Trivia Questions for The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) by Beverly Cleary Chapter 1 The New Guests 1. Where did the Gridleys start their trip? 2. How long had they been gone thus far? 3. What state are the Gridleys in now? 4. What is the name of the hotel they are staying in? 5. The book lists five of the various duties of Matt, the bellboy. How many can you name? 6. Who is staying in Room 215? 7. Who s next door in Room 216? 8. What did Mrs. Gridley think about the hotel? 9. Who assures Mrs. Gridley that there are no mice? 10. The author, Beverly Cleary, mentions two items when she describes Keith s hotel room that may sound strange today. Can you name them? (Do you know what they are!?) 11. Mrs. Gridley says she s going to do some drip-drying at the hotel. What does that mean? 12. Where is the knothole Keith discovers in his room? 13. Keith takes out different vehicles to play with on his bed in the motel. Can you name all four of them? Chapter 2 The Motorcycle 14. Who was spying in on Keith in Room 215?
15. Why does Ralph prefer younger children? 16. According to Ralph, who is the worst kind of guest? 17. What makes Ralph eager, excited, curious, and impatient all at once? 18. What makes Ralph think of highways and speed, distance and danger, and whiskers blown back by the wind? 19. What does Ralph s mother not want him to find (that he might eat)? 20. How did Ralph s father die? 21. Ralph s mother had a horror of what? 22. What causes Ralph (and the motorcycle) to fall into the trash can? Chapter 3 Trapped! 23. What is the metal prison that Ralph lands in? 24. When Ralph lands in the wastebasket, the first thing he does is check to make sure nothing is broken. What does he check first the motorcycle or his legs? 25. What happened to Ralph s Uncle Victor? 26. What two types of employees does the Inn employ? 27. While in the trash basket, Ralph managed to raise the apple core until it was standing on its blossom end. Which end is that? 28. What does Ralph eat while in the wastebasket? 29. Who briefly comes to visit while Ralph is in the wastebasket? 30. What s worse than being carried to one s doom in a wastebasket? 31. Why did Ralph wish someone would drop a Kleenex into the wastebasket?
Chapter 4 Keith 32. Who says, Hey! How did you get in here? 33. What did Keith think Ralph was doing when he first discovered him in the trash can? 34. When he first meets Keith, what part of himself is Ralph not able to keep from quivering? 35. What does Keith have to do before he and Ralph can talk? 36. After the Gridleys say goodnight to Keith, what does he pull out of his suitcase? 37. What allows Ralph to leave the wastebasket with pride and dignity? 38. What makes the motorcycle go? 39. What precautionary warning does Keith give as Ralph drives the motorcycle? 40. How did Ralph learn to adjust the speed of the motorcycle, to speed up or slow down? Chapter 5 Adventure in the Night 41. What does Ralph mean when he says, Scout s honor to Keith? 42. What does Keith s mother call the dusty fluff under the bed? 43. Where does the mysterious elevator carry people? 44. When Ralph is riding in the hallway, what three food smells does he smell from the kitchen? 45. What does Ralph discover is living in Room 211? 46. What does Ralph do to anger the terrier in Room 211? 47. Why couldn t Ralph get the motorcycle under the door to Keith s room? 48. Now that Ralph had spent a night cruising up and down the hallway on the second floor, where does he want to go next? (Several places are listed how many can you recall?) 49. Who is the second human being to speak to Ralph (as an equal)?
50. When Ralph was spotted by Keith s mother, where did he quickly hide the motorcycle? 51. When Keith s mother finally sees Ralph where does he hide? Chapter 6 A Peanut Butter Sandwich 52. Ralph s mind was blown when Keith asked him what? 53. What does Ralph want for breakfast? 54. Where does Ralph tell Keith that he lives, and what is the reason no one has discovered it yet? 55. Who says, You haven t been associating with people!? 56. What happened to Uncle Leroy? 57. How did the family discover Uncle Leroy s bones when he had been captured by the owl? 58. Keith s family was going to be gone all day. What was on their agenda? 59. Keith kept his promise about the peanut butter sandwich. What did Ralph promise? 60. What kind of shoes does the head housekeeper have? Chapter 7 The Vacuum Cleaner 61. What was the maid doing while Ralph was almost sucked into the vacuum cleaner? 62. Which was stronger the motorcycle or the vacuum cleaner? 63. When Ralph escaped the vacuum cleaner, what did he ride into? 64. Who says to Ralph, I know you re in there? 65. How did Ralph escape from the laundry bag? 66. When Ralph realized there was no escape from the pile of laundry, what decision did he have to make?
67. What did he leave behind? 68. After Ralph escapes from the laundry and returns back to Room 215, what does he do? Chapter 8 A Family Reunion 69. After his experience with the vacuum cleaner and the laundry bag, what did Keith bring Ralph (and his family) to eat? 70. To whom is Ralph s mother referring when she mentions room service? 71. Where s the motorcycle? 72. Where did Keith find the ping pong ball for Ralph s helmet? 73. What else was used to make the crash helmet? 74. How did Keith first acquire the motorcycle? 75. What did Keith say to Ralph that hurt his feelings most after losing the bicycle? Chapter 9 Ralph Takes Command 76. Why didn t Ralph squeeze under the door to explore the hallway? 77. What creatures made sounds as they jerked and zigzagged outside? 78. What could Ralph smell coming from the kitchen? 79. Who says, I don t stop to use my head? 80. What happened to Keith the first time he used a bike with handbrakes? 81. After Ralph confesses to losing the motorcycle, what breakfast does Keith order for them? 82. What did the housekeeper discover when she looked through the sheets? 83. Instead of leaving the hotel, what does Ralph suggest his family do?
84. What do the mice call the food that Keith provides? Chapter 10 An Anxious Night 85. Ralph s mother wants to do the right thing. What is she worried about? 86. What food does Keith save for Ralph to store with his family? 87. The night Keith s stomach doesn t feel very good, what food does Keith bring Ralph s family for dinner? 88. What s wrong with Keith? 89. When Ralph was really concerned about Keith being sick, he remembered all of the nice things Keith did for him. What are some of them? 90. Mr. Gridley got a headache from driving with the sun in his eyes. What did he do about it? 91. When Mr. Gridley goes down to get an aspirin, he sees the night clerk at the front desk doing what? 92. To help his friend Keith, Ralph leaves his room to find what? Chapter 11 The Search 93. Why can t Ralph carry aspirin in his cheek pouches? 94. What happened to Aunt Adrienne? 95. What happens to Ralph when he enters the last room on the second floor? 96. The sisters, Betty and Mary Lou, want to take Ralph where? 97. What was their plan for Ralph when they got back to Wichita? 98. The teachers carry Ralph on a postcard covered by a glass to the window. What is pictured on the postcard? 99. What do Betty and Mary Lou do with Ralph?
Chapter 12 An Errand of Mercy 100. How did Ralph get to the ground floor? 101. Who was staying in the ground floor room that Ralph entered through the window? 102. Where in the room does Ralph find an aspirin? 103. Where does Ralph hide when he is on the first floor with the aspirin tablet? 104. What sound helped muffle Ralph s sneeze as he was hiding from the night clerk? 105. What time did the grandfather clock indicate it was? 106. Ralph wakes up Keith and asks to borrow something to help with getting the aspirin to his room. What is it? 107. What does Ralph end up using to retrieve the aspirin? 108. Who says, I know you re down there? 109. Where do the front wheels of the ambulance get caught as Ralph tries to bring the aspirin back to Keith? Chapter 13 A Subject for a Composition 110. Who do Keith s parents think brought the aspirin to his room? 111. What thought makes Ralph s mother feel better when she realizes that Ralph has gotten an aspirin for Keith? 112. Ralph asks his mother if he can do this one big thing, now that he has shown how grown up he has become. What is it? 113. What does Keith order from room service as he recovers? 114. Ralph skips which part of his night s adventure when he retells the story? 115. Who brings Keith s ambulance back?
116. And who brings Keith s motorcycle back? 117. Who says, I don t know any irresponsible mice only one responsible mouse? 118. Who says, I m fast, but I m careful? 119. What reason does Keith give Ralph to explain why he is letting him ride the motorcycle again? 120. Who says, You grow a little bit every day? 121. What does Mr. Gridley do to chart Keith s growth? 122. Where does Keith actually live? 123. What does Keith invite Ralph to do? 124. Where do they decide to hide the motorcycle on the first floor? 125. What does Keith think will be fun to think about when he is back home in Ohio?