Kids' Lit Quiz

The Oxfordshire and Berkshire Heat of the Kids' Lit Quiz saw OLA teams come 4th and 12th in a field of 42 teams. Well done! Their knowledge of books was tremendous and shows that reading is always a winner.
Authors supporting the KLQ at this heat were Lucy Coates, Jo Cotterill, Susie Day, M.G. Harris, Marie-Louise Jensen, and Mark Robson. A bookshop selling their books meant they were kept busy signing in the interval and after the event.
Thank you to Oxford High School for the venue, and congratulations to their team, which goes on to the the UK Final at the end of the month.
From the Quiz Master's blog: Two records were set - one UK and one World. There were 42 teams tonight the largest ever in the UK and to top that off a new world record score was established by Oxford High School when they scored 97.5. (The previous record was 95). Obviously this school went on to win and their number two team was second. Third place was tight and required a sudden death play-off between St Gregory the Great School and The Cherwell School. It was won by St Gregory. It was a very busy exciting afternoon, the literary brain-power was awesome. The Mayor of Bicester commented as he awarded the trophy that the competition was of an exceptionally high standard and that he was looking forward to attending the UK Final in Oxford on November 30th.(http://kidslitquiz.blogspot.com/)

Scholastic Book Club

I’ve just set up our latest Scholastic Book Club school group order online. This means you can order your book choices from the Book Clubs leaflet (which I'll be handing out this week) and from a wider selection at http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/olab and, what's more, you'll be able to have your books delivered to school for free.

You need to order your books by Thursday 18th November 2010 and the books will be delivered to school for me to hand out. For every £1 you spend 20p goes back to the library to spend on books.

Take a look at what’s on offer at http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/olab – there are some great bargains with books costing as little as £1.99! Please note that some books are badged 13+.

Selecting OLA's teams for the Kids' Lit Quiz

Preliminary rounds to select OLA's two Kids' Lit Quiz teams have been taking place for all pupils in Year 7 and Year 8. Higher scorers have been invited to a second round taking place in their own time, outside lessons. Once we have a squad, members will need to confirm their availability to take part before we finalise the teams.

This year the Oxfordshire and Berkshire Heat will be taking place on Tuesday 16 November, 2.30 - 5.30 p.m. It’s a great spectator event and super entertainment: put the date in your diary now! The winning team from this heat will go through to the UK Final taking place later in the month, on Tuesday 30 November this year in Oxford, in the Town Hall, 1.30 - 4 p.m.

First children's story book with 3D animation

The world's first interactive 3D animation story book for children is on sale in Finland. The 3D animation story book for children looks just like any picture book, but with special small black squares on some pages which indicate the interactive 3D animation. Once a web camera faces the black square, 3D-animation cartoon figures and pictures will appear on the computer screen. See a picture.

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2010 winner

Michelle Paver has won this year's Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for Ghost Hunter, the sixth and final book in her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series.
It's relatively rare for a book late in a series to win a major prize but it was aunanimous choice by the judges who said it is "a towering achievement, as a whole as well as in terms of the individual books."
The shortlist for the £1500 prize included Maurice Gleitzman's Now, Gregory Hughes's Unhooking the Moon and Eva Ibbotson's The Ogre of Oglefort. Michelle Paver now joins a distinguished line of past winners, which includes Ted Hughes, Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine and Philip Pullman.
The Guardian children's fiction prize was founded in 1967 and is unique in that it is judged by children's authors themselves, and can only be won once by any single author.
More information and author interview.

Booktrust Teenage Prize

Launched in 2003 to recognise and celebrate contemporary fiction written for teenager, the Booktrust Teenage Prize is judged by a mixed panel of adults and teenagers. The shortlist for the 2010 prize is:

The Enemy by Charlie Higson
Halo by Zizou Corder
Nobody’s Girl by Sarra Manning
Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes.
The winner will be announced on 1 November.
More information

Guardian children's fiction prize shortlist

The shortlist for the Guardian children's fiction prize has been announced.

Ghost Hunter by Michelle Paver
The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson
Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes (also shortlisted for the Booktrust teenage prize)
Now by Morris Gleitzman.

The judging panel includes last year's winner Mal Peet and authors Linda Buckley-Archer and Jenny Downham. The winner will be announced on October 8.
More information