Little Thumb - As Told by the Brothers Grimm - Student Handouts Workbook Questions

Oct 19, 2026

Student handouts workbook for the fairy tale “Little Thumb” as told by the Brothers Grimm. Includes reading comprehension questions and vocabulary/grammar checks with multiple-choice options and fill-in blanks. The questions guide learners through key story events: the family’s poverty, the parents’ plan to abandon the children, Little Thumb’s overhearing and pebble strategy, and the eventual return home and rescue. Suitable for classroom instruction and assessment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Reading Comprehension & Vocabulary

Questions 1-12

Literary Classics Workbook Series Student Handouts (Order \#3761012) LITTLE THUMB As Told by the Brothers Grimm Once upon a time there was a fagot-maker and his wife, who had seven children, all boys. The eldest was but ten years old, and the youngest only seven. 1. The fagot-maker and his wife have how many children? _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ They were very poor, and their seven children were a great source of trouble to them because not one of them was able to earn his bread. What gave them yet more uneasiness was that the youngest was very delicate, and scarce ever spoke a word, which made people take for stupidity that which was a sign of good sense. He was very little, and when born he was no bigger than one's thumb; hence he was called Little Thumb. 2. uneasy: a. anxious b. ecstatic c. happy d. thrilled 3. The youngest son was stupid. a. True b. False The poor child was the drudge of the household, and was always in the wrong. He was, however, the most bright and discreet of all the brothers; and if he spoke little, he heard and thought the more. 4. somebody who performs dull and laborious tasks: a. clone b. drudge c. patron d. worker There came a very bad year, and the famine was so Free Printables and More for K-12 Education [www.](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com)[STUDENTHANDOUTS](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com)[.com](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com) Student Handouts (Order \#3761012) great that these poor people resolved to rid themselves of their children. One evening, when they were in bed, and the fagotmaker was sitting with his wife atthe fire, he said to her, with his heart ready to burst with grief: "You see plainly that we no longer can give our children food, and I cannot bear to see them die of hunger before my eyes; I am resolved to lose them in the wood tomorrow, which may very easily be done, for, while they amuse themselves in tying up fagots, we have only to run away and leave them without their seeing us." 5. resolved: a. admitted b. belittled c. determined d. embraced "Ah!" cried out his wife."Could you really take the children and lose them?" In vain did her husband represent to her their great poverty; she would not consent to it. She was poor, but she was their mother. However, having considered what a grief it would be to her to see them die of hunger, she consented, and went weeping to bed. 6. Why have the parents resolved to abandon their children? _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ Little Thumb heard all they had said; for, hearing that they were talking business, he got up softly and slipped under his father's seat, so as to hear without being seen. He went to bed again, but did not sleep awink all the rest of the night, thinking of what he had to do. He got up early in the morning, and went to the brookside, where he filled his pockets full of small white pebbles, and then returned home. They all went out, but Little Thumb never told his brothers a word of what he knew. 7. Who sneaks under the father’s chair to overhear the parents’plans? _____________________ _____________________ They went into a very thick forest, where they could not see Free Printables and More for K-12 Education [www.](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com)[STUDENTHANDOUTS](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com)[.com](www.STUDENTHANDOUTS.com) Student Handouts (Order \#3761012) one another at ten paces apart. The fagot-maker began to cut wood, and the children to gather up sticks to make fagots. Their father and mother, seeing them busy at their work, got away from them unbeknown and then all at once ran as fast as they could through a winding by-path. 8. Although European fairy tales are fictional, they are typically set at some real time between the late Middle Ages and the 18th century (1700s). Why was fagot-making an important, but low-paying, job during this period? | | | --- | | | | | |

FAQs

How many children does the fagot-maker and his wife have in the story?

They have seven children, all boys.

What plan do the parents make during the famine?

They decide to lose the children in the wood by leaving them while the children are occupied making fagots.

How does Little Thumb help his brothers return home?

He leads them home and drops small white pebbles along the way so he can find the route back.

Oct 19, 2026

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