In the Classroom: Battling Books

Tomorrow the fifth annual Battle of the Kids’ Books gets underway with a match between Bomb and Wonder judged by Kenneth Oppel. Now some, I know, are uncomfortable with the concept of books in battle, but I wish they wouldn’t be. In fact, the idea is for sixteen well-lauded books from the year before to be highlighted and admired again in a new and different way. What our judges do is thoughtful and in-depth, considering the two books they have been asked to judge and, in a variety of ways, c...