from keri smith
the creator of wreck this journal
The Pocket Scavenger
Event Kit
Available now from Particular Books
The Pocket Scavenger instructs readers to go on
an unusual scavenger hunt, collect a spectrum of
random items, and alter them in ways dictated by
chance – create a funny character, make it into a
building, conceal it, and so on.
The result is a book that is unique; dependent on
time, place, experience, and the reader.
Tweet your finds using
#THEPOCKETSCAVENGER
9781846147098
£8.99
kerismith.com • pinterest.com/particularbooks/keri-smith • kerismithbooks.tumblr.com
Tips for a Successful Scavenger Hunt
Discuss the act of scavenging:
What is scavenging?
What is the opposite of scavenging?
What is a scavenger?
What things might people scavenge? Why?
What types of animals scavenge? What do they scavenge? Why?
What are the benefits of scavenging?
Have you scavenged anything in your life?
What can we gain from scavenging things from the world around us?
Go over the ground rules for the hunT, SUCH AS:
Scavengers observe, not disturb.
Stay within the confines of the shop.
Carefully put back any books you have removed.
And anything else that is relevant to your shop!
Using the map template in the kit or book, ask attendees
to create a map of the shop/area they will scavenge.
Bookstore Scavenge #1
Find each of the following and map their
locations USING THE BOOKSTORE MAP IN THIS PACKET.
_
1. Find a bookseller with blonde hair. Write the colour of his or her shirt here: ____________________
2. Find a book that has two of your favourite colours on the cover. Write its title here:
__________________________________________________________________________________
3. Find your favourite book. Write its title here: _____________________________________________
4. Find a book that makes you laugh. Write its title here: ______________________________________
5. Find a circle somewhere in the shop and write what it is here: _______________________________
6. Find a book with a title that begins with the letter “D.” Write its name here:
_________________________________________________________________________________
7. Close your eyes, turn in a circle three times, and point. When you open your eyes, take two
steps in the direction you’re pointing, and one step to the left, and then write down the name
of the first book you see:
_________________________________________________________________________________
8. Find a customer with glasses. Write the colour of his or her shoes here: ________________________
9. Find the best spot in the store to curl up with a book. Write the name of the book you want to read
here: ____________________________________________________________________________
10. Find a book on a topic you’ve always wanted to learn more about. Write its name here:
________________________________________________________________________________
11. What is the skinniest book you can find? Write its name here: _______________________________
12. Do any animals live in the bookstore? Map their location. If not, find a book that features
an animal you wish lived in the bookstore. What animal is it?
________________________________________________________________________________
13. Find a book by an author who uses initials for his or her first name. Write the title and author here:
________________________________________________________________________________
14. Find a book with a one word title. Write it here: _________________________________________
15. Find a shelf with three red book covers. Write them here: __________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Bookstore Scavenge #2
Find each of the following and map their
locations USING THE BOOKSTORE MAP IN THIS PACKET.
1. Find four blue covers. Write the titles here: ______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Find a grid somewhere in the store. What is it? ___________________________________________
3. Find a quote by Oscar Wilde: _________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. Find a title that begins with the letter “P” and whose author’s first or last name contains the letter “S.”
Title: _______________________________________ Author: _______________________________
5. What is the first sentence of Moby–Dick? _______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
6. How many pages does The Pocket Scavenger have? __________ War and Peace? ______________
7. Find the most boring title you can: ______________________________________________________
8. Find the fattest book in the shop: ______________________________________________________
9. Find a book that contains a map of Paris: ________________________________________________
10. What is the first book in fiction? Record the first sentence here: ______________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
11. What is the last book in fiction? Record the last sentence here: ______________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
12. Go to the fifth shelf in the poetry section. Find the third book. Write down the third line of page 42:
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
13. Go to the science section. Find the tenth book on the second shelf. Go to the tenth line of the index.
What is the first word? ____________________ Find a book with this word in the title:
_________________________________________________________________________________
14. Find a book that features a place (real or imagined) you have always wanted to explore:
_________________________________________________________________________________
15. Find the book you wish you could have written. Write the title here:
_______________________________
Bookstore Story Scavenge
1. Go to the biography section. Find a book about someone whose last name shares the same first initial
as yours. Write their first name here: ________________________.
This is the name of your main character.
2. Go to the travel section. Close your eyes, twirl around once, and point. When you open your eyes,
what is the subject of the book you are pointing at?
Write it here: ____________________________.
This is where your story will take place.
3. Now go to your favourite section in the shop. What is your favourite number? Starting with the first
shelf in your favourite section, count your favourite number of books. Pick out the resulting book. Turn
to page 8.
What is the third word on the page? Write it here: ________________________________________.
You must include this word in your story.
4. Now find a book with a red cover. Go to page 14. Find the seventh word on that page.
Write it here:____________________________________.
You must include this word in your story.
5. Find a book you’d like to read. What is the first word on the first page of the book?
Write it here: ___________________________________.
You must include this word in the first sentence of your story.
6. Find a book you’ve read before. What is the last word on the last page of the book?
Write it here: ___________________________________.
You must include this word in the last sentence of your story.
7. Ask a bookseller for his or her favourite book.
Write it here: ___________________________________.
You must include one word from this title in the last sentence of your story.
8. Ask a bookseller for his or her favourite color.
Write it here: __________________________________.
You must include this color in your story.
9. Ask a fellow scavenger or friend for his or her favourite animal.
Write it here: __________________________________.
You must include the animal in your story, literally or figuratively.
10. How many people can you see around you holding books?
Write that number here: ________________________.
Your story must be at least that many sentences long.
Now, write a story using your scavenger results. Read it aloud!
”I Can’t Decide What to Read“
A Scavenger Hunt to Find Your Book Destiny
1. Find a fellow scavenger who is left–handed.
Write his or her first name here: ________________________
2. Now, using the first letter of the name from #1, find a book whose author’s first or last name starts
with that letter. Write the title here: ____________________________________________________
3. Count sixteen books on the shelf past the book you listed in #2. Write the name of the book you land
on here: __________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the most prominent colour on that book’s cover? Find a book in a completely different section
with a similar colour scheme. Write the name and the author here: ____________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. Count the number of letters in the author’s last name of #4. Find another book with an author who
has the same number of letters in his or her last name. Write the title here:
_________________________________________________________________________________
6. Now turn around, go to the first section you see, count two shelves up from the bottom, and write
the name of the fourth book: _________________________________________________________
7. Open the book and without looking, point to a random word.
Record it here: ________________________
8. Go to a section you haven’t visited yet, and find a title that either has the word from #7 in it, or
has a word with the same number of letters.
Write the title and author here: _______________________________________________________
9. Count the number of letters in the author’s first and last name in #8. Walk that number of steps in
any direction you want. Number of steps: __________
10. How old are you? Turn around that number of times, and then let your eyes land on the first
book you see. That is your book destiny!
My Book Destiny
Title:
Author:
Favourite line:
Have you read this book already?
YES
NO
If no, do you want to read this book? YES
NO
Repeat the activity by altering one or two steps. Start with someone who is right-handed.
Count twenty-two books on a shelf instead of sixteen. What is your new book destiny?
Draw a detailed map of the bookstore. Document on the map all of the
locations at which you found your scavenged items. Create your own
legend.
go on more creative adventures with keri smith!
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