Following the Undocumented Travels of a Book in the Wild
How my Daughter Became a Wild Book Spotter
by ResQgeekJanuary 4, 2006
Getting a journal entry for a book you've released in the wild is exciting. Where is your book now, who has it and what are they going to do with it? Sometimes the journal entry is detailed, and provides lots of information about the adventures of your
wild book. Other times it's cryptic and you're left wondering how your book traveled to its new home and what happened to it along the way. Wouldn't it be nice to know what your books are doing between journal entries?
Recently, I've had the pleasure of following the unjournaled adventures of one of my wild releases. On 28 October, I released Tell Me Mr. Owl, a children's book about Halloween, at my daughter's school as I dropped her off for the day. The book remains in the wild, and I haven't received any journal entries for it.
However, my daughter keeps spotting it and has been bringing me regular updates regarding its travels. Her first report described it sitting on the counter in the front office, near the dreaded Lost and Found box. I feared that the book was to remain in limbo for some time, languishing in the box with mismatched mittens and misplaced trinkets. But about two weeks ago, my daughter excitedly reported that her teacher had picked up the book and read it to the class. She was quick to point out that she had raised her hand to tell him about BookCrossing and tell him that her daddy had left the book for someone to find! Several days later, she reported that the book had traveled to a third grade classroom, where the teacher was reading it to her class.
I haven't had a report from my daughter recently, but it's been fun hearing her relate the book's travels around the school. I'm still hopeful that someone will eventually make a journal entry, but in the meantime, my daughter has been doing a stellar job of tracking my book for me.
Recently, I've had the pleasure of following the unjournaled adventures of one of my wild releases. On 28 October, I released Tell Me Mr. Owl, a children's book about Halloween, at my daughter's school as I dropped her off for the day. The book remains in the wild, and I haven't received any journal entries for it.
However, my daughter keeps spotting it and has been bringing me regular updates regarding its travels. Her first report described it sitting on the counter in the front office, near the dreaded Lost and Found box. I feared that the book was to remain in limbo for some time, languishing in the box with mismatched mittens and misplaced trinkets. But about two weeks ago, my daughter excitedly reported that her teacher had picked up the book and read it to the class. She was quick to point out that she had raised her hand to tell him about BookCrossing and tell him that her daddy had left the book for someone to find! Several days later, she reported that the book had traveled to a third grade classroom, where the teacher was reading it to her class.
I haven't had a report from my daughter recently, but it's been fun hearing her relate the book's travels around the school. I'm still hopeful that someone will eventually make a journal entry, but in the meantime, my daughter has been doing a stellar job of tracking my book for me.
