« back to articles

Ma’am - Can I turn this one in?

BookCrossing.com Scarecrow is a hit!
by kz4ufo
December 16, 2005
The amazing thing about releasing children’s books is getting to watch the spark of interest in a child’s eye and hearing their comments.

The BookCrossing.com Scarecrow entered in the Scarecrow Gala during Heathcote Botanical Garden's 18th Annual Garden Festival had about 75 children’s books at a time under it for children to choose from.


Around 250 children’s books were given away under the BookCrossing.com Scarecrow during the two-day event. The scarecrow won the Scarecrow Gala contest for the second year in a row, taking in over $40 in donations for the Gardens. Several people where glad that the scarecrow was back this year, after telling their families and grandchildren about the scarecrow last year.


My mom, who was a volunteer for our BookCrossing booth, The Garden of Readin', had a little boy come up to her, tug on her pants and say, “Ma’am - Can I turn this one in? I already finished reading this one.” While the boy’s mother was purchasing plants at a nearby booth - he read the book he picked up! He put the first one back and took another one to read!

I had a little girl ask if it was okay to take an extra book for her little sister. She wanted to have a book to read aloud to her so she would learn to like books too.

Harry Potter? Well, he was a big hit, as well as Winnie-the-Pooh and a few books from the Narnia series!

Yet, the best moment was watching a mother pick up a book, walk over to the nearby pioneer house porch and read it to her child who was eager to hear the story.

I suspect that among the 250 children’s books that were released at the festival, several of those children are BookCrossers in the making. The future certainly looks bright!

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.