By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
It was a record-breaking year for the annual Battle of the Books competition.
A total of 27 elementary school teams from four Allegan County school districts participated in the event at the Plainwell Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 1, making it the largest since it began in Otsego more than 20 years ago.
Plainwell’s Jennifer Fazio organizes Battle of the Books along with Julie Potter and Laura Adams.
“It was a wonderful Battle Day full of extra-curricular fun, excitement and competition along with celebrating books and talking about books,” Fazio said.
This year’s teams represented eight elementary schools: three each from Otsego and Plainwell and one each from Hopkins and Martin. That included a total of 160 students.
This is the second year Hopkins and Martin participated in the competition. Previously, it had just been Otsego and Plainwell.
Fazio hopes there will be further expansion in the coming years.
“It’s exciting to think about maybe in the future more Allegan County elementaries will join us for the excitement and joy in reading and talking about books,” she said.
The Urban Legends from Plainwell’ Gilkey Elementary School emerged as the big winner this year, prevailing in the Grand Battle.
“As elementary teachers, it’s an amazing boost to the three of us in Battle of the Books leadership to see the enthusiasm this event brings to so many kiddos,” Fazio said. “We really see this as an introduction of sorts to growing readers who would enjoy a book club.”
Battle of the Books consists of several preliminary battles, with each battle including three rounds of seven questions based on six books that were selected by organizers. This year’s books were:
- The Ogress and the Orphans by K. Barnhill
- Milo Speck, Accidental Agent by L. Urban
- Science Comics: Crows Genius Birds by K. Vanderklugt
- Hummingbird by N. Lloyd
- With Just One Wing by B. Woods
- Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair by P. Polacco
“This was the second year we expanded the format to include visual questions,” Fazio said. “For these questions, a picture is shown, and the teams need to decide which book is the best fit for that visual. It’s exciting to see the kids thinking and applying comprehension skills.”
The top finishers in the preliminary rounds move on to the Grand Battle to determine the overall winner.
“One of the things that stood out to me about this year’s Battle of the Books was the way the audience encouraged and supported the teams, specifically the student sharing their team’s answer into the microphone,” Fazio said. “We celebrated every effort more than just having a correct answer.”
