The 21 Balloons

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

INTRODUCTION-CHAPTER 2

Reading Check

1. What subject does William Waterman Sherman teach before he retires?

2. What body of water is Sherman hoping to be the first person to fly across?

3. To what club does Sherman belong?

4. With what objects does San Francisco line its streets to welcome Sherman back to the city?

5. What does Tomes Aeronautical Studios call its couch that is lifted by balloon and drawn by horse?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. According to the book’s Introduction, what are the two forms that travel can take?

2. What note does the captain of the SS Cunningham make in his log about a puzzling item he briefly saw among the balloons?

3. What do people find surprising about the circumstances that Sherman is found in?

4. What happens to the dome of the San Francisco club that Sherman belongs to?

5. What accident befalls the balloon-lifted couch that Tomes invents?

Paired Resources

“Historical Highlights”

• This page, hosted by New York’s Explorers Club, offers a timeline and historical highlights from the long history of the club. Although not founded until 1904, it is likely that this kind of club inspired du Bois’s depiction of the fictional San Francisco’s Western American Explorers’ Club.
• This resource relates to the themes of Balancing Risk and Planning, Building Community, and Ingenuity as an Engine of Happiness.
• What values might be important to someone who would belong to a club like this? How does Sherman’s loyalty to the Western American Explorers’ Club characterize him?

“Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne”

• This 4-minute video comments on the appeal of Verne’s classic story.
• This resource relates to the themes of Balancing Risk and Planning and Ingenuity as an Engine of Happiness.
• Where is the allusion to Around the World in 80 Days in The Twenty-One Balloons? What ideas and values does this reference to Verne’s novel import into du Bois’s story?

CHAPTERS 3-8

Reading Check

1. What does the little girl give Sherman when he arrives at the Explorers’ Club?

2. When the balloon is sinking, what does Sherman notice in the water, following him?

3. What provides the citizens of Krakatoa with a way to earn money from the outside world?

4. What country does Mr. F.’s home represent?

5. What amusement park ride have the island’s children created?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What comments about his trip does Sherman make at the Explorers’ Club that refer back to the Introduction’s description of two kinds of travel?

2. How does trying to achieve good luck actually lead to Sherman’s balloon being punctured?

3. How does the description of Sherman getting dressed on Krakatoa foreshadow key aspects of the society there?

4. How are the children on Krakatoa named?

5. Why does Sherman lie to Mr. F. about what his former job was?

Paired Resources

“The Loudest Sound in Human History: The 1883 Eruption of Krakatoa”

• This 4-minute video explains the significance of the most famous eruption of Krakatoa.
• This resource relates to the theme of Balancing Risk and Planning.
• What does the eruption of Krakatoa demonstrate about the limits of planning for risks? What are some reasons that du Bois might have chosen Krakatoa as the story’s main setting?

“America at the Turn of the Century: A Look at the Historical Context”

• This article explores key characteristics of America at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s.
• This resource relates to the themes of Building Community and Ingenuity as an Engine of Happiness.
• What would you say are the 5 most important facts regarding changes in America at this time in history? How do you see some of these ideas reflected in du Bois’s book?

CHAPTERS 9-10

Reading Check

1. What kind of food does Sherman have for breakfast that he does not particularly like?

2. What does Sherman worry that residents of other Pacific islands might see over Krakatoa?

3. Who is in charge of making a parachute for Sherman?

4. What does Sherman give a lecture about after lunch on Day D?

5. What are sewn into the Krakatoans’ parachutes?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Sherman and Mr. F. go for a swim, what is strange to Sherman about the beach?

2. Why are the escape platform and its balloons painted elaborately in beautiful colors?

3. How do the Krakatoans react to Sherman’s lecture, and what does he imagine they are feeling?

4. While they are floating across the ocean on the platform, what plan does Mr. M. say they should follow as soon as they see land?

5. What is Sherman’s plan for the next year of his life?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Giver by Lois Lowry

• Eleven-year-old Jonas discovers painful truths about the apparent utopia in which he has been raised when he is selected for a special job because of his rare abilities.
• Shared themes include Balancing Risk and Planning and Building Community.
• Shared topics include utopian fiction, exploration and adventure, and cooperation.
• The Giver on SuperSummary

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

• When a family is shipwrecked, they build a wondrous new life for themselves on a deserted island.
• Shared themes include Balancing Risk and Planning, Building Community, and Ingenuity as an Engine of Happiness.
• Shared topics include middle grade utopian fiction, exploration and adventure, building a society on a deserted island, cooperation, creativity, and invention.
• The Swiss Family Robinson on SuperSummary