Battle of the Books

When you hear the phrase Battle of the Books do you imagine readers in a duel to the death with mechanical pencils? Do you imagine fist-a-cuffs at the library counter over a hot title? Do you imagine readers in a heated debate over book bindings, fonts, and e-readers?

Well, you’re far off. This Battle of the Books is an early literacy program that encourages children to read.

My debut mystery for young readers, Dead Frog on The Porch, has been chosen as a book in the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board’s annual Battle of the Books. Thirty books were chosen by a committee made up of librarians, and last year nearly half of the 60 schools in the district participated. The idea is that children read a number of the books and then teams from different schools go book to book against each other answering questions about the story.  I’ve been invited out to Ontario next spring to adjudicate a few rounds of the finals.    

In honour of books and reading, here are two videos to salute all the teachers, librarians, parents, cats, grandparents, aunts, uncles, dogs, friends and other life forms too numerous to mention who encourage and instill a love of reading in children. You are helping to create thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate, well read adults who will enjoy a life time of entering the world of the novel and learning about life, love, and vampires the pursuit of humanity.