Paper Plus Kids' Lit Quiz Taking on the World

News Release

28 October 2005

Paper Plus Kids' Lit Quiz Taking on the World

An educational initiative will see a team of avid young readers from Beijing 'booking' a flight to New Zealand to compete in the World Final of the Paper Plus Kids' Lit Quiz being held in Auckland in June 2006.

The Kids Lit Quiz is an annual school-based competition for Year seven and eight students that aims to test the literary knowledge of young readers. School teams, each made up of four students working together, compete against each other in a series of regional finals in their own country culminating in the World Final in Auckland.

Wayne Mills, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, and the mastermind behind the quiz, says there is eager anticipation surrounding the inaugural event in China being held at the Western Academy of Beijing on December 13.

" There has been a lot of interest in the event in China although they don't really know what to expect," he says.

Since its inception in 1991, the quiz has continued to grow with teams now competing from South Africa, the United Kingdom and China, making it a truly international event.

The South African competition was held at the beginning of this month and the United Kingdom event begins in London on 9 November with a staggering 15 regional finals, culminating with the final in Newcastle on 5 December.

Lucky winners from the finals held in these countries will be invited to travel to Auckland to compete in the World Final in June against the winning teams from the New Zealand regional finals commencing in March 2006.

Paper Plus, sponsors of the event, provide a total prize pool of over $30,000 including Paper Plus Gift Vouchers and assistance towards travel and accommodation expenses. All participants are given the chance to win books for themselves and the winning team takes home the Paper Plus Cup.

Tony Moores, Books Manager for Paper Plus, says they are proud to support an initiative that encourages and extends children's reading.

"Every year we are astounded at the breadth of literary knowledge of the participants and this event will be no exception," he says.

The 2005 winners were St Margarets College from Christchurch keeping the Paper Plus Cup on New Zealand's shores after having been won in 2004 by Dunblane High School from Scotland.

ENDS

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