Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 have the opportunity to participate in the Iowa Children’s Choice Battle of the Books.  The Battle of the Books is an organized competition where teams across Scott County compete using their knowledge of the 2023-2024 Iowa Children’s Choice list. The battle creates excitement over books, rewards a love of reading in a non-physical sport, and has become a rite of passage for many students.  Interested students are invited to create teams of 3 readers.  Teams will compete at a building level, the 2 winning teams from each building will compete at the District level with other elementary schools from Pleasant Valley, and then the winning PV team will go on to compete against other district teams from across Scott County.

2026 Battle Dates:

Hopewell Battle - March 6th (during the school day)

PV Battle- Wednesday, March 11th  2026 at 4:15 pm at the Bettendorf Public Library 

Regional Battle-  Saturday, March 28th  2026 at 10:00 am at the Bettendorf Public Library 

•  Local Competition: Students form teams of three. Team members may be any combination of 4th, 5th, or 6th grade Hopewell students. (Mrs. Bachtel will help you find team members if needed.) Registered teams will compete in a Hopewell battle. This round will be 25 written questions and take place during the school day. All questions are phrased “In which book...” The answer will always be the title of the book (for 5 points) and the author (for 3 points). Teams may give either the full or last names of the author to receive credit. 

• District Competition: The top two teams representing Hopewell will compete with the top two teams from Riverdale Heights, and Cody.  This trivia style round of competition will be held at Bettendorf Public Library. 

• Regional Competition:  The top team from the PV District Battle will compete with teams from North Scott, Davenport, Durant, Bettendorf, West Liberty, Camanche, Benette, Calamus-Wheatland and Rivermont Collegiate schools. 

Signing up

Students may begin signing up on December 5, 2026.  All contracts and permission slips need to be turned in by December 19th 2026. Students will not be allowed to participate in the battle without a signed parent permission slip. If students need help finding a team or additional teammates please contact Mrs. Bachtel. (bachtelrachel@pleasval.org) 

Parent Permission slip

Team Sign up

2025-2026 Battle of the Books District Competition Rules

All Teams Rounds

1. Teams of three students in 4th, 5th, or 6th grade will be seated at their own individual table. Teams are allowed and encouraged to decorate their table to show their school/library spirit as long as current Iowa Children’s Choice book titles/authors are not included on decorations.

2. Team members may not switch out for an alternate team member once the competition has begun. Alternates are only to be used in the case of illness or emergency situations involving an original team member.

3. Cell phones and other mobile devices and/or notes prepared ahead of time cannot be used during the competition.

4. Scratch paper provided to the teams may only be used while the competition is in session, not prior to the start of the competition or during allotted breaks.

5. 50 questions will be given in five rounds of ten and will be read aloud for each team to answer individually on an answer sheet. Only one answer sheet will be completed for each team, for each round.

6. Questions will be read twice and will be asked in the following format: “In which book…” The answer will always be the title of the book (for 5 points) and the author (for 3 points). Teams may give either the full or last names of the author to receive credit.

7. If a team has an incorrect title, they can still receive points for a correct author. Also, if a team has an incorrect author, they can still receive points for a correct title.

8. Students will have 30 seconds between questions to correctly write down each question’s correct answer. The timer starts as soon as the question has finished being read for the second time.

9. If a team has time remaining during a round, they are allowed to go back to previous questions in that round in order to add or alter answers.

10. Correct spelling on the answer sheets is not required, however, answers must be legible and the judges must be able to easily recognize your answers. More than one answer per question will automatically be scored as incorrect.

11. After each round of ten questions is completed, the emcee will ask teams to place their pencils down and promptly hold their papers high in the air for judges to pick up and score.

12. Teams will be given a 15 minute break after the first 3 rounds are completed. Scores will be posted as judges compile them.

13. Audience members may not coach members of the team, or talk while the battle is in progress. Team members may not leave their tables except during the scheduled 15 minute break.

14. After all five rounds are completed, the scores will be tallied and a winner will be declared.

Tie Breaker Round

1. In the case of a tie, the teams that are tied will be given a tie-breaker round of five questions to be answered on an answer sheet.

2. After the round is completed, the scores will be tallied and a winner will be declared.