A Single Shard
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40 free A Single Shard trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Linda Sue Park's A Single Shard is a short novel with a long reach. Set in a potters' village in twelfth-century Korea, it follows Tree-ear, a homeless boy who longs to make celadon ware, and Min, the proud master potter who puts him to work. Published in 2001, it is widely read in middle school classrooms. This quiz follows the story from Tree-ear's first clumsy visit to Min's yard to the dangerous walk to the royal capital and the news waiting for him at home. Along the way it asks about Crane-man, Min's wife, the rival potters, the emissary's visit and the broken piece of pottery that decides everything. A few questions cover the real history behind the book: Korean celadon, the places on Tree-ear's route and Linda Sue Park herself. It is written for students reading the novel in grades five to eight, and for the teachers, parents and book clubs reading with them. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so it works as a comprehension check, a refresher before a test or a printable discussion starter.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In A Single Shard, the orphan Tree-ear is named after what kind of growth found on tree trunks?
A mushroom
A mushroom that sprouts with no parent seed struck Crane-man as a fitting name for a boy with no parents. The tree ear is a real edible fungus, sold dried in Asian markets.
Q 02In A Single Shard, where do the orphan Tree-ear and his guardian Crane-man make their home in the warm months?
Under a bridge
Under a bridge is where Crane-man took the boy in as a toddler, and the two have shared it for about ten years. They get by on foraged food and scraps.
Q 03Which top American children's book prize did Linda Sue Park become the first Korean American to win, for A Single Shard?
Newbery Medal
The Newbery Medal goes each year to the most distinguished American children's book. It was only Park's third novel, and she said the story simply poured out of her.
Q 04In A Single Shard, which piece of the potter Min's work does Tree-ear break when Min startles him in the yard?
A nested box
A nested box, plain outside with smaller boxes fitted inside, slips from his hands and shatters. It was three days' work for Min, and Tree-ear pays for it with nine days of labor.
Q 05In A Single Shard, which chore fills the nine days Tree-ear works for Min to repay his debt?
Chopping wood
Chopping wood for the kiln the village potters share is all Min asks of him. Tree-ear had hoped to learn the craft; instead he aches and bleeds until he gets used to the work.
Q 06In A Single Shard, what do two robbers do with the vases Tree-ear is carrying?
Hurl them off a cliff
The robbers hurl them off a cliff after taking his coins, and Tree-ear scrambles down to find both smashed. One has broken into pieces large enough for him to save a fragment.
Q 07In A Single Shard, why is the guardian who raises the orphan Tree-ear known as Crane-man?
He stands on one leg
He stands on one leg, like the bird, because he was born with a twisted foot and calf. He walks with a crutch, yet he has kept the boy fed for years.
Q 08The celadon pottery at the heart of A Single Shard is prized above all for a glaze of which color?
Jade green
Jade green is the color Korean potters of the period were famed for, and they called it bisaek. Their celadon is counted among the finest ceramics the country has produced.
Q 09In the opening chapter of A Single Shard, what is spilling from a farmer's load as Tree-ear follows him?
Rice
Rice trickles out behind the farmer, and hungry Tree-ear hesitates before calling out. The grateful man lets him keep what fell, but the boy later wonders whether waiting was honest.
Q 10In A Single Shard, how does the royal emissary send Tree-ear home after seeing the fragment of Min's vase?
Aboard a ship
Aboard a ship, with safe passage arranged, Tree-ear is spared the long walk back. The fragment alone wins Min the commission, though the emissary's assistant can hardly believe it.
Q 11In A Single Shard, where do Tree-ear and Crane-man shelter in the coldest part of winter?
A pit in the ground
A pit in the ground, a makeshift vegetable store, is their winter quarters. The pair sleep in the open the rest of the year and eat what they can forage.
Q 12In A Single Shard, what does Min's kind wife secretly do each day once Tree-ear hides half his lunch for Crane-man?
Refills his bowl
She refills his bowl while he is off working, so both he and Crane-man can eat. She never mentions it, which spares the pride of a boy taught never to beg.
Q 13In A Single Shard, which rival potter wins the first royal commission with his new inlaid designs?
Kang
Q 21In A Single Shard, what new name do Min and his wife give Tree-ear when they take him into their home?
Hyung-pil
Hyung-pil shares a syllable with Hyung-gu, the couple's dead child, as the names of Korean siblings often do. The gift of a name tells Tree-ear he finally has a family.
Q 22In A Single Shard, which animal does Tree-ear mold from clay as a parting gift for Crane-man?
A monkey
A monkey smaller than his palm, a plain little figure, is his farewell present. Barred from the wheel, Tree-ear had realised he could still model clay by hand.
Q 23In A Single Shard, which animal, said to work evil magic, terrifies Tree-ear on the road to Songdo?
A fox
A fox, in the folklore Tree-ear grew up with, is cunning enough to lead a man to ruin. He stays beside Min's vases anyway, though Crane-man himself once ran from one.
Kang keeps his discovery hidden until the emissary's visit, and it wins him the work. Min loses out because his own inlaid pieces come out of the kiln spoiled.
Q 14In A Single Shard, which two colors of slip does Tree-ear see spill when a secretive rival potter trips?
Red and white
Red and white slip, clay thinned until it is half liquid, gives away the secret: the rival is filling carved designs with color. Tree-ear spies on his shed at night to be sure.
Q 15In A Single Shard, where do the village potters set up stalls to show their work to the royal emissary?
On the beach
On the beach, every potter lays out his best pieces, and Min's stall is the smallest of all. Even so, his is one of the few displays the emissary lingers over.
Q 16In A Single Shard, which fruit's shape, used by the potter Min, pleases the visiting royal emissary?
A melon
A melon with ribbed sides was the model, and Min later makes his samples for the capital in the same shape. Park pictured a yellow oval Korean melon with pumpkin-like lines, not a watermelon.
Q 17In A Single Shard, what flaw from the firing makes Min smash his first batch of inlaid pieces?
Brown stains
Brown stains mar the glaze of every piece, the oxidation that all the village potters dread and cannot predict. Min destroys the lot and has nothing new to show the emissary.
Q 18In A Single Shard, why does Min say he will not teach Tree-ear to throw pots?
The trade passes to sons
The trade passes to sons, by a village tradition that began as a law to keep potters in the craft. Min's only child died at about Tree-ear's age, and the loss still weighs on him.
Q 19In A Single Shard, why does Tree-ear hold back from telling Min about a rival potter's secret inlay technique?
It felt like stealing
It felt like stealing to pass on an idea he had only seen by spying. He keeps quiet until after the emissary's visit, then tells Min what he saw.
Q 20In A Single Shard, what kills Crane-man while Tree-ear is away on the journey to Songdo?
A plunge into cold water
A plunge into cold water kills him after an accident with a farmer's cart at the crossing where he and the boy had lived. Tree-ear hears the news from Min on the day he returns in triumph.
Q 24In A Single Shard, Tree-ear climbs the Rock of the Falling Flowers, a famous landmark of which city?
Puyo
Puyo, today's Buyeo, was a royal capital centuries before Tree-ear's time. Koreans call the real ledge Nak'waam, and it stands high above the river that loops around the city.
Q 25In A Single Shard, legend says who leapt from the Rock of the Falling Flowers to escape an invading army?
Court ladies
Court ladies of a kingdom overrun in 660 are said to have jumped to the river rather than be captured. A pavilion now marks the spot in their memory.
Q 26In A Single Shard, what is the jiggeh that Min gives Tree-ear for carrying the vases to Songdo?
A backpack
A backpack built on a timber frame, the jiggeh let Korean farmers carry heavy loads on foot. American soldiers in the Korean War nicknamed it the A-frame for its shape.
Q 27In A Single Shard, what material does Crane-man weave into a padded container to protect Min's vases?
Straw
Straw is Crane-man's craft: he spends months weaving mats and baskets from it. Tree-ear suggests him for the job when Min worries the vases will not be cushioned well enough.
Q 28In A Single Shard, what does Crane-man make for Tree-ear, only to find the fast-growing boy can no longer wear them?
Sandals
Sandals are what he makes, but Tree-ear has grown so quickly that they no longer fit when finished. Soon after, Min's wife brings the boy a jacket and pants.
Q 29In A Single Shard, besides foraging in the forest, where does Tree-ear hunt for scraps of food?
Rubbish heaps
Rubbish heaps in a prosperous potters' village offer richer pickings than most, and Tree-ear checks them often. Even so, Crane-man has taught him never to beg.
Q 30The Thousand Cranes Vase that inspired A Single Shard shows its inlaid birds flying among medallions and what else?
Clouds
Clouds drift between the roundels on the real vase, a twelfth-century work counted among South Korea's national treasures. The novel's ending imagines that a grown Tree-ear made it.