Book Quiz with 10 questions about Nursery Rhymes

Back to Books

Books Quiz - Nursery Rhymes (Questions)

For centuries parents have sung songs and recited rhymes to their children. Some, like Rock-a-bye, baby, are lullabies intended to bring on sleep, but most are more lively. Occasionally the song will have an associated dance to be performed, as is the case with Ring a Ring o' Roses. Some of the rhymes, like Thirty days hath September, are mnemonics to help the child to learn, and there are others which are riddles to be solved, the most obvious being Humpty Dumpty. But the favourites – and the majority – are just meant for fun!

If you are under 10 or a parent then this quiz is likely to be a doddle for you but if you are a teenager or older then maybe it won't be so easy! See what you remember about Old Mother Hubbard, Mother Goose, Wee Willie Winkie and Little Jack Horner along with many other cherished characters from your childhood in this quiz all about nursery rhymes.

According to the nursery rhyme, who was quite contrary?

[ ]	Bobby Shaftoe
[ ]	Jill
[ ]	Mary
[ ]	The farmer's wife

Which nursery rhyme subject was unsuccesfully helped by the monarch's horses?

[ ]	Cock Robin
[ ]	Humpty Dumpty
[ ]	London Bridge
[ ]	Tom Thumb

In which year was the earliest known collection of nursery rhymes published?

[ ]	1694
[ ]	1744
[ ]	1794
[ ]	1844

In which garment did Wee Willie Winkie travel the streets?

[ ]	Coat So Grey
[ ]	Nightgown
[ ]	Silk shirt
[ ]	Woollen jumper

For what did Old Mother Hubbard go to the cupboard?

[ ]	Bone
[ ]	Bread
[ ]	Meat
[ ]	Water

Which event is the rhyme Ring a Ring o' Roses said to denote?

[ ]	The English Civil War
[ ]	The Great Fire of London
[ ]	The Great Plague
[ ]	The Hundred Years War

When was Mother Goose's Melody or Sonnets For The Cradle published?

[ ]	1761
[ ]	1781
[ ]	1801
[ ]	1821

Sing A Song Of Sixpence referred to how many dozen blackbirds?

[ ]	1
[ ]	2
[ ]	3
[ ]	4

In the rhyme Ding Dong Dell, who or what was in the well?

[ ]	Baby
[ ]	Doggy
[ ]	Pussy
[ ]	Tommy

10.

In which part of England did Little Jack Horner allegedly live?

[ ]	Cumberland
[ ]	Nottinghamshire
[ ]	Somerset
[ ]	Yorkshire

Books Quiz - Nursery Rhymes (Answers)

According to the nursery rhyme, who was quite contrary?

[ ]	Bobby Shaftoe
[ ]	Jill
[x]	Mary
[ ]	The farmer's wife

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary - how does your garden grow?"

Which nursery rhyme subject was unsuccesfully helped by the monarch's horses?

[ ]	Cock Robin
[x]	Humpty Dumpty
[ ]	London Bridge
[ ]	Tom Thumb

"All the King's horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again"

In which year was the earliest known collection of nursery rhymes published?

[ ]	1694
[x]	1744
[ ]	1794
[ ]	1844

Tommy Thumb's (Pretty) Song Book was published in London in 1744

In which garment did Wee Willie Winkie travel the streets?

[ ]	Coat So Grey
[x]	Nightgown
[ ]	Silk shirt
[ ]	Woollen jumper

"Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Up stairs and down stairs in his nightgown"

For what did Old Mother Hubbard go to the cupboard?

[x]	Bone
[ ]	Bread
[ ]	Meat
[ ]	Water

"To fetch her poor doggy a bone"

Which event is the rhyme Ring a Ring o' Roses said to denote?

[ ]	The English Civil War
[ ]	The Great Fire of London
[x]	The Great Plague
[ ]	The Hundred Years War

Most folklorists reject that theory for many reasons, most notably that it did not appear until the middle part of the 20th Century and that the symptoms of the Plague do not match those described in the rhyme

When was Mother Goose's Melody or Sonnets For The Cradle published?

[ ]	1761
[x]	1781
[ ]	1801
[ ]	1821

This influential work was published by John Newberry

Sing A Song Of Sixpence referred to how many dozen blackbirds?

[ ]	1
[x]	2
[ ]	3
[ ]	4

"Four and twenty" = 24 = 2 dozen

In the rhyme Ding Dong Dell, who or what was in the well?

[ ]	Baby
[ ]	Doggy
[x]	Pussy
[ ]	Tommy

She was put there by little Johnny Flynn

10.

In which part of England did Little Jack Horner allegedly live?

[ ]	Cumberland
[ ]	Nottinghamshire
[x]	Somerset
[ ]	Yorkshire

He's thought to be based on Thomas Horner. The story goes that Horner was sent to London with a Christmas pie containing deeds to a dozen manors as a gift to Henry VIII. Horner opened the pie and helped himself to the deeds of Mells in Somerset