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| Quizmaster Wayne Mills at a New Zealand quiz |
This regional final
took place in Coventry, my home city, so it was nice and close. And
the UK final too is being staged in Coventry on 6th December, which
is great for me, as previous years it's taken place in Oxford – and
I think, before that, in London.
In case you aren't
familiar with the event, it's a competition for school children aged
10 to 13 to answer questions on books. The whole idea was created by
Australian Wayne Mills, a senior lecturer in children's literature at
the University of Auckland, and it's been an annual event since 1991. As quizmaster in his recognisable top hat and his often wildly
enthusiastic delivery of the questions, he sets an amazingly high
standard with 100 questions in every heat, questions which regularly
stump the adults in the audience yet produce amazing results from the
literature-loving young competitors.
There are seven
countries taking part in the Kids Lit Quiz at present, the United
Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, China and the
USA. Hundreds of schools take part in knock-out heats with their
teams of four. The overall winning team's prize is always an amazing
trip of a lifetime to another part of the world. I believe the
winners of this year's competition will, be jetting off on a trip to
South Africa. However, there are plenty of prizes of books, vouchers,
money, certificates and trophies along the way. There are even spot
prizes of cash to the audience during the lively evenings.
At the regional finals
there is always an author's team pitting their wits against the kids,
just for fun. This year I was happy to take part along with the very
knowledgeable David Calcutt, Bali Rai and David Lowe. And I was so
chuffed to find that we came second behind Kenilworth School. Alas there were no trophies or certificates for us. Just the fun of taking part.
Quizmaster Wayne Mills
guards his questions fiercely and never poses a question about a book
that he hasn't read. And his choice of books covers all eras and
authors. Amongst Monday's questions were ones on Charles Dicken's A
Christmas Carol, to Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach,
characters from the Fantastic Four,
the Holy Bible– and
96 others!
Because of his great
work in promoting books and literature to children Wayne Mills was
made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's New
Years Honours in 2011. And well deservedly as seeing so many
youngsters so attentive, bright and excited as they battle for their
place in the next heat is just brilliant to see, and I'm always
astounded by how much they know and how well read they are.
The UK final takes
place on 6th December at The Royal Court Hotel, Tamworth Road,
Coventry, hope to see you there!
