Husky Book Battle 

WHAT IS HUSKY BOOK BATTLE?

Husky Book Battle is a PTA-sponsored, competition-based literacy club. Our third year of Highcroft Husky Book Battle will kick off in October 2025. In addition to continuing to offer this club to our 4th and 5th graders, we are excited to expand and add 3rd graders the opportunity to participate in the program this year.

 

The Husky Book Battle is our Highcroft Drive Elementary School version of America's Battle of the Books program. It is a voluntary reading incentive club, with a purpose of encouraging students to read books and have fun. This program teaches students responsibility, reading comprehension and teamwork skills, as teammates depend on each other to read the books within a given timeframe and retain key information.

 

The program offers students a friendly competition component, amongst Highcroft peers and the potential for a virtual school vs. school battle with another Elementary school team. The game format creates interest and excitement in reading. Through the fun of the competition, students may naturally improve their reading skills, mature in their choices of reading materials, grow their reading comprehension abilities and acquire a broader knowledge base of books.

 

Enrollment | FALL 2025

If your child is interested in being a part of the Husky Book Battle, we encourage you to sign them up. We have a maximum capacity of 30 students per grade.  An enrollment email will be sent out to all 3rd, 4th and 5th grade families and an acceptance email will be sent to the selected 90 students once sign ups are received and reviewed.

 

parent involvement and commitment level

In order for your student to be eligible for Husky Book Battle, you as a parent must hold a PTA Membership. Funding and volunteer staff provided come from the PTA, and we need your help to keep clubs like this one going year over year. 

 

We expect parents to encourage your student to meet their reading commitments and to help them attend the monthly club meetings. Additionally, parents commit to replacing borrowed books from the Media Center should a book be lost, stolen or damaged. 

 

Students make a team commitment to read their books and to actively participate in the competition with their teams. Students are expected to come to each monthly club meeting, this is not a drop in as you wish type of activity. If your student's absence becomes a pattern, we will ask the student to leave the club.

 

COST

Dues for each student are $60. These dues are used to purchase books and morning meeting supplies for the students.

 

Scholarships are available for students in need. Please contact Angela Tew (atew1@wcpss.net) if you are in need of assistance.

 

We will have a limited number of books on hand at the Highcroft Drive Media Center to lend to students who need to borrow a copy.

 

Parents are encouraged to facilitate whatever means of access to these books that are available to them. This could mean accessing these titles through the Wake County Public Library system, or purchasing them separately for your student.

 

BOOKS

The books we will be reading are listed below. There are 6 books chosen for 3rd grade. There are 10 different books chosen for both the 4th and 5th grade levels. Each student does not have to read every book on the list, as their assigned team will devise a strategy for ensuring they have coverage on each book (ex: 2 team members read book 1, 2 different team members read book 2, etc.).

 

 

 

Meeting Frequency and Location

Husky Book Battle teams will meet monthly in the Media Center. Third, Fourth and Fifth grade teams will meet on different days. All meetings are 8:15-8:45a. The front office staff are aware of meeting dates and will let students in the building early.

• 3rd grade: October 22nd, November 19th, December 17th, January 28th, February 25th, March 25th
• 4th grade: October 23rd, November 20th, December 18th, January 29th, February 26th and March 26th
• 5th grade: October 24th, November 21st, December 19th, January 30th, February 27th and March 27th

 

Attendance at monthly meetings is required. Please be on time for meetings. When students are late, this takes away from time with their team.

 

competition dates AND LOCATION

Our inter-school competition will take place at Highcroft Drive Elementary School in April 2026. This information will be updated when we have the time confirmed. The competition will be facilitated by school staff and PTA volunteers. Parents are not able to be in attendance.

 

We are working with other WCPSS schools to determine if we could collaboratively host a virtual intra-school battle. More details to be announced about this at a later date. We anticipate a book battle taking place in May if this were to come to fruition.

 

volunteers

Volunteer Registration is required if you would like to help when parent volunteers are needed. Most often this will be at the time of the final meeting.

 

  

Parent FAQs

Why should a student  participate in Husky Book Battle?

Husky Book Battle encourages students to read great books. The books are from a wide range of genres, characters, and award-winning books. One of the best things about participating in the challenge is reading and enjoying books that the students may have never chosen on their own.

 

How many books are the students expected to read? 

3rd grade students must commit to reading at least 3 books, while 4th and 5th grade students must commit to reading at least 5 books. Many students choose to read more. Students will work with their assigned team to devise a strategy for ensuring they have coverage on each book (ex: 2 team members read book 1, 2 different team members read book 2, etc.). The students have approximately 6 months to read their books. 

 

How are teams formed?

As part of the first meeting, students will be assigned to teams consisting of approximately 5 students. 

 

What will the monthly meetings entail? 

During the first meeting, an overview of all the books that need to be read by the team will be provided. Once students have read some of the books, the team will discuss the ins and outs of each book so that everyone on the team has a general understanding of the book. Then, quiz games may be played to sharpen their knowledge of each book. Finally, the teams will prepare for their competition. The meetings are to keep them accountable to their team. 

 

Does my child need to attend every meeting?

Yes. Attendance at monthly meetings is not optional.

 

Are volunteers/parents needed at the meetings?

Parents are not expected to attend the meetings. We want to allow the children space to learn to work together as teams, and not to feel supervised by their parents in a quiz-like setting. 

 

What are the questions like?

The questions will not be interpretive questions. They will relate to a character, the setting, or important events of the plot and have concrete answers. In all cases, the answer must include the title and author of the book. 

 

Sample question:

 

Question: In what book, does the main character sleep with a stuffed gorilla each night?

Answer: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

 

Do we have to buy the books?

No. The Highcroft library will have copies for students to borrow. However, if your child prefers their own copy to keep or make notes etc., then we recommend the parent to purchase a copy at a local or online bookstore. 

 

The books are also available at the Wake County Public Library. We have selected books that have a high number of copies at the Wake County library. Students are encouraged to put in a request for the books as soon as they have been accepted into the program if this is an option you would like to explore.

 

Do they have to bring all three books to every meeting?

No. They can bring the book they are reading at the time, and are expected to be timely library patrons by returning books when they finish with them. 

 

Will the books change every year? Can we recommend books for next year?

Half of the 4th and 5th grade books are repeats from the previous year. We incorporated student feedback and picked the 5 highest rated / most enjoyed books to remain on the list for the next year's batch of students. Other books were added to round out the type of literature included in Book Battle. We anticipate taking the same approach with 3rd grade after our inaugural 2025-2026 year.

 

How did you choose the book titles?

Choosing titles can be a fun and challenging task and were selected while adhering to the BOE (Board of Education) policies. The titles are a diverse subject matter and characters, are award-winning titles, and have a representation of a wide variety of genres. Should you have a concern about any of these titles, please feel free to contact Highcroft PTA at board@highcroftpta.com.

 

Can I come and watch my child participate?

Parents are not able to be in attendance at this time. We may stream our final Book Battle competition live in April, but will ask our Book Battle students to vote on whether or not they want to offer this option to the school and their families.

 

What can I do to help my child?

Help to obtain books and discuss the books with your child to help them comprehend the story and remember some of the important details of the story. Encourage your child to be positive with their team members and with the other teams. Make sure they are staying on-task of reading their books. Parents could even choose to have a family reading club and read the books with their child to deepen conversation. And most importantly, make sure they are having fun!

 

How will I find out if a meeting has been rescheduled?

For last minute reasons, parents will be notified either the day before or by 7am the day of the meeting.