40 Fun Facts About The Castle in the Attic

What happens when William first picks up the tiny Silver Knight in The Castle in the Attic?

It comes alive in his hand and tells William about a kingdom stolen from him by a wizard's spell. Until then the knight had been a toy guarding the gates of a model castle.

How does William stop his beloved housekeeper from leaving him in The Castle in the Attic?

Shrinks her is the answer: William has a magic token used on her, leaving her the size of a toy and stuck inside the model castle. He soon regrets it and sets out to put things right.

William topples the evil wizard in The Castle in the Attic using skills from which sport?

Gymnastics gives William the move that knocks the wizard down, letting him snatch the wizard's magic before he has to face his own fears.

The author of The Castle in the Attic is a great-great-niece of which US president?

Theodore Roosevelt's sister, a poet, was the author's ancestor, and the president wrote 38 books himself. She says it is his writing, not his office, that she likes to focus on.

Which creature guards the wizard's fortress and must be beaten by William in The Castle in the Attic?

A dragon blocks the way in, and William learns how to defeat it from a man he frees from a spell on his journey. The fortress guards then keep quiet about how he got past.

William's housekeeper in The Castle in the Attic is leaving America to go home to which country?

England is home for her, and her parting gift to William is a model castle that has been handed down in her family for generations.

Which object, showing people what is truly inside them, is the wizard's great weapon in The Castle in the Attic?

A mirror that reflects what is inside you forces William to face his own fears. When he turns it on its owner, the wizard cowers from what he sees.

William frees an old man from a spell in The Castle in the Attic by fetching him which fruit?

An apple from the tree where the old man waits breaks the enchantment. The grateful man repays William with advice he badly needs for the road ahead.

Which housekeeper gives William the model castle as a farewell gift in The Castle in the Attic?

Mrs. Phillips tells William the castle has been in her family for many years, and that its knight is said to be under a spell.

What is the name of the Silver Knight who guards William's model castle in The Castle in the Attic?

Sir Simon tells William that a wizard seized the throne of what should have been his own kingdom, and that story is what sets the quest in motion.

What is the name of the evil wizard who seized the Silver Knight's kingdom in The Castle in the Attic?

Alastor is finally trapped by his own kind of magic. Asked whether he will ever come back, the author answers only that she never says never.

The wizard in The Castle in the Attic punishes his enemies by turning them into which material?

Lead is also what the so-called Silver Knight is really made of, a clue that the little toy was once a living man.

A legend in The Castle in the Attic says a quest needs a lady, a knight and which third person?

A squire is the part William takes on himself, which is why he has to join his two friends inside the castle before the quest can begin.

William gets inside the wizard's fortress in The Castle in the Attic by posing as what?

A fool looking for work is William's cover story, and the wizard takes him on as his own entertainer without guessing who he really is.

Which instruction does the Silver Knight give William for crossing the enchanted forest in The Castle in the Attic?

Never leave the path, the knight warns, or you will be lost forever. Then he breaks the instruction himself and vanishes.

Which apparition tempts the Silver Knight into vanishing in the enchanted forest of The Castle in the Attic?

His old horse, Moonlight, appears among the trees, and the knight goes after it and disappears. William has to finish the journey on his own.

Who tells William how the wizard can be beaten once he is inside the fortress in The Castle in the Attic?

The knight's old nurse, Calendar, explains what William must take from the wizard. Later she is the one who casts the spell that finishes him.

Where does the wizard in The Castle in the Attic keep his magic tokens?

On a necklace hidden under his robes the wizard keeps his magic tokens, and William has to snatch it from him in their final confrontation.

Why can't William quickly undo the spell on his housekeeper in The Castle in the Attic?

The wizard has the other half of the token, the piece that reverses the spell, so William must travel to his fortress to win it.

Because William enters the castle willingly in The Castle in the Attic, he will return home at what point?

The moment he left is when William comes back. His housekeeper did not choose to go, so she loses all the time she spent inside before he joined her.

In The Castle in the Attic, what does the housekeeper plan to do with the defeated wizard?

Drop him in the ocean is her plan for the voyage home, along with the token, so that neither the wizard nor his magic can trouble anyone again.

William's mother in The Castle in the Attic is kept busy by which job?

Pediatrician is his mother's job and his father designs buildings, and their busy working lives help explain why William clings so hard to his housekeeper.

Where does the wizard in The Castle in the Attic keep the victims he has put under his spell?

In a gallery the wizard keeps his victims on show, and William is horrified to learn that his companion from the forest is now among them.

In The Castle in the Attic, the Silver Knight teaches William the rules of which knightly tradition?

Chivalry is put to the test later in the story, when what happens on the quest proves several of the knight's lessons true.

William's housekeeper in The Castle in the Attic has looked after him since which point in his life?

The day he was born is when she arrived, which is why her decision to go home hits ten-year-old William so hard.

Which writer of more than sixty books, mostly for children, wrote The Castle in the Attic?

Elizabeth Winthrop published the novel in 1985, and when pressed to pick a favourite among all her books, it is the one she names.

Which American artist, illustrator of more than 150 books, drew the pictures for The Castle in the Attic?

Trina Schart Hyman was known for fairy tales and Arthurian legends, a fitting match for a story full of knights and wizards.

The illustrator of The Castle in the Attic won which award in 1985 for a picture book about Saint George?

The Caldecott Medal, America's top prize for picture-book art, went to her in the very year this novel was first published.

Which sequel returns William to the Silver Knight's kingdom, this time with his best friend from home?

The Battle for the Castle appeared in 1993 and opens as William turns twelve and starts to doubt an old friendship.

In the sequel to The Castle in the Attic, William must save the kingdom from which invading enemy?

An army of rats, with one gigantic rat at its head, threatens the kingdom. To write them, the author went to see the rat lab at a local university.

The Castle in the Attic won a book award chosen by the votes of schoolchildren in which north-eastern US state?

Vermont children voted it the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, a prize begun in 1957 and now known as the Golden Dome Book Award.

Young readers in which US state voted The Castle in the Attic the winner of their Young Reader Medal?

California schoolchildren choose the medal by ballot, and across the country the novel was put forward for 23 state book awards in all.

The author of The Castle in the Attic based William's housekeeper on which real person?

Her children's caregiver, a woman named Mrs. Miller, left the family, and everyone's sadness at her going gave the author the idea for the story.

The author of The Castle in the Attic never owned a toy castle as a child, but had which large toy?

A dollhouse with a green mansard roof and real windows was her childhood treasure, the nearest thing she had to William's gift.

The author says The Castle in the Attic was the first novel she ever wrote without using what?

An outline never featured in her novels again: she now lets the characters tell her where the story should go next.

To research The Castle in the Attic, its author toured the Arms and Armor Hall of which New York institution?

The Metropolitan Museum was close to home for the author, who also listened to Gregorian chant and read widely about castles while writing.

The author of The Castle in the Attic wrote her first story at twelve about a mouse living where?

The White House mouse never reached readers: she left the story on her school bus and never found it again.

Which best friend of William travels to the kingdom with him in the sequel to The Castle in the Attic?

Jason goes along when William's old housekeeper sends the magic token that carries both boys back to the kingdom.

The magic token the Silver Knight stole in The Castle in the Attic bears the image of which Roman god?

Janus, the Roman god of gates, doorways and beginnings, is usually shown with a two-faced head, and he gave his name to January.

In the sequel to The Castle in the Attic, William's best friend dares him to do what terrifying thing?

Jump the trains is the dare, and it frightens William all the more because his friend has grown a foot in a year while he has stayed small.