50 Fun Facts About The Witch of Blackbird Pond

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which skill of Kit Tyler's makes her fellow passengers suspect witchcraft?

Swimming was almost unheard of among New England women, so when Kit dived after a dropped doll, Goodwife Cruff began calling her a witch.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Hannah Tupper is shunned by her Puritan neighbours for belonging to which faith?

Quaker beliefs got Hannah and her husband driven out of Massachusetts, and her refusal to attend Puritan Meeting keeps the town whispering that she is a witch.

Fleeing a mob in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Hannah Tupper refuses to board a rescue ship without what?

Her cat mattered so much that Nat Eaton and Kit turned back to chase it down before the ship could carry the old woman to safety.

At Kit Tyler's trial in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, how does a young girl prove Kit taught her no spells?

She writes her own name and then reads from the Bible, and her father argues the Devil would hardly teach a child scripture.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what do Nat Eaton and his shipmates set glowing in a rival's unfinished house?

Jack-o'-lanterns grinning from the empty house got Nat banished from town, with a whipping promised if he ever came back.

Which Shakespeare play involving a shipwreck do Kit Tyler and Nat Eaton both love in The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

The Tempest strands its characters on a far-off island, a fitting favourite for a sea captain's son and a girl raised in the tropics.

Kit Tyler sails to Puritan Connecticut in The Witch of Blackbird Pond from which Caribbean island, her childhood home?

Barbados gave Kit a life of fine dresses, servants and sunshine, so the grey shore and endless chores of New England come as a shock.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, acting out which parable with her pupils gets Kit Tyler's little school shut down?

The Good Samaritan turned into a brawl when the boys playing robbers got rough, just as the schoolmaster walked in on the playacting.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, whose death leaves Kit Tyler homeless and sends her to relatives she has never met?

Her grandfather had raised Kit after her parents died, and his debts swallowed the estate, leaving her little but seven trunks of fine clothes.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is set in which real Connecticut river town, home of Kit Tyler's Puritan relatives?

Wethersfield is one of Connecticut's oldest towns, and several of its real residents were accused of witchcraft in the 1600s.

Which American author, a former high school English teacher, wrote The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

Elizabeth George Speare began writing seriously only once her two children reached junior high, and this was just her second book.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond won which top American children's book prize the year after it was published?

The Newbery Medal went to the novel in 1959, and its author won it again three years later with a story set in the time of Jesus.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which wealthy young man courts Kit Tyler but ends up engaged to her cousin Judith?

William Ashby talks of building a house on his first evening call, which the family takes as a sure sign that he means to marry Kit.

Which cousin of Kit Tyler, who walks with crutches, does John Holbrook truly love in The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

Mercy hides her feelings while her sister claims John by mistake, and he reaches her only after surviving captivity and collapsing at her feet.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what strikes the town and turns a mob against Hannah Tupper?

A fever kills several children, and frightened townspeople decide the lonely widow by the pond must have cursed them.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what does the mob do to Hannah Tupper's empty house after she slips away?

They burn it down while Hannah watches from hiding, and Kit has to cover the old woman's mouth to keep her cry from giving them away.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, where do Nat Eaton and two shipmates spend Lecture Day as punishment for a prank?

In the stocks, with a boy throwing an apple at his head, Nat tells Kit he does not want her pity and that the prank was worth it.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what is the name of the trading ship that carries Kit Tyler to New England?

The Dolphin belongs to Captain Eaton, whose son Nat is first mate and spends the voyage sparring with the passenger he will one day marry.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what vanishes when the candles go out during the royal governor's meeting?

The colony's charter was spirited away in the dark, echoing a real 1687 night when colonists are said to have hidden theirs in a hollow oak.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which college did John Holbrook dream of attending before tuition proved out of reach?

Harvard was beyond the savings of a tanner's son who worked by day and studied Latin by night, so he came to study under a minister instead.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which crop do Kit Tyler and her cousin Judith spend a June day weeding?

Onions bring Kit to tears of self-pity, and the thought that a rich husband would spare her such work makes her dull suitor look better.

Which autumn party in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, with fiddle music and cider, ends with Judith tossing her lucky find?

A husking bee turned shucking corn into a party where a red ear was the prize find, and newly engaged Judith flings hers at Kit's suitor.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which holiday does the new royal governor call off, to the family's disappointment?

Thanksgiving could now be held only when the governor proclaimed it, and the news came after the pies were already baked.

Which real royal governor arrives with red-coated soldiers to take over Connecticut in The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

Edmund Andros was sent by King James II to rule a merged Dominion of New England, and Boston rose up and overthrew him two years later.

At which Connecticut river-mouth port does Kit Tyler first step ashore in The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

Saybrook is where the Eatons keep their house, and it is also where Hannah Tupper is later taken to live with Nat's grandmother.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Nat Eaton compares Kit Tyler among the Puritans to which out-of-place creature?

A tropical bird was what young Nat once wanted to bring home, until his father warned that New England's own flocks would peck at it.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which job do Kit Tyler and Nat Eaton finish side by side at Hannah Tupper's house?

Thatching the roof leaves the two sitting quietly on top of the house, where Kit finds she feels more at peace than anywhere in town.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what name is given to the home classroom where Kit Tyler teaches small children?

A dame school was a small class kept by a woman in her own house, and the pupils' families paid in coins or bartered eggs instead.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which silver lesson tool found at Hannah Tupper's house is traced to Kit Tyler?

A hornbook was a small paddle printed with the alphabet, and Kit's bore her initial, which was enough to bring a charge of witchcraft.

Which timid child of the spiteful Goodwife Cruff becomes Kit Tyler's devoted friend in The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

Prudence starts as a child her own mother calls too stupid to learn and ends as the witness whose testimony sets Kit free.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, who turns the witch-hunting mob from his door and later vouches for Kit Tyler?

Matthew Wood, Kit's strict uncle, refuses to join the witch hunt, defends his niece when the crowd turns on her, and speaks up for her again at the hearing.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what is the name of Kit Tyler's worn but gentle aunt, sister of Kit's late mother?

Rachel was remembered in the family as a great beauty, so Kit at first takes the tired woman who opens the door for a servant.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what secret does Kit Tyler keep from the captain until the voyage ends?

Nobody is expecting her because Kit boarded the first ship out without writing ahead, afraid her relatives would tell her not to come.

Which riverside stretch does Kit Tyler love on sight and later flee to in tears in The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

The Great Meadow is so often flooded by the river that only Hannah Tupper lives there, and its open space reminds Kit of the island she left.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, how does John Holbrook break with his Royalist teacher after getting engaged to Judith?

John joins the militia marching against raids in Massachusetts, is taken captive, and staggers home through a blizzard months later.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what treat does Hannah Tupper offer the unhappy young visitors who find her house?

Blueberry cake was Hannah's cure for misery: she fed it to a weeping eight-year-old Nat Eaton years before she fed it to Kit.

Which later novel earned the author of The Witch of Blackbird Pond the same top children's book prize a second time?

The Bronze Bow follows a young rebel in Roman-ruled Galilee and took the prize in 1962; her later frontier tale managed only a runner-up honor.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, how does Kit Tyler plan to earn her living if she sails back to the Caribbean?

As a governess to a rich family's children, Kit pictures working for wages in the very place where she once had servants of her own.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what did Massachusetts do to Hannah Tupper and her husband before driving them out?

Officials branded their foreheads, and Hannah says the mark kept anyone in town from selling the couple land, which is why she lives out by the pond.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, how does Hannah Tupper earn the money for her taxes and her fines for skipping Meeting?

Spinning flax into thread brings in just enough to cover her taxes plus the fines the town charges her for staying away from its services.

Which real minister and physician tutors John Holbrook and tends the sick in The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

Gershom Bulkeley really lived, and during Connecticut's witch trials the real man voiced strong doubts about the evidence against the accused.

At Kit Tyler's hearing in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which item full of a child's name does Goodman Cruff produce?

A copybook covered in one name looked like a spell being cast on the child, until the girl wrote it out again in front of the magistrate.

After Kit Tyler is cleared in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, the magistrate offers to charge her accuser with what?

Slander charges against Goodwife Cruff were there for the asking, but Kit's uncle turned the offer down to put an end to the whole ordeal.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which real colonial poet's work does John Holbrook bring to Kit Tyler's relatives?

Anne Bradstreet was the first poet in England's American colonies to be published, and the evening shows Kit who is quietly in love with John.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what are the tiny buildings where far-off families cook between Meeting services called?

Sabbath houses let families from outlying farms eat and warm up, which is how Kit learns that a second long service is still to come.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what costly cargo from England does Nat Eaton deliver for a rich suitor's new house?

Diamond-paned windows, sixteen of them, told Nat that Kit's wedding was all but settled, and he congratulated her with open mockery.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which ordeal do spectators shout for when Kit Tyler refuses to answer the magistrate?

The water test is what the crowd howls for once Kit will not explain the evidence, and the magistrate has to call the room back to order.

Which National Historic Landmark in Connecticut, now a museum, plays a role in The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

The Buttolph–Williams House was long thought to date from the 1690s, but later research put it at about 1711, after the story's events.

At the end of The Witch of Blackbird Pond, what must Nat Eaton obtain before Kit Tyler may board his new ship?

Her uncle's consent to a wedding comes first, because Nat wants Kit's first step aboard to be as his bride; he has named the ship the Witch after her.

In The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which tedious chore is Kit Tyler set to on her first working day in Connecticut?

Carding wool meant pulling tufts between wire teeth until they lay flat, and the slow work gave Kit her first heart-to-heart with a cousin.