Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Battle of the Books

The librarian at DD8's school got her excited about Battle of the Books for next year. The problem is she is switching to a different school for an accelerated cluster next year and they don't participate. I was looking at either trying to start a Battle of the Books program at her new school or ask the old school if she can participate with them. Has anyone been involved with this and what would be involved in starting a program? I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. Thanks!

what is battle of the books?

Here's the link:
http://www.battleofthebooks.org/what.html
I don't think the competition is what's important to DD8 but she's just excited about reading and discussing the books with others. As an added bonus, it would also give us a good plan for summer reading. I heard back from her old school and it looks like I've got to try and get a team together from the new school. Considering tomorrow is the last day of school, it should be a challenge!

My kids have done Battle of the Books for years. I don't think starting a team would be a big deal. The coach has to be very familiar with the rules and teach the kids how the competition works. It probably would be helpful to have a second adult help keep score and organize.

In my kids' school, the battles are very competitive. There are competitions to determine the school representatives, then regional and state competitions. It's not really a book club in the sense that the object is not to discuss themes or characters. The object is to learn small details of as many books as possible and recall the details when asked. The questions are phrased "In which book..." and there may be a question about a very small detail of characters' actions, appearance, etc.

The kids who try out from my kids' school are the top achieving kids, despite the goal of the program which is to encourage reading in reluctant readers - these are kids who read prolifically anyway.

Thanks for the info and advice. DD8 seems to be craving book discussions with other people to the point of wanting me to read the same books as her. The new school does Jr Great Books so I'm hoping that will help too.

Can younger kids participate in Battle of the Books, how do they determine who is a 3rd grader?

Polly

Our school does something similar called Reader's Rally. It is only open to 4th and 5th graders. DS9 made the team this coming up school year. The only issue for us is that the kids have to read from a list of pre-selected books so everyone is on the same page when it comes time for competition. This makes sense of course, but DS is reluctant because the books are "baby books". He says they are on the same level as Junie B. Jones! They're not of course, but they are in the 3rd-5th grade reading level. The books are good, but when a child is used to reading Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Riordan and Patterson, reading The Chocolate Touch and Fig Pudding doesn't have much appeal. That being said, he is looking forward to the competition and at least being able to be in a group of kids that are all reading the same things. I think he is also looking for discussion, which may not be what we get out of this!