from keri smiththe creator of wreck this journal

The Pocket Scavenger Event Kit

• Four different bookstore-themed scavenger hunts • A Pocket Scavenger pencil• Ten “Offi cial Pocket Scavenger” stickers• A pack of 25 Pocket Scavenger bookmarks

Download a printable event poster and certifi cate for participants at bit.ly/PocketScavengerKit

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.

978-0-399-16023-3$15.00/$16.50 Can.

The Pocket Scavenger is also available as an app that encourages readers to use their phone or tablet to interact more with the world around them. After completing a scavenge, they can upload it to the map and see what scavenges are going on nearby, and share their fi nds through social media.

Apple: 978-1-101-62001-4 Android: 978-1-101-62002-1$4.99Available now from Perigee Books

JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

Tweet your fi nds using #THEPOCKETSCAVENGER

kerismith.com • penguin.com/kerismith • 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 store.

Carefully put back any book you’ve removed.

And anything else that is relevant to your store!

Using the map template in the kit or book, ask attendees to create a map of the store/area they will scavenge.

Bookstore Scavenge #1Find each of the following and map their

locations USING THE BOOKSTORE MAP IN THIS PACKET.

1. Find a bookseller with blond hair. Write the color of his or her shirt here: __________________________

2. Find a book that has two of your favorite colors on the cover. Write its title here:

______________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Find your favorite book. Write its title here: ___________________________________________________

4. Find a book that makes you laugh. Write its title here: __________________________________________

5. Find a circle somewhere in the store 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 color 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 #2Find 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 Wendell Berry: _______________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Walden? __________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

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 store: ______________________________________________________________

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’ve 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 favorite section in the store. What is your favorite number? Starting with the first shelf in

your favorite section, count your favorite 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 favorite 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 favorite color. Write it here: ____________________________. You must

include this color in your story.

9. Ask a fellow scavenger or friend for his or her favorite 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 color on that book’s cover? Find a book in a completely different section with a similar color 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!

Repeat the activity by altering one or two steps. Start with someone who’s right-handed. Count twenty-two books on a shelf instead of sixteen. What is your new book destiny?

My Book Destiny Title:

Author:

Favorite line:

Have you read this book already? YES NO

If no, do you want to read this book? YES NO

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go on more creative adventures with keri smith!

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Also available: Spanish- and French-language editions of Wreck This JournalDestroza este diario 978-0-399-16280-0 @ $15.00/$16.00 Can.Saccage ce carnet 978-0-399-16286-2 @ $15.00/$16.00 Can.