Being a book fairy is fun, and when the sun is out there are few limitations to book drops! However,  we are often asked how to continue when the weather isn’t as good…  so Australian Book Fairy Tiff has put together some tips!

.. but what if it’s raining?

With weather changing all the time there is one question on a lot of book lover’s minds. How do the book fairies fly through all this rain? Never fear book lovers, we have you covered and will keep dropping books for you to find! For all those book fairies out there, here are some tips to stop your wings getting too wet!

A copy of The Little Prince was found in a Copenhagen park, in a clear plastic bag

We all love leaving books out in Parks and by statues. This is all well and good when the weather is nice. However if its looking cloudy out, we get a little nervous about leaving books where they can get wet. If the parks are still busy then there is nothing stopping you from leaving books out! We do recommend covering the books in transparent plastic to ensure they are not ruined by a little rain. Clear zip lock bags work great for this! However if its pouring down with rain there won’t be anyone in the park to find your book! What then, I hear you ask? The short answer is head inside!

How to be a bad weather book fairy

Leaving books indoors is best when the weather is too wet or cold for people to be out and about. What kind of indoor places? Things like shopping centres, public transport, the cinemas, arcades and hospitals. Leaving books on public transport is a wonderful idea and a nice way to brighten someone’s work day (especially when the sun isn’t out to do the brightening for us). Public transport is always busy on wet weather days so you know your book will be found!

Shopping centres are always full when the weather is bad so someone is bound to find your book quickly! Benches in malls or shopping centres are the perfect place to leave a book to be found by a lucky book lover. Arcades are great because people pay a lot of attention to games here! Leaving a book on a machine that isn’t always super busy, such as a claw machine, is a lovely idea. That way the book is easily seen but not in anyone’s way. Who wouldn’t love finding a book sitting on their favourite game in an arcade? I know I would love it! The movies are another good place to leave books. Especially if the book is related to a newly released movie! Movie posters and cardboard displays are great at catching people’s attention and thus awesome places to leave books.

Leave a book where people need a smile

My favourite place to leave a book indoors would have to be a hospital, especially children’s hospitals. You know for sure you will be helping out someone who is in need. It’s wonderful to bring a little mystery and joy into the lives of sick children in hospital. Books are readily found as there is a lot of foot traffic from visitors and patients alike (trust me I work in one!). A lot of people are looking around at the artwork on walls, so they will easily notice a book sitting on a chair, or window ledge. There are also plenty of cafés and retreat areas that are perfect for hiding books. Children’s hospitals tend to have more retreat areas such as playgrounds and fairy gardens (the perfect place for a book fairy) but normal hospitals have some of these as well.

Make sure the book is still visible

The main thing to remember when hiding your books is to make sure they are hidden somewhere they can be found! This works best if they are in a relatively busy area. If no one seems to be picking up your book don’t lose faith. Just pick your book up and leave it somewhere more noticeable or more frequented by traffic. When weather proofing your books make sure the book fairy sticker is still noticeable. Otherwise people won’t realise why it’s sitting there! Adding a little note saying read me also helps with this one.

Keep up book fairy business no matter the weather!

Most importantly remember to have fun with your bad weather book drops! Remember these are just some suggestions, the sky (or roof, if it’s raining) is the limit! So don’t be afraid to fly out in bad weather, there is always somewhere you can leave a good book!! If you have some other suggestions of your own we’d love to hear them, let us know in the comments below!

Grab your book fairy bundle and get going!