Clever cookies at Tauranga Intermediate School will be competing at the regional Kids' Lit Quiz later today.

Five students from Tauranga Intermediate School have been burying their noses in books in preparation for the literature general knowledge competition.

The Tauranga Intermediate team. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

Their school's team consists of Jack Hoggard, Hamish Burke, Diana Kerei-Orsborn, Alex Smith, and reserve team mate Olivia Simmonds.

Jack has been reading 'all sorts of genres” to get his literary knowledge up to scratch.

'I've been reading many books from all sorts of genres, mainly from the school library and the Tauranga City Library.

'I've been reading some mystery, dystopia, fantasty, and some old classics.”

Dubbed 'the sport of reading”, Kids' Lit Quiz was founded by New Zealand quizmaster Wayne Mills in 1991.

The annual literature quiz tests students aged 10 to 13 years on their ability to read and retain key points and facts from a variety of books for their age group, in categories such as authors, titles, setting, characters, poetry and nursey rhymes.

The competitions are held worldwide, with each country hosting regional and national heats before finding their best team to enter the world finals at the end of this year.

Hamish, who mostly likes to read supernatural and action stories, says the team trains twice a week to get their brains buzzing.

'We have out lit quiz training every Tuesday and Friday, and I read every night basically.”

Diana enjoys losing herself in 'mostly fantasy, sci-fi and stuff.”

The Kids' Lit Quiz requires each team of four students to answer 100 questions, divided into 10 categories such as Big Cats, Wizards, Harry Potter, Spies and Quests.

National and World finals become a real test of a child's quick-thinking in a high-pressure situation, as the team has to ‘buzz' in their answer when the students think they have the correct one.

Alex feels confident about the quiz, but there's one category that has her a bit nervous.

'I think Greek gods isn't one of my strongest points. There are some genres that I'm confident in and some I'm not confident in.”

Reserve team mate Olivia hopes the quiz goes well for her team, and will help where and when she can.

'I am looking forward to joining them on the night and hopefully helping them out at some point.”

The Kids' Lit Quiz Bay of Plenty heat is on today at Tauranga Intermediate's school hall, at 6.30-9.30pm. It's free entry and the public are more than welcome to attend.