I know it’s only February, but one thing I look forward to every year is School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books which is scheduled to happen roughly the same time as basketball’s March Madness. BoB is a 16 book battle, with a judge responsible for each round and much witty discussion about books. The contest is set up on a chart that looks like the basketball March Madness form.
In school last year, I made a large form for my bulletin board and hung it in the hallway right across from a basketball form. Anyone who wanted to participate filled out brackets before the contest started and the librarian displayed the books in the library along with the write-ups about each.
Last week SLJ announced the sixteen books that will be competing this year. You can find the list here:
http://battleofthebooks.slj.com/2012/02/01/our-2012-contenders/
This is a fun contest all in fun. The judges write-ups are great to read. I loved reading them to my classes to show students how you can talk passionately about books and to encourage them to read the contenders.
I’m on my 5th book of the 12 right now. How many have you read?