It is National Book Week, and while I’m not a kid anymore, I still remember my favourite childhood book.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was not only thrilling and bizarre, it layered my reality with a certain quality of magic and imagination.
“What if,” I thought after reading it for the first time, “I find a golden ticket in a chocolate bar some day?”
I’m still looking for that golden ticket – having eaten just about a chocolate factory’s worth of chocolate in the meantime – but, so far, no luck.
And while my search has been fruitless, kids across Perth now have the chance to find not a golden ticket, but a golden feather, thanks to the Golden Feather Hunt which is currently underway in over 150 libraries across Perth.
Inside a book, on a shelf, maybe in your local library, five golden feathers have been hidden away, just waiting for one lucky reader to chance upon them.
The Golden Feather Hunt is put on each year in the lead up to Scribbler’s Festival – taking place on September 13 – 18 – to celebrate “creativity, literacy and the special place local libraries hold in the hearts of children and parents.”
Each year, five golden feathers, 20 silver feathers, and thousands of white feathers are tucked into books across Perth by diligent library staff.
Golden feather finders will win a grand prize including a VIP pass to the Scribblers Festival, an iPad and a signed book pack.
A silver feather will grant its finder a signed book, and white feathers give kids a chance to colour it in and post it to social media for a chance to win an instant prize.
Additionally, each participating library has one amethyst feather, which gives the reader an instant book prize.
The only way to win is to get down to your local library and start reading – a far healthier challenge than eating chocolate.
To find out more about Scribblers Festival and the Golden Feather Hunt, visit scribblersfestival.com.au
