We are happy to announce, in conjunction with Read Across America Day (March 2), that fiction featuring a spider, a pig, and mythical beasts bested the best in the 2024 Mensa For Kids Battle of the Books.
These literary heavyweights fought for six rounds to knock out 126 other challengers drawn from the Mensa Foundation’s Excellence in Reading program:
Grade K-3 bracket: Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White
Grade 4-12 bracket: The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
"Behind every adventure, discovery, and curiosity is a much-loved book," said Molly Bundschuh, American Mensa's Gifted Youth Programs Manager and the organizer of Battle of the Books. "Help a child find a book they’ll love, and you’ll help them grow into a lifelong learner."
Mensa members and nonmembers voted in two concurrent bracket style tournament over six weeks, starting Jan. 12 and ending Feb. 23, of this year. Chapter books, cultural and folk tales, animal stories, and wildcard selections made up the K-3 bracket. Children's and young adult literature, required reading, imagination stories, and wildcard selections comprised the 4-14 bracket.
All competing books were selected by Mensans from the long-loved but challenging Excellence in Reading program, aggregated by the Mensa Foundation to help encourage reading among children in homes, schools, and libraries. The program is open to everyone and is used in classrooms across the globe.