Battle of the Books

Apr 15, 2026 | 4:13 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It was a battle of the book worms today (Wednesday) at the John McInnis Centre.

“There are 16 schools, so they’re in teams of three,” explains Tina Cousins, organizer of the event. “Some of the schools have two teams and some of the schools might have one. So it is a district award or a district battle of the books. We start out in our own schools and we have district battles or school battles. And so these ones are the best of the best.”

And it is a competition not for the faint of heart. That’s because there are ten books these students have to read before they reach this stage. Melanie Mosher’s “Bertie Stewart is “Perfectly Imperfect,” Anna Rosners’ “Eyes on the Ice,” and Deborah Kerbel’s “Iggy Included” are just three of the series. It is not Dr. Suess’ Cat in the Hat.

“Some people are good at sports. Some people love to read, and so it’s a club much like chess. But it is a Red Cedar Club, and we meet every week and we talk about the themes and the books. We would talk about who’s reading what, or what ones do you like, because the students get the chance to decide on the award.”

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And each of the teams has some bragging rights.

“Vanway won last year, it was very exciting,” says Cousins. “We have a trophy. So now the team that wins gets the bragging rights that they are the Red Cedar winners. And that’s exciting for kids. It’s just a little boost.”

But the ultimate goal is to vote on the favourite book and author.

“When we were on the bus today, they’re like, oh well, I like “Iggy Included” because I like the dog. And just different things about each of the books. So it’s their award.”

The Battle of the Books was developed 25 years ago by librarians and takes many different forms across the country.

by Cheryl Jahn

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Battle of the Books

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