A book hunt has taken off in Wokingham as bookworms have been exploring the borough to discover the latest adventure story.
In just under two weeks, Louise Wilding, of Norreys Estate, has gathered 558 members of the local community who want to join in with a ‘hunt’ for the best children’s fiction.
Organised through a Facebook group, members are invited to hide books for one another in the local area, so each volume can start a new chapter with a new owner.
Ms Wilding said: “I would encourage anyone to do it – it’s brilliant for the children’s imagination and brilliant for bonding, as they can read or listen to the story. It gets them out for exercise, and it’s something for the family to do too.”
Ms Wilding, from Wokingham Book Hunt, explained that once someone finds a book, they can read it, keep it if they like it, and then replace it with a book of their own or they can hide the book again.
All the novels have been hidden inside resealable (and reusable) plastic bags to keep the books dry, with instructions inside explaining what to do.
“It has gone really well – every day I can have up to 80 people joining the online group. It has just been constant.
“Families love it and say it’s a great idea.
“But, I can’t take credit for it. It started in Cumbria and then I saw it on another local page, so I thought why not bring it over to Wokingham?”
Her own family has also been incredibly involved.
“My kids love reading and they love the book hunt. My three boys have been helping pack the books up into little books, but they haven’t gone to find any yet.
“At the moment, we are just trying to build up the books and then when enough have been hidden, we will go out and have a look.
“It is a good way to keep them occupied during the summer holidays, as they can get some exercise and read.
“We have probably hidden up to 30 so far.”
Ms Wilding has even had people donating books who do not have time to go and hide them.
You can find books all over Wokingham, from outside shops such as Tesco to hidden in parks.
But, Ms Wilding shows no signs of stopping and has considered hiding adult books as well.
“Why not? We should put an adult book with a child’s book so everyone has something to read.”
To find out more, join the Wokingham Book Hunt Facebook group.
