother's clothes had sat in the cupboard since a land mine killed Hossain at fourteen. The sight of Parvana in them upsets her mother, who calls the baby Hossain that night.

In The Breadwinner, what grim job do Parvana and Shauzia take in a bombed Kabul graveyard to earn money fast?

Digging up bones paid so well that the first blanket-load earned what Parvana made in three days at the market. A bone broker weighed the haul on a scale beside a ruined building.

In The Breadwinner, what do Parvana and Shauzia witness in a Kabul stadium where they expected a soccer match?

Thieves losing their hands was a punishment the Taliban staged at the stadium every Friday. Men sitting nearby told the two girls to stay down and helped gather their scattered goods.

In The Breadwinner, where do Parvana and Shauzia promise to meet again twenty years after they leave Kabul?

The Eiffel Tower is the meeting place, on the first day of spring. Shauzia has been saving to reach France, which she pictures as a land of sunshine and smiling people.

Which Hollywood star and UN goodwill ambassador was an executive producer of the animated film The Breadwinner?

Angelina Jolie helped fund the film and had a say in casting its young lead. Her visits to Afghan girls' schools let her advise the film-makers on the country's customs.

In The Breadwinner, what does Parvana's father name after her, a landmark she can see from the end of their street?

A mountain at the end of the street becomes Mount Parvana because, her father says, it is people who name mountains. She watches its snowy peak as the truck carries her out of Kabul.

In The Breadwinner, young Parvana wears only a chador outdoors; which garment must her mother and Nooria put on?

A burqa covers a woman from head to feet, and Parvana wonders how anyone sees out of one. Her father admits that women wearing them on Kabul's broken streets fall down a lot.

In The Breadwinner, what reason do Taliban soldiers give when they burst in and drag Parvana's father to prison?

He was educated abroad, at a university in England, and the soldiers shout that Afghanistan does not need his foreign ideas. Parvana throws herself at the two who stay to search the room.

In The Breadwinner, who does the tea boy who trips and drops his cups near Parvana turn out to be?

A girl from her class, Shauzia, has been passing as a boy for six months to support her family. The two team up, and Shauzia soon has bolder ideas for making money.

Which writer and anti-war activist wrote The Breadwinner after months of interviewing Afghan refugees in camps?

Deborah Ellis was inspired by one interview in particular, with a mother and a girl who had disguised herself as a boy. The later books in the series were more freely imagined.

In The Breadwinner, what did Parvana's father sell after a market customer made him an offer too good to refuse?

His false leg went to a buyer, so he leans on Parvana to reach the market. The stalls are full of them, because many husbands sold the legs of wives who were no longer allowed out.

In The Breadwinner, which heroine who rallied Afghan troops against the British does Parvana pretend to be?

Malali, in her father's telling, pulled off her veil and waved it like a flag to rouse a wavering army in 1880. Parvana whispers the name while leading a frightened stranger home in the dark.

In The Breadwinner, what is the toshak on which Parvana's mother lies for days after the beating at the prison?

A thin mattress is where Mother stays, silent and facing the wall, until the food runs out on the fourth day and Nooria sends Parvana to the market alone.

In the novel The Breadwinner, what boy's name does Parvana's family call her when she is outside the home?

Kaseem is the name little Maryam has to remember before she is allowed outdoors with Parvana. The animated film changed the alias to Atesh.

In The Breadwinner, what does Parvana's first customer, a Talib with a rifle, do as she reads him an old letter?

He sheds a tear, because the letter was sent from Germany to his wife, who has since died. Parvana had never imagined that a Talib could feel sorrow.

In The Breadwinner, how does Parvana say goodbye to the Window Woman before she leaves Kabul with her father?

She plants flowers, wild ones uprooted from a ruin, in the spot where her blanket used to lie. A passer-by has them watered and tells the doubters that Afghans love beautiful things.

In The Breadwinner, which subject did Mrs. Weera, the family friend who moves in and takes charge, once teach?

Physical education was her subject, and she still treasures a gold medal won as the fastest woman runner in Afghanistan. She treats the household like a team that needs coaching.

In The Breadwinner, what do Parvana and Shauzia save up to buy so they can follow the crowds around Kabul?

Selling trays, hung from straps, let the two carry cigarettes, chewing gum and matches to wherever people gathered. It paid better than Parvana's mornings spent reading letters.

In The Breadwinner, to which northern city, then free of the Taliban, does Nooria travel to be married?

Mazar, in full Mazar-e-Sharif, offers Nooria a husband whose parents will send her to university. Her mother takes the two youngest children along for the wedding.

In The Breadwinner, how does Parvana's father finally come home after his months in a Taliban prison?

He is simply released, so weak that two men who find him outside the prison have to help him up the stairs. Asked later why he was let go, he can only say he has no idea.

In The Breadwinner, why was Parvana secretly pleased when the Taliban first shut down Kabul's schools?

She missed a maths test she had not prepared for, and assumed lessons would start again soon. Nooria, who understood what the closure meant, sobbed and called her stupid.

In The Breadwinner, which daily chore is Parvana's alone because her mother and Nooria stay indoors?

Fetching water means bucket after bucket hauled from the street tap up bomb-damaged stairs. It is why Parvana resents every round of cleaning that Mother and Nooria begin.

In The Breadwinner, what illegal item does Parvana's mother hold up to people on the walk to the prison?

A photograph of her husband is all she has to show, though photos are illegal under the Taliban. A prison guard rips it up, and Parvana gathers the pieces under her chador.

In The Breadwinner, to which neighbouring country is the secret women's magazine smuggled to be printed?

Pakistan is where the magazine is printed before copies are smuggled back to Kabul. Mrs. Weera later sets off there with Homa to join the rest of her women's group.

In The Breadwinner, why is Parvana rather than her sister Nooria chosen to be disguised as a boy?

She looks young enough at eleven, while seventeen-year-old Nooria has a figure that no haircut could hide. Parvana agrees once Mrs. Weera makes clear that the choice is hers.

In The Breadwinner, which feature of her new boy's clothes delights Parvana because she has never had it before?

Pockets are new to her, and she soon enjoys the feel of her earnings stuffed inside one. She is just as startled to walk outdoors with the sun on her uncovered face.

In The Breadwinner, which language is Parvana's mother tongue, used alongside Pashto when she reads for customers?

Dari, the Afghan form of Persian, is her first language, and she knows Pashto less well. Her parents, both graduates, speak English too.

In The Breadwinner, what work did Parvana's mother, Fatana, do before the Taliban ordered women to stay home?

Radio journalist was her job, and without it she will not go outside: she sees no point in looking at things she cannot write about. The magazine gives her a voice again.

In The Breadwinner, what must a woman in Taliban-ruled Kabul have with her before she may leave the house?

A male relative had to escort every woman, which left Parvana's household stranded once her father was arrested. Nooria even forges a note of permission in his name.

Which animator directed the film The Breadwinner, her first feature as sole director, for a studio she co-founded?

Nora Twomey had co-directed The Secret of Kells before taking on Parvana's story alone, and the film brought her an Oscar nomination.

Which studio, already Oscar-nominated for The Secret of Kells, animated the film version of The Breadwinner?

Cartoon Saloon, based in the Irish city of Kilkenny, did the film's key animation. Each of the studio's first four features was nominated for the animated-feature Oscar.

Which film beat The Breadwinner to the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 2018 ceremony?

Coco took the Oscar, though the nomination alone carried Parvana's story to Hollywood's biggest night. The Breadwinner did win the Annie Award for best independent animated feature.

In the film The Breadwinner, which villain steals a village's seeds in the fable Parvana keeps telling?

The Elephant King guards the seeds in a fable that runs through the film. Its director has said the story within a story was inspired by Pan's Labyrinth.

At which film festival did the film The Breadwinner have its world premiere, two months before it reached cinemas?

Toronto hosted the first screening on 8 September 2017. The Golden Globes and the Academy both went on to nominate the film as an animated feature.

The author of The Breadwinner gives most of her royalties to charity; which country is she from?

Canada is her home: she was born in Cochrane, Ontario, and was named to the national Order in 2016. Her royalties have gone to groups such as UNICEF and a charity for Afghan women.

Which later book in The Breadwinner series follows Parvana's best friend Shauzia instead of Parvana herself?

Mud City came out in 2003 as the third book. A fifth followed in 2022, more than two decades after the first.

The Taliban rule Kabul in The Breadwinner; what does their name mean in Pashto?

Students is the literal meaning, which the novel renders as religious scholars. Parvana's father says religion should teach people kindness, and these men are doing nothing of the sort.

In The Breadwinner, which foreign forces pulled out of Afghanistan a month after Parvana was born?

The Soviets left so soon after her birth that Nooria teases they could not bear to share a country with such an ugly baby. Rival Afghan groups then turned their bombs on Kabul.

In The Breadwinner, Parvana's family passes her off as a boy cousin who has come to stay from which city?

Jalalabad supplies the cover story that Mother and Mrs. Weera invent along with the haircut. Parvana is sure nobody will be fooled, yet in the market nobody gives her a second look.

In The Breadwinner, with whom does Shauzia say she will leave Kabul rather than wait to be married off?

A group of nomads is her way out after Mrs. Weera refuses to take her along, shocked that anyone would desert her family just because life in Kabul is hard.

In the film The Breadwinner, what is Idrees, the young Talib whose grudge gets Parvana's father arrested, to him?

His former pupil takes offence at the market stall and has him seized over supper that evening. Idrees is later called away to fight when the American invasion begins.

In The Breadwinner, what is nan, which Parvana buys still warm on her first trip alone to the market?

Flatbread is all she brings home, ten loaves of it, because a Talib chases her from the fruit stall before she can buy anything else. Nooria grumbles that there is no rice.

In The Breadwinner, why has the Taliban ordered the windows of Kabul's homes to be painted black?

To hide women from view was the aim, but the single window in Parvana's room sits so high on the wall that the family got away with leaving it clear.

In The Breadwinner, what is the last gift the Window Woman drops for Parvana, landing on her head?

A tiny beaded camel arrives days before Parvana leaves Kabul, proof that the woman she once heard being beaten is still there. It prompts her to find a way of saying goodbye.

In The Breadwinner, which school subject, her favourite, does Parvana miss as she sits silently in the market?

Afghan history thrills her because, lesson after lesson, every invader from Alexander the Great to the British ends up being thrown out of the country.

In The Breadwinner, which treasured belonging of Parvana's does she haggle over and sell on her first working day?

Her red shalwar kameez, a tunic-and-trousers outfit embroidered by an aunt, had been her best clothes. She points to the needlework to push the price up, and hardly regrets the sale.

In The Breadwinner, what had Nooria been training to become before the Taliban closed the schools to girls?

A teacher is what she was studying to be, so she jumps at the chance to give lessons in the secret school that Mother and Mrs. Weera set up for five local girls.

In The Breadwinner, what farewell present does Parvana buy in the market for Nooria before the wedding journey?

A pen in a beaded case suits a sister who hopes to study again. Parvana also jokes that Nooria will be sent straight back once her husband learns how bossy she is.

In the novel The Breadwinner, what is the name of the fussing toddler who is the baby of Parvana's family?

Ali goes quiet in the days after the arrest, which worries Parvana more than his fussing ever did. The animated film renames him Zaki.

In The Breadwinner, what drives Parvana into the ruined building where she finds Homa crying in the dark?

A rainstorm at the end of August sends her under cover, where she falls asleep and wakes after nightfall to the sound of someone sobbing.