Howl’s Moving Castle

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

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. What kind of shop does Sophie’s family run?

2. Who is the woman who comes into the shop and changes Sophie’s appearance?

3. What job does Sophie tell Howl she has come to the castle to do?

Short Answer

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

1. What surprise does Sophie receive when she goes into the back room of Cesari’s with Lettie?

2. Why does Martha think that Fanny is exploiting Sophie?

3. What bargain does Calcifer propose to Sophie?

4. When Howl returns to the castle, where does Sophie realize she has seen him before?

Paired Resource

“Why the Myth That Birth Order Shapes Personality Just Won’t Die”

• This article from The Swaddle reviews research into the myth that birth order meaningfully impacts personality, behavior, and life outcomes.
• This resource relates to the theme of Identity.
• How is our own society’s mistaken belief that birth order affects who we become similar to and different from Sophie’s society’s beliefs about birth order? How do Martha and Lettie choose to defy the “destinies” determined by their birth order? What does this suggest about whether Sophie is really doomed to fail?

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. Whose opinion does Howl value most highly?

2. While Howl and Michael are both out of the castle, who tries to break in?

3. What part of Sophie’s body starts to give her trouble because of her experiences in Howl’s castle?

Short Answer

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

1. How does having her appearance changed to that of an old woman affect Sophie’s confidence?

2. How does Howl end up with pink hair?

3. What responsibility is Howl trying to avoid by keeping himself from being appointed as the King’s Royal Magician?

4. What does Mrs. Fairfax tell Sophie and Michael about the suitor that Howl is competing with for Lettie’s affections?

Paired Resource

“The Disguises We Wear Every Day”

• This Atlantic article explores the costs and benefits of wearing both literal and figurative masks.
• This resource relates to the theme of Identity.
• According to Arthur C. Brooks, what are some of the benefits and costs associated with wearing a mask? Which characters in Howl’s Moving Castle wear a mask, either figuratively or literally? What relationship do you see between the Brooks article and the experiences of these characters? What does it mean that Mrs. Fairfax is so good at seeing through disguises? Why does she choose not to mention to Howl that she has seen through his “mask”?

Chapters 9-12

Reading Check

1. What do Michael and Sophie try to catch as a part of the spell Michael is trying to learn?

2. With whom does Howl arrange for Sophie to meet before her audience with the King?

3. What is Howl’s sister’s name?

Short Answer

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

1. What does Michael’s story about how he came to be Howl’s apprentice demonstrate about Howl’s character?

2. How does Howl learn that Sophie opened the door to his private location?

3. Where did the real spell that Michael was supposed to learn actually end up?

4. What advice does Mrs. Pentstemmon give Sophie about the contract between Howl and Calcifer?

Paired Resources

“Faustian Bargains” and “The Little Mermaid: Ariel Gives Up Her Voice”

• The first resource, a Britannica entry, defines a Faustian bargain, and the second resource, a 3-minute video, is the scene from the Disney-animated Little Mermaid in which Ariel bargains away her voice.
• This resource relates to the theme of Compensation and Exploitation.
• What is a Faustian bargain? Are these bargains meant to be seen as fair? How is Ariel’s decision to trade her voice for legs an example of this kind of bargain? In what sense has Howl also, apparently, made a Faustian bargain? Do you have any guesses about what he has traded as his part of the contract with Calcifer? Do Howl or Calcifer seem happy with the bargain they have made, or do they both feel exploited by the deal in some way? What other characters in the story feel they have been exploited?

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. Who is Valeria?

2. Whom does Sophie suspect Howl went to Wales to visit on the day he comes back with a cold?

3. Where does Howl decide to move the castle’s Porthaven entrance to?

Short Answer

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

1. How does Sophie’s attempt to speak to the King on Howl’s behalf backfire?

2. What reason does Howl give Sophie for constantly courting women and then breaking up with them as soon as they fall in love with him?

3. How does Sophie try to prevent Howl from wearing the suit with the attraction spell woven into it to Mrs. Pentstemmon’s funeral?

4. What part do fire demons play in the battle between Howl and the Witch of the Waste?

Paired Resources

“I Don’t Want to Grow Up” and “Fear of Responsibility and Its Causes”

• The first resource is a 3-minute video of the Ramones performing Tom Waits’s humorous song about resisting adulthood; the second resource is a PsychMechanics article that explores the phenomenon of hypengyophobia, or the irrational fear of taking responsibility.
• This resource relates to the theme of Age and Moral Growth.
• What are some reasons that adolescents resist fully growing into adulthood? Is this the same thing as fearing responsibility, or are there differences? Does Howl seem to fear adulthood or responsibilities? What about Sophie? What are her beliefs about eldest daughters and her time hiding out in the castle protecting her from—responsibility, adulthood, or both?

Chapters 17-21

Reading Check

1. What does Sophie suggest they sell at the hat shop?

2. What is the name of the man who was changed into a dog?

3. Whom does the Witch of the Waste claim to have captured in order to lure Howl to her fortress?

Short Answer

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

1. What does Sophie learn about Howl and Calcifer’s contract after she sees Calcifer’s shape while Howl is moving him in the shovel?

2. What happens when Sophie experiments with crossbreeding flowers, and why does she find it worrisome?

3. After Sophie expresses anger at Howl because he has secretly known she has been under a spell the whole time she has been at the castle, what does Howl tell Sophie about lifting the spell?

4. How does Sophie break Calcifer’s contract with Howl?

Recommended Next Reads 

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones

• In this companion novel to Howl’s Moving Castle, the focus of the story is a young carpet dealer called Abdullah who dreams of a more exciting and glamorous life—one that he just may achieve when a mysterious stranger sells him a magic carpet. The main characters from Howl’s Moving Castle appear in this novel as secondary characters.
• Shared themes include Identity.   
• Shared topics include fantasy, magic, adventure, romance, and humor.        

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune

• As a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, Linus Baker struggles to do the right thing for the magical children the government has segregated in special homes. But when he meets the handsome and mysterious Arthur and the very special children in Arthur’s charge, Linus’s beliefs are challenged, and he must ask himself how far he will go to do what he knows in his heart is right.
• Although not published as a book for younger readers, the Lexile level and text complexity of this novel, as well as its warmth, humor, and inspiring themes, make it an appropriate choice for middle-grade and young-adult audiences.
• Shared themes include Age and Moral Growth, Compensation and Exploitation, and Identity.
• Shared topics include fantasy, magic, adventure, romance, and humor.
• The House in the Cerulean Sea on SuperSummary