Kid's Lit Quiz Heats 2012

The Kid's Lit Quiz Oxfordshire/Berkshire Heat took place last Friday at Saint Gregory the Great Catholic School in Oxford. Thirty-five teams from twenty-three schools battling it out to see who went through to the UK final in Coventry on December 6th - and from there to the world finals in Durban, South Africa next year.

To provide moral support - and test themselves against the teams - fourteen children's authors took part, offered up prizes and questions - and signed books throughout the event.

Many of our favourite children's authors were there, including (out of shot on left) Susie Day, Marie Louise Jensen, Sally Nicholls, and (from left to right in the photo above) Julia Golding, Michelle Harrison, Lucy Coats, Linda Newbery, MG Harris, Dennis Hamley and Richard Knight. The man in the hat incidentally is the legendary Kid's Lit quizmaster Wayne Mills.

(Richard's own experience of the quiz can be found here)

Quite a formidable line-up...with so many schools to co-ordinate between, and a tight schedule, the event is organised with military precision. We were there to support the authors with a bookstall - with a percentage of sales going towards costs of running the quiz:

The quiz was closely fought for more than two hours, but the teams emerging victorious were:

1st: Cherwell School 
2nd: Oxford High School #2
3rd: Abingdon School #1 (Yay! Go Abingdon!)

Think there was only a point or two in it...

Despite the time pressures, I did manage to catch up with several authors - and as always I'm struck by the sheer effort, hard work and creativity (from a business point of view) going on in what is a fast-changing and challenging environment in which to be an author. Many authors are embracing the digital world, and using the opportunity to do different things and experiment with publishing direct to eReaders - whilst still retaining a commitment to the physical book (and independent bookshops, it must be said).

(As an example, take a look at Michelle Harrison launching her own website Tickey End with merchandise inspired by objects adorning her 13 Treasures series. How cool is that?)

A big thank you to co-ordinator Jacky Atkinson for the opportunity to be a part of this global event - take a look here for more details about the Kid's Lit Quiz...

Past Times and Parallel Universes: The BBC Oxford Book Club

Aha! I'm a bit more organised today, hence able to get this post out on the same day as the next Afternoon Book Club. Click here if you want to listen to Wednesday's show on the iplayer console, and as usual, fast-forward to about 1 hour 6 minutes to listen to the show. A big focus on children's book this month, what with World Book Day next week and everything. The books discussed today are:

• Get Ahead Fred by Daisy Dawes (Picture book, PB, £5.99) - a cautionary and tragic tale of hubris, involving hats, cats...and the Queen. A delightful (and subversive) picture book by Daisy Dawes, published by Maverick Children's Books.
• Lob by Linda Newbery (Fiction, HB, £10.99) - a poetic and magical story inspired by the myths and legends of the 'green man', who seems to inhabit the garden of Lucy's grandfather. But is Lob real, or an imaginary game? For 7+. Linda is published by Oxford's David Fickling books. Linda Newbery will be at Mostly Books tomorrow at 4pm, and also at Long Furlong School in Abingdon earlier in the afternoon.
• Zombie by Tommy Donbavand (Fiction 9-12, reading age 8, PB, £4.99) - When Nathan and his sister visit their grandfather's grave the last thing they expect is to be accosted by a zombie. A zombie looking for some lemonade. For a party. Can they help him? Tommy Donbavand was a clown, and is now a highly successful children's author and screenwriter. Published by Barrington Stoke - for more about them, see our Can't Read, Won't Read event on Monday 1st March.
• Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne (PB, £7.99) - based partly on her early life in Sri Lanka, Roma Tearne has written a moving and powerful story which explores themes of immigration, identity and the reality of upheaval in the face of war. Roma will be coming to talk to our Wednesday evening bookgroup on March 10th. This book is being discussed this weekend on the TV Bookclub incidentally.
• In Search of the Multiverse by John Gribbin (HB, £20) - John Gribbin is the master of popular science writing, and in this tour de force he takes us on a highly readable journey into one of the more startling ideas of modern physics - that our universe is only one of many alternates. So if you are not a bestselling author in this universe, you might just be in the next...John Gribbin is appearing in the Abingdon Guildhall as part of the Abingdon Arts Festival on March 11th.

Really enjoyed the show today. I think I'm getting over the 'gosh, I'm on the radio' gushyness of previous shows, calming down a bit, and talking about the books...