Fourth and fifth grades can be an exciting time for children at the Park Ridge Public Library. That's when they can decide to be a part of the Battle of the Books program co-sponsored by the Children's Department and the Park Ridge schools. As a parent, you may be wondering what the program is about. Here is a short overview of what goes on...

• Each Spring, a new list of 60 books is compiled by the children's librarians for the coming year. Many books are held on the list for 2 years. Titles cover a wide range of reading interests and abilities.

• During the Summer, kids are encouraged to begin reading the books from the booklist. The 2008-2009 Battle of the Books Reading List.This is especially true for children going into fourth grade. We have a special program called “Battle Boot Camp” to discuss books on the list and let kids know how a Battle works. Parents are invited to attend “Battle Boot Camp” with their children. Battle books read during the Summer can count for the Summer Reading Club as extra credit, for many categories on the game board or free choice books.

• In the fall, each school forms its team. Each has a “coach”-a school librarian, teacher or parent who decides the make-up of the team. At the library, we schedule the meets. They are held on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 4 p.m. The schedule is posted at the Library and sent to each school.

• At a meet, four teams choose from questions written by the librarians. Each team tries to answer 15 questions. The answers are always the title and author of the current Battle books. Points are given for correct answers. Each team meets every other team during the season. Up to eight members of a team can play during a meet.

• When the season ends, the cumulative scores from all the meets are tallied and the three teams with the highest scores win. We have a party for all the participants where ribbons and certificates are awarded. Every team is a winner.

• We in the Children's Department enjoy doing the Battle of the Books program with your children. We hope that you will encourage them yourselves by taking them to the library, discussing the books that they are reading, and cheering for their team during the season.