TAVISTOCK College students battled it out in an energetic game show-style quiz hosted by two top children's authors.

Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore — known as 'The Two Steves' —visited the college to promote their new book series reworking classic fiction stories, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The authors read extracts from Return to the Lost World which tells of Luke Challenger travelling to the dinosaur-inhabited plateau described in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous adventure story.

To liven up their appearance, the authors divided the students into two teams and pitted them against each other to answer questions about the extracts.

'Our background is English and drama teaching and that sort of thing goes down well whatever the age range,' Mr Skidmore said.

Student Isaac Miller volunteered for the role of 'El Scoro' and dressed up as famous adventure hero Zorro to keep track of the teams' points.

Tavistock College librarian Kathy Worrall regularly organises visits from high profile authors to encourage students to read for pleasure.

For more details about the Young Writers' competition, visit http://www.usborne.com/youngwritersaward">www.usborne.com/youngwritersaward