100 Teams try Kids’ Lit Quiz Canada in 2015!

Kids’ Lit Quiz Canada has had another year of growth!

From our humble beginnings of 13 teams in 2011, reaching 100 teams in our fifth year was a huge milestone! For more information on how we got from there to here, see last year's review here.

Once again, we were thrilled to have excellent author participation in 2015. Many thanks to the Quizzards of Oz, Team Hirsute, The Inkslingers, Awesome Authors and Write Again - our intrepid author teams! Their names are listed at the end of this post, together with links to their websites.

It is wonderful for our KLQ readers to be in such fine company! Readers meet writers and writers meet their fans. I wonder how many KLQers will be inspired to become authors themselves?

Some of the fun at the 2015 Canadian heats

Letter from South Africa: A Parent's Joyful Discovery

Today's post is a letter from Jo-Ann, a South African mother of a Lit Quiz Kid to Wayne Mills, the founder and quiz-master of the Kids' Lit Quiz. 

Jo-Ann's first experience of the Kids' Lit Quiz captures the joyful discovery that many parents have had revealed to them through the Kids' Lit Quiz; the unexpected pleasure that comes with understanding what makes a Kids' Lit Quiz reader. 

Our thanks to Jo-Ann for her permission to to publish her letter here. I've edited it slightly to protect the privacy of Jo-Ann and her daughter.

To read more about the 2015 South African KLQ competition, see Marj Brown's report at the end of Jo-Ann's letter. You can also read an Australian educator's perspective on the benefits of the Kids' Lit Quiz, in Janine Hudson's piece, Hooked on Reading, in this post.  Finally, there's more "fan mail" from young readers who have enjoyed the Quiz as well as from authors, educators and other amazed parents at this link.

But, first, here's Jo-Ann's  letter.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

South Africa, 22 July 2015

Dear Prof Mills,

I know that you have many good books to read and questions to compose but I hope that you will have some time for this lengthy letter of thanks. I have delayed sending it so that it won’t seem like the manic mutterings of a recent Kids' Lit Quiz convert. However, even after a respectable wait following the South African final, I find that I am still completely enthused by our experience.

Lit Quiz Kids in the News

With the 2015 Kids' Lit Quiz world final just around the corner, on 8 July 2015, the national teams are on their way to Connecticut, USA.

Click to enlarge

What a wonderful adventure they have in store, a timely reminder of the many opportunities that reading brings.  As readers, we always get to travel in our imaginations - even while we have to stay put - but for the kids in the world final teams, their love of reading has also provided this real-life travel opportunity (although, admittedly, the US team doesn't have far to travel this year!)

Here's a wish to all the teams, from Dr Seuss' Oh! the Places You'll Go:

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away! 

After the jump there's an update on who's who at the 2015 world final with links to the news that Lit Quiz kids have been making all around the world:

Team South Africa 2014: St John's Prep

L -R: Wayne,  Sean, Justin, Max, Andi, Nicky

Introducing the team from St John's Preparatory College in Johannesburg:

South Africa, 2013 by Marj Brown

We are very excited about hosting the Kids' Lit Quiz world final in Durban this year.