In Belgium and the Netherlands, there are alternatives for book lovers looking for a Pokemon Go-like experience!

Photograph by runzwthscissors28 found on Flickr.com

Aveline Gregoire, a teacher in Belgium, came up with the idea because she wanted to clean out his bookcase. Instead of selling the books, Aveline thought it would be a great idea to have a book-finding game inspired by the infamous Pokemon Go game that her children were playing. Aveline created a Facebook group with the title “Chasseurs de livres” and the idea kicked off.

This game works in the following way:  Books are usually placed inside a clear plastic bag to protect it from the rain. The book also has a note explaining that it is a free book that the hunter can have. Once he/she has finished reading it, the book should be “released to the wild” once again for someone else to find. In the Facebook group, people post photos of the books they have “released” so that other members can find them. There is also information about the Facebook group in the note so that captured books can be promoted as well. The note goes something like this:

Ik ben een achtergelaten boek…
Lees me…
En laat me weer elders vrij in de natuur…

Maak een foto van je gevonden boek en post het op de facebookpagina “De boekenjagers NL.”

Boeken jagen, geen Pokémons!

There are already groups in Flanders and in the Netherlands inspired by Aveline’s group. The Dutch group is called De Boekenjagers NL which translates to Book Hunters Netherlands.  The group has over 700 members and every day, there are new posts about books available for hunting.

To read more about De Boekenjagers, click here.

Which book would you leave for someone to find?

Related Vocabulary

het boek– the book
de jager- the hunter
jagen– to hunt
lezen– to read
achtergelaten– left behind
vinden– to find
gevonden– found