The Enormous Crocodile KS3 Quiz (With Answers)

Q1 of 30

What does the Enormous Crocodile plan to do in the town?

• Steal food from the market
• Find a friend among the humans
• Frighten the adults away so crocodiles can take over
• Eat one or more of the children playing in the town

Q2 of 30

What does the Enormous Crocodile boast about himself?

• That he is the cleverest and most cunning animal in the whole jungle
• That he can go invisible whenever he wants
• That he is the oldest crocodile in Africa
• That no one has ever defeated him before

Q3 of 30

What is the Enormous Crocodile's first disguise?

• A seesaw in the park
• A palm tree by a picnic area
• A roundabout at the fairground
• A bench outside a shop

Q4 of 30

What do Trunky the elephant, the Muggle-Wump and the Roly-Poly Bird have in common?

• They all follow the crocodile into town to keep an eye on him
• They all warn the children and foil the crocodile's plans at different moments
• They all dislike the crocodile but are too scared to confront him directly
• They all work together to build traps for the crocodile

Q5 of 30

How does Trunky finally defeat the Enormous Crocodile?

• He swings him by the tail and hurls him into the sun
• He throws him into the river on the far side of the jungle
• He ties him up and leaves him for the children to see
• He drops a large tree trunk on him

Q6 of 30

How does Dahl create comic repetition throughout this short story?

• By having the same children encounter the crocodile three times
• By using the same structure
• By making the crocodile give the same boastful speech each time he is stopped
• By repeating the same description of the crocodile's teeth

Q7 of 30

What is the Enormous Crocodile's attitude to hunting children?

• He is entirely cheerful and enthusiastic about it
• He feels some guilt but cannot help himself
• He prefers adult animals but will eat children when necessary
• He is cautious and careful because he is afraid of being caught

Q8 of 30

Why might younger children find this story satisfying?

• Because the animals make the crocodile look silly
• Because the story has a clear villain, clear heroes and a definite happy ending with justice served
• Because the children in the story are brave and fight back themselves
• Because the crocodile gets what he deserves in the end

Q9 of 30

What does the Notsobig One's reaction to the crocodile at the start of the story tell us?

• That not all animals agree with the crocodile's plans
• That even crocodiles have laws about what is and is not acceptable to eat
• That the crocodile is an outcast among animals
• That the crocodile is feared by all animals

Q10 of 30

How is this story simpler in structure than most of Dahl's other books?

• It has no magic or unusual creature
• The illustrations carry most of the plot
• It is the only Dahl story without any adults
• It is written for very young children

Q11 of 30

What does the Enormous Crocodile use as disguises in the town?

• A garden bench and a dustbin
• A lamppost and a park bench
• A shopping trolley and a statue
• A roundabout, a seesaw, a see-through merry-go-round and a palm tree

Q12 of 30

How many times does the crocodile attempt to catch a child?

• Three times
• Five times before the final defeat
• Twice
• Four times

Q13 of 30

What does the story teach about the danger of greed?

• That greedy animals always get punished
• That animals who are greedy eventually learn their lesson
• That greed only harms the greedy one
• That the crocodile's obsession with eating children makes him take risks that lead directly to his destruction

Q14 of 30

Why is the crocodile's defeat especially satisfying?

• Because the farmers who helped the crocodile are also punished
• Because all the animals celebrate together afterwards
• Because children in the story manage to defeat him themselves
• Because he is sent into the sun

Q15 of 30

How does Dahl establish the crocodile's character at the very beginning?

• By showing him sneaking up on a small animal
• By showing the other animals' fear of him
• Through his conversation with the Notsobig One
• By describing his enormous teeth in frightening detail

Q16 of 30

The crocodile boasts about his 'secret plans.' How does Dahl use dramatic irony — where the reader knows the plans will fail — to create comic tension?

• The reader's foreknowledge of failure makes the boasting comic
• Dramatic irony is too complex for this book
• There is no irony
• The plans might work

Q17 of 30

How does repetition function structurally in The Enormous Crocodile? What does each repeated rescue add?

• Each foiled plan follows the same rhythm
• Each rescue is completely different
• Repetition is simple, and
• Repetition is lazy

Q18 of 30

The crocodile is unambiguously villainous — he wants to eat children. Why might Dahl have chosen such a simple moral framework for this book compared to his others?

• The book is aimed at very young readers who benefit from clear moral frameworks. Simple villainy provides safe engagement with the idea of danger and threat without moral ambiguity
• All Dahl books are simple
• Dahl was being lazy, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• The crocodile has reasons

Q19 of 30

Community action defeats the crocodile — no single animal can stop him alone. What message does this send to young children about co-operation?

• One animal could have done it
• By requiring multiple animals working together, Dahl shows that collective action achieves what individuals cannot
• The moral is about being brave
• Animals are always co-operative

Q20 of 30

The ending — the crocodile being flung into the sun — is extreme and final. How does this satisfy the emotional requirements of the story's young audience?

• Young children need decisive, permanent solutions
• It is too frightening
• The crocodile should escape
• It is too violent

Q21 of 30

The Enormous Crocodile is illustrated in colour — unlike most early Dahl books. How does colour contribute to the reading experience for young children?

• Colour helps with reading
• Black and white would be better
• Bright colour creates joy and visual excitement that matches the story's energy, helping pre-readers and early readers engage with meaning through image before text
• Colour is decorative, and

Q22 of 30

Dahl uses alliterative phrases and rhythmic language ('crunch them and munch them'). How does this support early literacy and story engagement?

• It is just Dahl's style
• Rhythmic, alliterative language develops phonological awareness
• Alliteration is for older readers
• It is just fun language

Q23 of 30

How does the crocodile's confidence in his disguises create humour? What does this confidence reveal about arrogance?

• His disguises were actually good
• He was clever but unlucky, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• He is just silly
• His unshakeable confidence in plans that obviously won't work is comic arrogance

Q24 of 30

The other animals in the story have names; the crocodile does not. What is the effect of this namelessness?

• Names weren't needed
• It was an oversight
• Namelessness reduces the crocodile to a type
• He was forgotten, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure

Q25 of 30

This is one of the few Dahl books where children are entirely passive — they need to be rescued. Does this make it less empowering than his other books?

• Children are empowered here
• Dahl always empowers children, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• Children are always passive in Dahl
• For very young readers, being rescued is reassuring rather than disempowering

Q26 of 30

How does the setting (an African jungle and town) create an exotic, adventurous atmosphere for young British readers?

• Africa is dangerous
• The setting is irrelevant
• The tropical setting removes the danger from familiar contexts, creating safe distance
• The setting was random

Q27 of 30

The book features animals helping children. What does this alliance between animals and children — against the crocodile — suggest about shared vulnerability?

• Both animals and children are vulnerable to larger, more dangerous forces. Their alliance reflects a shared position of needing protection and co-operation against those who would exploit them
• Animals in stories always help
• It was interesting, and
• Animals help children, and

Q28 of 30

The language of the book is simple but precise. How does Dahl write accessibly without being condescending to young readers?

• The language is too simple
• Dahl's simplicity is energetic rather than dulled-down
• Young readers need even simpler language
• Simple language is always condescending

Q29 of 30

If you were adapting this story for the stage, what staging techniques might you use for the crocodile's disguises? What does thinking about performance reveal about the story's theatrical structure?

• Staging is not relevant to reading
• The repeated disguise structure is inherently theatrical
• It would be difficult to stage
• It was written for stage

Q30 of 30

How does The Enormous Crocodile compare thematically to the folk tale tradition of animals outwitting predators? What does Dahl bring to this ancient story type?

• It has nothing in common with folk tales
• Folk tales are different
• Dahl invented this type of story, a reading that locates the novel's meaning in its historical and personal context rather than in its literary structure
• Like Aesop or African folk traditions, the story features animals working together to defeat a dangerous predator. Dahl adds his characteristic dark comedy and the empowerment of the vulnerable