Number the Stars
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50 free Number the Stars trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Lois Lowry's Number the Stars has been read in classrooms since 1989. It follows ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen through a few dangerous weeks in occupied Denmark in 1943, when her family hides her best friend Ellen Rosen and helps Ellen's parents slip out of the country. It is a short novel told through a child's eyes, and for many readers it is their first story about the Second World War. This quiz covers the full book: the soldiers on the street corner, the night search of the apartment, the journey to Uncle Henrik's farm, the strange funeral, and Annemarie's run through the woods with a lunch basket. It carries on through chapters 16 and 17 and the afterword, where Lowry explains which parts of the story really happened, and adds a few questions on the author and on the real rescue of Denmark's Jews. It is written for students reading the novel in upper elementary and middle school, and for the teachers and parents reading with them. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so it works as a reading check, a full book review before a test, or a printable set for a book group.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In Number the Stars, to which country does Uncle Henrik's fishing boat carry the Rosen family?
Sweden
Sweden stayed neutral and unoccupied, and Annemarie can point out its coast from the beach near her uncle's house. That short crossing made it the refuge for Denmark's Jews.
Q 02In Number the Stars, which disease does Mama claim killed the woman in the closed casket?
Typhus
Typhus is the lie that works: Mama says the doctor warned that the body might still be contagious, then offers to open the lid anyway. The officer slaps her and leaves without looking.
Q 03In Number the Stars, what are Kirsti's new shoes made of because Denmark has run out of leather?
Fish skin
Fish skin is the only substitute Mama can find, and Kirsti flatly refuses to wear the green pair. She gives in once Ellen offers to make them black.
Q 04In Number the Stars, which fairy tale does Annemarie recite to herself on the dark forest path?
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood is the story she has told Kirsti many times, and reciting it keeps her fear in check. Near the harbour she meets her own wolves: soldiers with two snarling dogs.
Q 05In Number the Stars, what does the drugged handkerchief in Annemarie's basket do to search dogs?
Dulls their sense of smell
The drug dulls their sense of smell for a while after one eager sniff. Soldiers bring dogs aboard Uncle Henrik's boat soon after Annemarie's delivery and find nothing.
Q 06In Number the Stars, which invented relative supposedly lies in the casket at Uncle Henrik's house?
Great-aunt Birte
Great-aunt Birte never existed, and Annemarie knows it because she loves hearing every family story. The fake wake gives a houseful of strangers a reason to gather after dark.
Q 07In Number the Stars, what were the 'fireworks' that Mama told little Kirsti were for her birthday?
Denmark scuttling its navy
Denmark scuttling its navy lit up the sky in August 1943, when crews blew up their own ships so the Germans could not use them. Mama's fib turned the blasts into a present for a five-year-old.
Q 08The title Number the Stars comes from which book of the Bible, read by Peter beside the casket?
Psalms
Psalms gives the book its name: Psalm 147 says God can number the stars one by one. Peter reads it aloud so that any soldier still listening outside hears an ordinary funeral.
Q 09In Number the Stars, what does Annemarie tear off Ellen as soldiers reach the bedroom door?
A Star of David necklace
A Star of David necklace would have marked Ellen as Jewish, and she cannot undo its clasp in time. Annemarie grips it so tightly that the star is imprinted on her palm.
Q 10In Number the Stars, what does Papa show an officer to prove dark-haired Ellen is his daughter?
Baby photos from an album
Baby photos from an album show that the real Lise had dark hair as an infant. Papa tears the pictures out so the officer cannot read the birth dates written beneath them.
Q 11In Number the Stars, in which Danish city do the Johansens and Rosens share an apartment building?
Copenhagen
Copenhagen has had German soldiers on its street corners for three years when the story opens. The Rosens live on the second floor and the Johansens one flight above them.
Q 12In Number the Stars, which bestselling novel gives Annemarie and Ellen names for their paper dolls?
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind is Mama's favourite book, so the dolls borrow its characters' names. The game ends when Kirsti comes home in a tantrum over her new shoes.
Q 13In Number the Stars, what does Peter lift out of the casket once the soldiers have left?
Coats and blankets
Q 21In Number the Stars, what nickname does Annemarie give the tall soldier on her street corner?
The Giraffe
The Giraffe is her private name for the tall soldier who questions the girls for running. He softens when Kirsti, who slaps his hand from her hair, reminds him of his own daughter.
Q 22In Number the Stars, which treat does Kirsti wish for when Mama has only bread without butter?
A cupcake
A cupcake with pink frosting is what Kirsti sighs for, and Mama laughs at the fancy. She promises such treats will come back once the war is over and the soldiers have left.
Q 23In Number the Stars, what do Mama and Mrs. Rosen drink now that real coffee has vanished?
Herbs in hot water
Coats and blankets fill the box, and Peter hands them to the hidden refugees for the cold night ahead. No coat is small enough for the infant, so Mama brings one of Kirsti's sweaters.
Q 14In Number the Stars, what injury leaves Mama crawling home after she guides the Rosens to the boat?
A broken ankle
A broken ankle, from tripping over a root in the dark, turns a short walk into hours of dragging herself up the path. It is why ten-year-old Annemarie has to run the last errand alone.
Q 15In Number the Stars, why does Peter put drops on the tongue of the infant Rachel before the escape?
To stop her crying
To stop her crying, Peter insists on a sedative even though her mother objects. One wail from the hiding place during a search would give away everyone on board.
Q 16Number the Stars won which American prize, given yearly to the most distinguished children's book?
Newbery Medal
The Newbery Medal went to Number the Stars in 1990, a year after publication. By 2001 the novel had sold more than two million copies in the United States.
Q 17Lois Lowry, who wrote Number the Stars, also wrote which dystopian novel about a boy named Jonas?
The Giver
The Giver appeared in 1993 and has sold more than 12 million copies. Its community has traded away pain, memory and deep feeling for a peaceful life called Sameness.
Q 18In Number the Stars, which real king rides his horse through the city each morning unguarded?
Christian X
Christian X really did ride out daily and unguarded during the occupation, and Danes read it as quiet defiance. In the novel, seven-year-old Annemarie declares she would die to protect him.
Q 19In Number the Stars, what does Mrs. Hirsch sell in the little shop that the Germans padlock?
Buttons and thread
Buttons and thread are the Hirsch family's trade, and the girls only want a replacement for Kirsti's jacket. The padlock and a sign in German show Annemarie that Jewish shops are being shut.
Q 20In Number the Stars, where on Uncle Henrik's boat do the Rosens hide while soldiers search it?
A secret space below deck
A secret space below deck holds the refugees, reached by lifting the right boards. Annemarie handed her basket across from the dock that morning and never guessed anyone was hidden beneath.
Herbs in hot water have stood in for coffee since the occupation began, yet the two mothers still call the ritual by its old name. Sugar has vanished from the shops as well.
Q 24In Number the Stars, what does Ellen offer to use to turn Kirsti's hated green shoes black?
Her father's ink
Her father's ink is Ellen's fix, and the offer ends Kirsti's tantrum. The newly black shoes come up again on the train, when Kirsti boasts about them to a soldier instead of giving Ellen away.
Q 25In Number the Stars, what does Papa's coded phone call say Mama is bringing Uncle Henrik?
A carton of cigarettes
A carton of cigarettes stands for Ellen, the one refugee travelling that day. Annemarie sees through it at once, because no shop in the city has cigarettes to sell.
Q 26In Number the Stars, which Norse god does Kirsti name the stray kitten after at Uncle Henrik's farm?
Thor
Thor, the god of thunder, is a grand name for a small grey kitten found in the meadow. The pet later ends a tense chapter on a light note by falling into the milk.
Q 27In Number the Stars, what is the name of Uncle Henrik's cow, which Annemarie tries to milk alone?
Blossom
Blossom needs milking while Mama is away seeing the doctor, so Annemarie has a go at it herself. Her uncle later gives her a proper lesson in the barn.
Q 28In Number the Stars, which career does Ellen Rosen, a schoolteacher's daughter, dream of?
An actress
An actress is what Ellen means to become, and she is a regular in school productions. The gift is tested the night she has to pass as a Johansen girl in front of armed officers.
Q 29In Number the Stars, what gift does Peter bring Annemarie and Kirsti when he visits after curfew?
Seashells
Seashells are an odd present from a city man, and a hint that Peter's missions take him to the coast. He brings the girls' parents beer, and news that Jewish shops are being closed.
Q 30In Number the Stars, how do the Germans learn the names of the Jews they plan to arrest?
Lists from the synagogues
Lists from the synagogues, taken by the Germans, give them every member's name. Papa explains this the night Ellen comes to stay, posing as a third Johansen girl.