Little House in the Big Woods
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
50 free Little House in the Big Woods trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Laura Ingalls Wilder's first book follows one year in the life of a frontier family deep in the forest, seen through a small child's eyes. Nothing terrible happens. Instead there is butchering time, sugaring off, cheese making and harvest, and the pleasure lies in how exactly Wilder remembers each job. This quiz covers the whole book chapter by chapter: the winter tales by the fire, Christmas with the cousins, the strict quiet of the Sundays chapter, the trip to town, the visitors and quarrels of Summertime, and the autumn work that closes the year. A few questions step outside the story to ask how it came to be written, illustrated and published. It suits children who have just finished the book, teachers and homeschool parents looking for quiz material by chapter, and grown-up readers who want to see how much of the Big Woods has stayed with them. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In Little House in the Big Woods, which animal does Ma swat in the dark barnyard, mistaking it for the cow?
A bear
A bear was standing at the barnyard gate when Ma reached over to shoo what she took for Sukey. She told Laura to walk back to the house, then snatched her up and ran.
Q 02On butchering day in Little House in the Big Woods, which part of the pig does Pa blow up into a balloon?
The bladder
The bladder, tied tight with string, made a ball Laura and Mary could bat about and kick along the ground. Pa had promised them the tail too, which they roasted over the coals.
Q 03What does Ma use to turn pale winter butter a deep golden color in Little House in the Big Woods?
A carrot
A carrot, grated and warmed in milk, did the job once Ma squeezed the liquid through a cloth into the churn. Laura and Mary shared out the leftover shreds.
Q 04What name does Laura give the rag doll she receives at Christmas in Little House in the Big Woods?
Charlotte
Charlotte was the present Laura loved best that morning, ahead of her red mittens and her stick of candy. Her cousins were not jealous, because Laura was the littlest girl there.
Q 05In Little House in the Big Woods, Ma makes Christmas candy by pouring hot molasses syrup onto pans of what?
Fresh snow
Fresh snow, carried indoors by Pa in two pans, set the dark syrup at once. Laura and Mary trickled it into circles and curlicues, and were allowed just one piece each before Christmas Day.
Q 06In Little House in the Big Woods, what does Pa haul home in the wash tub after finding a hollow tree?
Honey
Honey filled the tub and the pails besides. Pa had stumbled on the tree by chance while taking a shortcut, then hurried home for the wagon and every container Ma could spare.
Q 07Which insects sting spoiled cousin Charley from head to foot at harvest in Little House in the Big Woods?
Yellow jackets
Yellow jackets swarmed out when Charley jumped on their nest in the ground. He had screamed for nothing several times that day, so the men were slow to come, and he ended up plastered in mud.
Q 08In the Summertime chapter of Little House in the Big Woods, what does Laura do to Mary that earns a whipping?
Slaps her face
Laura slaps her face after Mary says golden hair is much prettier. Pa whips Laura with a strap, then takes her on his knee and points out that his own hair is brown too.
Q 09Which tune does Pa play as Laura's birthday treat in the Sundays chapter of Little House in the Big Woods?
Pop Goes the Weasel
Pop Goes the Weasel came with a game: Pa told the girls to watch his fingers and catch the moment the string went pop. They never once saw it happen.
Q 10What breed is the brindle dog that keeps watch at night in Little House in the Big Woods?
A bulldog
A bulldog named Jack lies on guard just inside the house. With him there, bristling and growling at every sound, Laura feels safe from the howling out in the trees.
Q 11In which US state is Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods set?
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is where Wilder herself was born in 1867, seven miles outside the nearest village. The dense hardwood forest she describes has since given way to open farmland.
Q 12Which instrument does Pa play on winter evenings and in the final scene of Little House in the Big Woods?
A fiddle
A fiddle is the last sound in the book, as Laura lies awake listening to it and to the wind. Pa also plays it for the dancers at Grandpa's sugaring-off party.
Q 13Which animals does Pa lift Laura to the window to see one night in Little House in the Big Woods?
Two wolves
Two wolves sat in front of the house, pointing their noses at the moon and howling. Jack paced the floor growling, his hair on end, but they could not get in.
Q 21In Little House in the Big Woods, what does Ma tuck into her Christmas guests' pockets to warm their fingers?
Hot baked potatoes
Hot baked potatoes went into every pocket before the cousins climbed into the sled, with heated flatirons at their feet for the cold ride home through the woods.
Q 22Before Christmas in Little House in the Big Woods, what is Laura's only doll made from?
A corncob
A corncob wrapped in a handkerchief was all Laura had, while Mary owned a proper rag doll. Laura still thought it a good doll and would not hurt its feelings.
Q 23In Little House in the Big Woods, what does Pa spend winter evenings whittling as a Christmas present for Ma?
A wall shelf
Q 14In Little House in the Big Woods, which trees does Grandpa bore holes in each spring to collect running sap?
Maple
Maple sap runs for longer when a late cold spell holds back the leaves, so Grandpa is glad of one. He spends the winter making new wooden buckets and troughs to catch it.
Q 15In the Summertime chapter of Little House in the Big Woods, which country did kindly Mrs. Peterson come from?
Sweden
Sweden was where her laces, embroideries and china came from, and she let the girls look at them all. She spoke her own language, they spoke English, and each visit ended with a cookie apiece.
Q 16In Little House in the Big Woods, which young animal must be killed so Ma has rennet for making cheese?
A calf
A calf has rennet in its stomach lining, and rennet is what curdles the milk. Pa would not kill his own two, which would grow into milkers, so Uncle Henry gave up one of his.
Q 17Why does Pa stop playing music in the evenings during summer in Little House in the Big Woods?
He is too tired
He is too tired after long days out in the fields, so his bedtime tales stop as well. Both come back once the harvest is in and autumn rain keeps him indoors.
Q 18Which Ingalls sister is still a baby all the way through Little House in the Big Woods?
Carrie
Carrie stays in the background here and only becomes a real companion to Laura in the later books, after Mary loses her sight.
Q 19Where does Pa take the family by covered wagon in the next Laura book after Little House in the Big Woods?
Kansas
Kansas is the setting of Little House on the Prairie, which opens with Pa selling up. In real life the order was reversed: the family had already been there and come back before the Big Woods years.
Q 20Which national crisis helped prompt Laura Ingalls Wilder, in her sixties, to write down her Big Woods childhood?
The Great Depression
The Great Depression had cost the family its stock market savings, and Wilder hoped her memories might earn some income. Losing her mother and then her sister Mary also pushed her to set them down.
A wall shelf, cut through with stars, crescent moons, leaves and flowers, was hung on the logs between the windows. Ma stood her little china woman on it.
Q 24What is the name of Aunt Eliza's dog, whose snarling saves her life in Little House in the Big Woods?
Prince
Prince tore her skirt and growled until she gave up going to the spring for water, then kept her shut indoors all day. Huge panther tracks found there later showed what he had sensed.
Q 25In Little House in the Big Woods, chips of which wood does Pa burn to smoke venison inside a hollow log?
Hickory
Hickory had to be cut green, because Pa said nothing made better smoke. Laura fetched more chips whenever the smoke thinned, and Ma kept the little fire going for several days.
Q 26In Little House in the Big Woods, which chasing game does Pa play with Laura and Mary on winter nights?
Mad dog
Mad dog had Pa rumple his hair, drop on all fours and growl after the girls until they shrieked. Once he scared Laura into a leap that dragged Mary along with her.
Q 27In Little House in the Big Woods, what does Ma braid for the whole family from oat straw after harvest?
Hats
Hats took many yards of braid, so Ma soaked the bright straws in a tub to keep them soft and plaited in every spare moment for days.
Q 28In Little House in the Big Woods, which horse-powered invention does Pa send for one autumn to save weeks of toil?
A threshing machine
A threshing machine driven by eight horses finished the wheat by mid-afternoon. Pa reckoned the same job with flails would have taken four men a couple of weeks each.
Q 29In Little House in the Big Woods, where are the pumpkins, squashes, onions and peppers kept for winter?
The attic
The attic doubled as a playroom when the wind howled, with big round pumpkins for chairs and tables and red peppers dangling overhead. Root vegetables went down to the cellar instead.
Q 30In the Sundays chapter of Little House in the Big Woods, which pastime are Laura and Mary still allowed?
Hold their rag dolls
Hold their rag dolls, look at pictures and listen to Bible stories: that was the whole list. Sewing, knitting and noisy play were all work or fun, and neither belonged to the day.