Riddles About Books With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: This page has 42 riddles about books with answers, covering pages, libraries, bookmarks, authors, dictionaries and reading habits. It suits book lovers, teachers and parents looking for a reading-time game. Begin with the easy riddles, try the trickier and hard sets, which include some page-counting puzzles, and finish with eight quick-fire ones.
Riddles About Books: Easy Book Riddles
I have a spine but no bones, and a cover but no roof. I am full of words but I never speak. What am I?
A book.
I am a quiet building where you can borrow stories for free and must whisper. What am I?
A library.
I am a thin strip that keeps your place, and I do not read a word. What am I?
A bookmark.
Turn me over to carry on with the story. I have two sides, and both are covered in words. What am I?
A page.
I stand against the wall and hold rows of books, shelf by shelf. What am I?
A bookshelf.
I make up the story, but my name is only printed on the front cover. Who am I?
The author.
I explain the meaning of every word, and I list them from A to Z. What am I?
A dictionary.
I stamp your books at the desk and say shh when you are noisy. Who am I?
The librarian.
I am the name of the book, printed big on the front. What am I?
The title.
Do not judge a book by me, they say. What am I?
The cover.
I am one section of a book. Books usually have many of me, numbered 1, 2, 3 and so on. What am I?
A chapter.
I sit at the front of a book and list the chapters with their page numbers. What am I?
The table of contents.
Trickier Book Riddles
What has many leaves but is not a tree?
A book. Its pages are called leaves.
I have countries but no people, oceans but no water, and roads but no cars. I am a book of maps. What am I?
An atlas.
You can finish me while you drive, without opening a cover or turning a page. What am I?
An audiobook.
I tell a whole story without a single word on my pages. What am I?
A wordless picture book.
I look like a dictionary, but instead of meanings I list words that mean the same thing. What am I?
A thesaurus.
I begin with blank pages. By the end I hold your secrets, and I often have a lock. What am I?
A diary.
I am no worm, but I eat through a book from first page to last. Who am I?
A bookworm (a keen reader).
I am a paper wrapper that slips around a hardback, and I am named after a piece of clothing. What am I?
A book jacket (dust jacket).
I can hold a thousand books but weigh less than one. What am I?
An e-reader.
A book has 240 pages. You read 15 pages a day. How many days will it take to finish?
16 days, because 240 / 15 = 16.
A book has 300 pages. You read 20 pages a day, five days a week. How many weeks will it take?
3 weeks. Each week you read 5 x 20 = 100 pages, and 300 / 100 = 3.
Twenty-six fat volumes, A to Z, hold facts on every subject. What am I?
An encyclopedia.
Hard Book Riddles
Two volumes stand in order on a shelf, spines facing you, volume 1 on the left. A bookworm eats from the first page of volume 1 to the last page of volume 2. How many pages does it eat through?
None, only the two covers. Volume 1's first page sits on its right and volume 2's last page on its left, side by side.
How many digits are printed to number the pages from 1 to 100?
192. Pages 1 to 9 use 9 digits, pages 10 to 99 use 90 x 2 = 180, and page 100 uses 3: 9 + 180 + 3.
A shop has 120 books. It sells a third on Monday and a quarter of the rest on Tuesday. How many are left?
60. Monday: 120 / 3 = 40 sold, 80 left. Tuesday: 80 / 4 = 20 sold, 60 left.
A book lies open. The two facing page numbers multiply to give 156. Which pages are they?
Pages 12 and 13, because 12 x 13 = 156.
A man is reading in a dark room when his wife switches off the light. He carries on reading. How?
His book is in braille, so he reads it by touch.
A library has 8 shelves with 35 books on each. If 60 books are borrowed, how many are left?
220. There are 8 x 35 = 280 books, and 280 - 60 = 220.
In a story I tell the tale and speak for the characters, but I am not the author. Who am I?
The narrator.
Anna reads twice as fast as Ben. Together they finish a pile of books in 6 days. How long would Anna take alone?
9 days. Ben's speed is 1 unit and Anna's 2, so the pile is 3 x 6 = 18 units, and 18 / 2 = 9.
A book is made of 50 sheets of paper, printed on both sides. How many pages does it have?
100, because each sheet has two pages and 50 x 2 = 100.
On day one you read 1 page, on day two 2 pages, on day three 3 pages, and so on. How many pages have you read after 10 days?
55, because 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 = 55.
Quick-Fire Book Riddles
A tale that starts with once upon a time.
Fairy tale.
A long story about made-up people.
Novel.
A short story with animals and a lesson at the end.
Fable.
The person who draws the pictures in a story.
Illustrator.
Pictures and speech bubbles, in a magazine style book.
Comic.
The short sales text on the back cover.
Blurb.
An A to Z list at the back that tells you which page a topic is on.
Index.
Lines that rhyme, in a slim book.
Poetry.
How to Use These Riddles
Book riddles are a good way to start a reading session, a library visit or a class. Read one aloud, let the group guess, then reveal the answer. Quick-fire riddles are ideal for a few spare minutes.
For the page-counting puzzles, have a real book to hand. Open it, look at how pages face each other and how volumes sit on a shelf, and you will see why the bookworm answer works.
Frequently Asked Questions
What has many leaves but is not a tree?
A book. The sheets of paper inside a book are called leaves, and each leaf has two pages, one on each side. It is one of the best known book riddles.
What is a good riddle about a library?
Try this: I am a quiet building where you can borrow stories for free and must whisper. The answer is a library. It suits young readers and works well as an opening riddle.
Why does the bookworm in the shelf riddle eat only the covers?
On a shelf with spines facing you, volume 1 sits on the left, so its first page is on the right side. Volume 2's last page is on its left. They touch, so only covers are in the way.
Are these book riddles suitable for school?
Yes. They are clean and family-friendly, and the easy sets suit young readers while the maths-based ones about pages and shelves can be used in numeracy lessons with older pupils.
