Christmas in Camelot

by Mary Pope Osborne

Grades 2-5; Genre - Fantasy; GRL N; AR pts: 2.0

Jack and Annie go to Camelot for Christmas, but find the land has been cursed by an evil wizard.  They go to the Otherworld to bring back the three missing Knights of the Round Table and a cup full of Water of Memory and Imagination.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

1. Where were Jack and Annie coming from when they saw the dove?  school  p. 4
2. Where were Annie and Jack going to celebrate Christmas?  in Camelot   p. 6
3. How did Annie get the tree house to take them to Camelot if there wasn't a book to point to?  she held the invitation and made a wish  p. 8

Chapter 2

1. What did Camelot look like when Jack and Annie arrived? sad, lonely, deserted  p. 9
2. How did Morgan feel when she saw Jack and Annie?  surprised, confused  p. 12
3. Why isn't Camelot celebrating Christmas?  Mordred cast a spell that took away Camelot's joy  p. 13
4. Why won't a book help Jack and Annie understand what's going on in Camelot?  Camelot's a legend and is kept alive by people's imaginations.  p. 14

Chapter 3

1. Who did Jack, Annie and Morgan eat dinner with after arriving in Camelot?  King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, the Knights of the Round Table  p. 22
2. Why were three knights missing?  Arthur sent them on a quest and they never returned  p. 24
3. Why has King Arthur banned magic from his kingdom?  he blames magic for all of Camelot's woes  p. 24
4. Why won't Jack and Annie see Morgan anymore? the tree house is banned from Camelot p.25

Chapter 4

1. Why had the Christmas Knight come to see the king?  to encourage him to send someone to the Otherworld to find Camelot's joy  p. 30
2. What will happen to Camelot if no one goes to the Otherworld?  it will die  p. 30
3. Who volunteered to go to the Otherworld?  Annie   p. 31
4. Who tried to stop Jack and Annie from going to the knight?  King Arthur, Morgan, Knights of the Round Table   p. 31

Chapter 5

1. What happened to Morgan and the others in the room?  turned to statues  p. 33
2. When will they come back to life? after Jack and Annie complete their quest p. 33
3. What do Jack and Annie need to bring back to Camelot to bring it back to life?  a cup of water from a cauldron that's filled with Water of Memory and Imagination   p. 34
4. What's the first gift Jack and Annie received?  red cloak from the knight  p. 35

Chapter 6

1. What appeared below the tree house when Annie wished to go to the Otherworld?  a deer/ stag  p. 39
2. How did Jack feel when he put on the Christmas Knight's red cloak? safe, warm  p.40
3. Who was guarding the Otherworld's iron gate?  two knights  p. 44

Chapter 7

1. What's special about the Christmas Knight's cloak?  It came make Jack and Annie invisible.  p. 49
2. What do they have to do to make the cloak work?  put it on with the hood pulled over their heads   p. 49
3. How did Jack feel when he put on the hood and became invisible?  scared, creeped out, didn't like it  p. 50
4. How did Jack and Annie open the gate and get past the guards?  Annie made whooshing sounds like the wind/ she pretended to be the wind   p. 52

Chapter 8

1. Where did the rhyme say Jack and Annie needed to go to find the Keepers of the Cauldron? beyond the gate   p. 54
2. What did Jack and Annie see down the hill? dancers and musicians  p. 55
3. How did Jack and Annie feel when they got down to the dancers?  like dancing  p. 56
4. Why did Annie tell Jack to stop dancing?  the knights looked sick  p. 59

Chapter 9

1. Why did the knights look so bad when Jack and Annie saw them dancing?  they can't stop dancing, they're dancing themselves to death  p. 62
2. What did Jack and Annie need to do to make sure they didn't get caught up in the music and dancing again?  think about something else  p. 62
3. What did Annie yell to help Jack break out of the dancing spell?  Morgan  p. 63
4. How did the dancers in the circle react when Jack, Annie and the knights left the dancing circle?  didn't notice, they closed their circle and kept on dancing  p. 64

Chapter 10

1. Who were the three knights Jack and Annie saved from the dancing circle?  Sir Lancelot, Percival, and Galahad  p. 66
2. What did the knights give Jack and Annie for their quest to find the water?  silver cup, compass, key  p. 67
3. What did the knights do after giving Jack and Annie their gifts?  sleep  p. 69
4. What direction did Jack and Annie need to go next to find the cauldron?  west  p. 70

Chapter 11

1. What color was the light that filled the cave?  purple  p. 74
2. How did Jack and Annie reach the cauldron and fill the cup with the Water of Memory and Imagination?  Annie climbed on Jack's back  p. 75
3. Who are the real Keepers of the Cauldron?  four dragon like creatures  p. 78

Chapter 12

1. Why did Annie want to drink the Water of Memory and Imagination to escape the creatures?  she hoped it would help them imagine a way to escape  p. 79
2. How did the water help them escape the creatures?  gave them strength and courage to fight them  p. 80
3. What did Jack and Annie use to fight them?  burning branches  p. 82
4. What kept the creatures in the holes so Jack and Annie could escape?  a burning branch placed in the doorway  p. 82

Chapter 13

1. What did Annie say she imagined as they fought the Keepers?  fighting with flaming swords  p. 84
2. What did Jack imagine?  the Keepers going back into their holes  p. 85
3. What knight did Jack and Annie ride with to the gate of the Otherworld?  Sir Lancelot  p. 88
4. What was waiting for them outside the gate?  white stag  p. 90

Chapter 14

1. Why was it a good idea for Jack and Annie to ride the stag back to Camelot?  it was faster than the horses  p. 92
2. Who did Annie give the red cloak?  the stag  p. 94
3. What were Jack and Annie going to do with the water and the frozen statues?  put a drop of water of each of them  p. 95
4. What happened to the water when Jack tripped?  it spilled onto the floor  p. 96

Chapter 15

1. What was the result of Jack spilling the special water?  it created a cloud and brought the whole kingdom to life   p. 93
2. Who had really summoned Jack and Annie to Camelot?  Merlin  p. 104
3. Why did Merlin need to rely on Jack and Annie to save Camelot?  King Arthur wouldn't send anymore knights and there was nobody left that would help.   p. 105
4. What qualities do Jack and Annie have that gave Merlin confidence they would succeed on this quest?  imagination and fight for the good  p. 105

Chapter 16

1. Why did Jack think their adventure was a dream?  he fell asleep in Camelot and woke up in the Frog Creek Woods  p. 108
2. What was Annie's proof that it wasn't all a dream?  the invitation from Merlin  p. 108
3. What did Jack do to help keep the legend of Camelot alive?  wrote down his story of saving Camelot  p. 111