Whanganui team wins kids lit quiz regional final

TOP TEAM: Whanganui Intermediate winning Kids Lit team Caleb Jackson (left), Mia Perkins, Toni Adams and Flynn Johnston with quiz master Wayne Mills at the regional final. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

A team from Whanganui Intermediate School (WIS) has won the regional final of the annual Kids Lit Quiz held in New Plymouth last term.

Two teams from WIS travelled to the final and the second team were tied with a team from Oakura School, New Plymouth, for second place before they lost a tie-breaker.

The WIS teams placed first and third out of 20 teams in the final.

A team from Kaitoke School also competed in the final.

WIS teacher Dawn Duncum said the questions, compiled by New Zealand quiz master Wayne Mills, ranged from obvious to very obscure.

"The 10 categories each consisted of 10 questions and included death, ages, France and cutlery," she said.

The winning team of Mia Perkins, Caleb Jackson, Toni Adams and Flynn Johnston will go to Wellington to compete in the national Kids Lit Quiz on May 21.

A WIS team came second in the national final last year after they were beaten by a team from Southwell School, Hamilton, by just two correct answers. The Southwell team went on to win the world final at Connecticut State University in the United States.

The Kids Lit Quiz was founded by Wayne Mills, an educator at the University of Auckland, who "reads enough books to write several thousand questions each year".

Teams of four students, aged from 10 to 13, are asked to answer 100 questions on children's literature divided into 10 categories, which vary each year.

Quizzes are also held in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States.