Some of the keenest and speediest young readers came together in a battle of the books today.
The Kids' Lit Quiz tests the literary knowledge of young people from all over the world. The atmosphere is tense and the competition is fierce.
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In the sport of reading, these children are among the best.
National champions, Belmont Intermediate, represented New Zealand and said the rules were tough.
"They only accept your first answer so you can only say it once," student Daniel Parker said.
"And if you get it wrong you lose a point and if you get it right you gain two points," fellow student Ali Brown said.
The Kids' Lit Quiz started in New Zealand 27 years ago to inspire children to become life-long readers.
Wayne Mills has been the quiz master all that time.
"I try to be inventive, I try to make reading a sport and I try to make it a wonderful spectacle," he says.
It's now grown to 2000 children from 13 countries, as far afield as the UK, Canada and Singapore.
After a heated 10 rounds, the Australian team from Canberra Grammar proved to be the biggest book brains, and they read a lot.
Belmont Intermediate came fourth, and they hope to make it back into the finals next year when the competition heads to Singapore.
Newshub.
