The Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is a statewide, voluntary reading motivation and comprehension program supported and organized by Cedarwood parent volunteers. Students in 3rd to 8th grade, regardless of ability, are exposed to quality literature representing a variety of literary styles and viewpoints. The mission is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, broaden reading interests, increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence and encourage cooperative learning and teamwork among students. There is no cost for students to participate.
Students are organized into two divisions - 3rd-5th grade and 6th-8th grade, with each division assigned its own set of books. Students form teams of 4-5 players with students from their own division. Among them, they will read 16 assigned books. In quiz show-style battles, teams go head-to-head answering trivia questions about the books. Battles will be held among Cedarwood teams until only one 3rd-5th grade team and one 6th-8th grade team remains. From there, our Cedarwood champions continue to compete at the regional and maybe state level! Cedarwood battles will begin in January but reading and practicing start now!
Details:
Students may form their own teams or OBOB organizers/teachers place students together looking for a team. Any team with less than 5 students may get additional team members assigned to them. This ensures every student who wants to participate will have an opportunity.
OBOB depends 100% on parent volunteers! Each team requires at least one parent coach, and all battles require parent volunteers to run them. All to say - if your child is interested in joining OBOB, please consider volunteering with the program in some way!
Battles will begin in January and continue through early March. More information to come.
All teams will battle at least four times. A battle generally lasts around 20-25 minutes.
The team is responsible for knowing details about all 16 books. Team members are encouraged to read as many books as possible so there is a lot of overlapping knowledge. It’s helpful if at least two team members are assigned to every book.
Encourage your child and their team to start meeting and reading the books right away! The public libraries have copies of each book to check out or listen to (yes, listening to audiobooks counts too!)
Powell’s Books has designated OBOB displays at each of its stores and is currently offering 20% off all OBOB titles.
To sign up:
Please fill out the registration form located here. If your student has already formed a team, you can list team members on the form. If they do not have a team, fill in the form, and organizers will be in touch with team info. Students must register by Friday, October 31, 2025.
Questions about OBOB at Cedarwood? Contact your OBOB facilitators:
Caroline Onzik (Grades 3-5) conzik@cedarwoodschool.org
Catherine Olson (Grades 6-8) catherinegolson@gmail.com
General questions about OBOB? Visit www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org