Both of my kids love. LOVE. love. to read books. I read to them a few times a day, but I think it's great to find them flipping through the pages on their own too. I'm a HUGE fan of books! At one point I wanted to read my way through the library; I think I was 12. Now I want to read through all the children's books with my kids.
Library visits with my two kids is stressful. (I was actually sweating last time, chasing Kaylee around in circles) I literally grab the first 10 books I see. If I do this in a systematic manner (yah, right) eventually I'll read through them all or at least find a few that I like enough to purchase.
I own a couple hundred kids books, but there is a high percentage of them that I HATE TO READ! Most of them I've acquired through garage sales, so I don't feel a strong (financial) bond to them. I've started throwing one or two a week into the recycle bin, but I feel guilty about it. If someone thought it was worth printing, do I have the right to throw it out?
I want my kids to continue to love reading, but if they bring me a book and I make a face or declare that I just CAN NOT read that book one more time, it's working against me. My goal this year is to make it to the library once a month to grab whatever I can. If we get one that I deem "bad", I just throw it back into our library bag and it waits there until our next trip. So far this year we've borrowed 3 that I feel are worth purchasing because they are REALLY great. I think after a few years, it will pay off to slowly purchase wonderful books that I enjoy reading instead of snapping up random $.25 books from garage sales.
I've put a lot of thought into this, can you tell? Any thoughts?
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4 comments:
Hi Amy Jo! I am definitely a fan of only owning books that everybody likes. There is no way that every single kid book in the house will be a favorite of mine to read (think Frog and Toad, or and Dr. Seuss books...), but as long as I consider it a "classic" or well written then I will still keep it. If it is junky then it goes out. :) I would prefer to buy one nice book and borrow lots of books from the library over purchasing lots of paperbacks that aren't really that great.
About library trips: it's often crazy when we go to the library as well! BUT it's a great place for kids, I think, and the more you go (hopefully!) the more they will learn the rules of being talking quietly and not running up and down the rows of books (Peter especially loves to run away from me at present!). It will get better, I promise. :)
Our library accepts donations and then they sell all the used/unwanted books in their "corner book sale" for about .25. The kids love to pick one out, and leave one or two behind. It's fun, and a great way to get rid of unwanted books, for a good cause.
Oh, I am so with you on all of this book talk. I don't know what to do with all of the overflow of books in our house (hmmm...I'm an English teacher, my husband is a writer...go figure!). We have two bookcases in our living room, one in the basement, one in the little one's room and two in the big one's room. Still, we have the favorite books of the moment on the coffee table because they don't fit in the shelves. I was just purging our supply the other night when the big one caught me and protested. I feel just as you do though; there are some I can't take anymore. I get a lot of ours free from Scholastic because my students and some of the teachers order books, so I get to choose many for free every month. My biggest problem is that I like too many of them, though. I choose them pretty carefully unless they are free ones, and some of them I am emotionally attached to and just can't let go. I guess I need to consider other storage possibilities or start building some additional bookshelves!
There were series of books that my kids liked, Berestein Bears, Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Boxcar Children and so on. Currently I am decluttering my books as I read them. Have not been in a library in a long time, have plenty here to read. As I read, I decide whether to keep or toss. If the book is falling apart, it goes into the recylce bin. Otherwise it goes into a bag to donate to the library for their book sales. We have gotten rid of many books this way. We are slowly dwindling our pile. But then I always have to but the latest Debbie Macomber book. I love love love her books and hers I keep.
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