Reading for Australia is an online book site aimed at the reading interests of 10 to 13 year olds. Although the target readership is children aged 10 to 13, all book-lovers (including adults) are welcome to participate in and contribute to the discussions.
During November 2013, a number of guest authors, artists and other creators with an interest in children’s literature, including Isobelle Carmody, Mark Carthew and Sean Williams, will write guest posts for our audience of avid readers – both in Australia and overseas. There’ll also be book reviews and recommendations by kids from around the world, together with other guest posts on the book industry.
Launched on 30 April 2013 by the Kids' Lit Quiz Australia (a not-for-profit incorporated association) Reading for Australia is an initiative of the parents and friends of the 2013 Australian team to promote the Kids' Lit Quiz™.
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| Australian KLQ team (from Canberra Grammar School) at the 2013 final in Durban, South Africa in July. |
The Kids' Lit Quiz™ is an annual literature competition for students aged 10 - 13 years. It was created in 1991 by New Zealand lecturer, Wayne Mills, as a way to motivate and reward good readers – in the same way that sporty kids get prizes and accolades for their achievements.
The Quiz has since grown into an international event spanning eight countries and six continents. Every year, after regional and national heats, each country sends one team to a world final, where the best readers from the English-speaking world, battle it out for the title of World Champions. It is an electrifying competition that has been dubbed the ‘Sport of Reading’.
2014 will be the third year Australian school children have participated in the Quiz, with regional heats to be held in Ipswich, Orange, Canberra and western Sydney during February and March 2014. Schools which register their teams for the 2014 Quiz before 30 November can win a free entry for the 2015 competition.
The 2014 Australian team will be invited to participate at the world final in Cornwall, UK in July 2014 against the national finalists from Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and the USA. In 2013, more than 4000 children around the world participated in the Quiz.
There’s lots of information about the Kids’ Lit Quiz™ and the 2014 Kids’ Lit Quiz Australia competition at the Reading for Australia website. See, in particular, the tabs under the header: 2014 Australian Quiz and FAQ Kids’ Lit Quiz Australia.
There’s also a demonstration video of the 2006 New Zealand heat in Palmerston North in the tab, About Kids Lit Quiz™, which shows what the Kids’ Lit Quiz™ is all about – promoting literacy around the world by encouraging and celebrating good readers in an exciting environment.
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| 2013 Australian KLQ team with Federal MP for Canberra, Gai Brodtmann and team coach, Janine Hudson. |
Similarly, Reading for Australia provides a wide range of reading topics, helping good readers to broaden and extend their reading tastes and interests whether or not they are able to participate in the Kids’ Lit Quiz™. From African folk tales to graphic novels to World War One books for children to Holocaust literature to books about guinea pigs, there’s loads of information about books from authors and book lovers everywhere!
We’ve found that schools and libraries in rural and regional Australia have particularly appreciated the discussions on Reading for Australia. The book reviews by kids have been extremely popular. We think this is because people are interested in the reading tastes of good readers - kids who are looking for books to read, publishers and authors working in this market, educators looking for teaching resources.
The November online festival at Reading for Australia follows our successful May promotion in which authors, artists and other creators, including Jackie French, Ursula Dubosarsky and Deborah Abela, contributed discussion pieces. The full list of guest posts from the May festival can be found here.
The site is a safe place for kids. Children are invited to participate in discussions about books, submit book reviews and to read widely. Authors are given a platform to interact with their readers while publishers and others working in the book industry are also invited to participate. All comments are moderated prior to posting.
Please join us at Reading for Australia during November for a month of interesting discussions about children’s literature, relevant books and other related subjects.
Contacts:
Reading for Australia: Linda De Silva at: readingforaustraliaATgmailDOTcom
Kids’ Lit Quiz Australia: Nicole Deans at: kidslitquizaustraliaATgmailDOTcom
