In the New South Wales Southern Tablelands town of Braidwood, a literary treasure hunt craze is sweeping the streets.
Key points:
- The hidden book trend in Braidwood has been going for three years
- Books are hidden in nooks and crannies all over town for kids to find
- Once found, children read the book, write their name in the cover and either re-hide it or pass it on
Kids find a book sealed in a plastic sleeve, take it home to read, write their name in it, and then re-hide it or pass it on to a friend.
The books are hidden in shop windows, parks and around the streets.
The concept is simple and follows the global painted rocks craze, where kids hunt for painted rocks around their local neighbourhood.
Mum of 10, Samantha Dixon, started the trend after seeing it on a community Facebook page overseas.
“We had a bookshelf full of books the children had already read,” she said.
“It’s lovely to watch the little kids’ faces when they find the books. It’s a bit magical.
“I just thought it would be wonderful and a more useful thing [than rocks] for children.”
Ms Dickson has five children of her own but is also a foster carer.
She wanted to make sure her kids were spending time away from technology.
“I enjoy the fact these books are being read and are not just being left on the shelves and that kids are outside finding them not on screens,” she said.
Trend takes off overseas
In New York, The Book Fairies project began in 2012 and since then has distributed more than 3.5 million books.
Amy Zaslansky founded the organisation because she wanted to share her overflowing home library with less fortunate children.
Now, the organisation distributes books to schools, orphanages, homeless shelters and doctors’ offices, as well as taking them overseas.
Executive director Eileen Minogue said no home or child should be without a book.
“Aside from getting books into the hands of kids who deserve them, I can’t imagine a home without books,” she said.
“We move about 600,000 books a year.”
The organisation inspired the hidden books movement in New Zealand.
Waikanae, Timaru and Kāpiti all have a hidden books project run by volunteers.
There were also groups in the United Kingdom.
Ms Dickson said she was inspired by the US, UK and New Zealand communities to start the Braidwood project three years ago.
Now, it runs itself.
“Obviously people were re-hiding books that were already out there but we have some lovely community members who are out there regularly hiding new books for the children to read,” she said.
“Books have made it down the coast to Canberra. There are no real rules around them. It’s just for people’s enjoyment.”
