“Toto was a pretty monkey.” In what sense is Toto pretty?
Toto was a pretty and mischievous monkey. He had bright shining eyes with mischief beneath the eyebrows and his teeth were pearly white. But his hands looked dried-up as if they had been in the sun for several years. Yet his fingers were very quick and wicked. He uses his tail as a third hand. He could use it to hang from a branch and was completely capable of latching onto any delicacy that might be out of reach of his hands.
How does Toto take a bath? Where has he learnt to do this? How does Toto almost boil himself alive?
Why does the author say, “Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long”?
How does Toto come to grandfather’s private zoo?
Why does grandfather take Toto to Saharanpur and how? Why does the ticket collector insist on calling Toto a dog?
What are the things the child sees on his way to the fair? Why does he lag behind?
In what way is Iswaran an asset to Mahendra?
What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?
Why do the courtiers call the prince ‘the Happy Prince’? Is he really happy? What does he see all around him?
What havoc has the super cyclone wreaked in the life of the people of Orissa?
What is Johnsy’s illness? What can cure her, the medicine or the willingness to live?
What does the author notice one Sunday afternoon? What is his mother’s reaction? What does she do?
Bill Bryson says, “I am, in short, easily confused.” What examples has he given to justify this?
Has Lushkoff become a beggar by circumstance or by choice?
In the fair he wants many things. What are they? Why does he move on without waiting for an answer?
The cat and the author are very fond of each other. How has this been shown in the story? Where was the cat after the fire? Who brings it back and how?
What does the swallow see when it flies over the city?
Why does he break down in tears after the fire?
What is the meaning of “My cat was back and so was I”? Had the author gone anywhere? Why does he say that he is also back?
Mahendra calls ghosts or spirits a figment of the imagination. What happens to him on a full-moon night?
Why does the Happy Prince send a ruby for the seamstress? What does the swallow do in the seamstress’ house?
Name all the people who are tried in the king’s court, and give the reasons for their trial.
For whom does the prince send the sapphires and why?
Why does the author say that Iswaran seemed to more than make up for the absence of a TV in Mahendra’s living quarters?
What actions of the schoolmates change the author’s understanding of life and people, and comfort him emotionally? How does his loneliness vanish and how does he start participating in life?