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Cornwall’s very own Book Fairy is a cross between Tinkerbell and Santa Claus, a magical being that spreads kindness across the county by hiding written gifts for strangers to find.

The Book Fairies movement started almost exactly one year ago, seeing hundreds of novels decorated with pretty ribbons, mysteriously appear in parks, beauty spots and even car parks.

There are currently 15 Book Fairies in the UK, including one in Cornwall, which use the power of words to encourage people to rediscover the joys of reading.

The movement, which is now running in 100 countries around the world, hit national headlines last year when acclaimed actress Emma Watson got involved, helping to hide the books for passers-by.

Cornwall’s own Book Fairy, who joined the project in April last year, has delivered a total of 328 books in her time.

She has hidden books everywhere from churches to beaches and from the Royal Cornwall Hospital to primary schools.

She said: “I just [fly] to wherever I fancy, put a book out, take a photograph and post it on Instagram or Facebook so that people know where it is and then [fly] away.

“The first book I ever dropped I hid after and watched until someone found it because I was so excited to see their reaction.

“Lots of people post on social media after finding them so that’s really nice to see.”

She added: “The story that melted everyone’s hearts was a little girl who had cystic fibrosis. She has in hospital for treatment and she went outside and found one of the books.

“Her mum took a video of her reading it and shared it, it was so lovely! She must have only been about five.”

The idea is that finding the hidden treasures will encourage more people to read.

People of all ages can find the books, read them and then re-hide them for others to find later on.

There is a note left with each book explaining to the reader what to do.

The fairy said: “Some people donate them, like my friends and family, people come round to my house to drop them off."

“The Book Fairies also get sent lots of books, we try to work with authors so we get some sent straight from them and they can be signed, we get some from publishers as well.

“We do lots of campaigns, so when the Paddington 2 film was released, the publishers of the book gave us a couple of hundred copies.

“Once we’ve got the books we dress them up with ribbons and stickers and put messages inside about the Book Fairies, what we do and what people can do to get involved.”

People are encouraged to follow the Cornish Book Fairy on Facebook and Instagram to find out where she has hidden the latest reads.

She added: “I found out about it through Instagram. I saw Emma Watson posting about it and I just thought, ‘amazing, I need to do this’.

“We are trying for a worldwide movement, in the last year we have gained 100 countries with official Book Fairies."

“We want to spread the word about book fairies and what we do. It’s all about getting more people to read and encouraging children to read more – and of course spreading a little magic.

“There’s only 15 Book Fairies in the UK so it’s definitely something we would like to encourage more people to get involved with.”