Each fall, the Friends of The Houston Public Library have a children’s book sale. The majority of the books are sold for $1-$2, and the revenues are used to support the Houston Public Library. This was the first year I went. Actually, this was the first time I had even heard of it – another one of those niblets of information I wasn’t fed until I had passed into the underworld of parenting.
I was there when it opened on the first day and only wish I had had my camera to capture the beauty of tables upon tables of books, organized by Board Books, Early Readers, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Bilingual, Advanced Reader, families entering with WAGONS (I’ve noted that for next time), children sitting engrossed in a book while parents picked up more, educators thumbing through selections to add for their classrooms, rookies like me just standing there, overwhelmed with where to start.
I hovered around the Board Books, mostly. Though I picked up plenty of Early Readers for special reading time (lest those fragile pages get ripped out on first look), while eavesdropping on more experienced parents and educators calling out their favorite authors and illustrators, and the children repeating the name of their favorites like “Look! Here’s a Maisy one!” And I’m all scrambling to see what the kid is looking at, trying not to yank it from his hand too hard, and I’m all a mouse? But what do I know about wildly popular children’s books. Incidentally, what are your favorite early childhood authors and illustrators?
Harper continues her obsession with Elmo, so I reluctantly picked up one of those. Want me to recite it? Because after six days and about fifty readings, I practically can. The kids have matching Dora and Diego toothbrushes that they are fascinated with (the sucking the toothpaste, not so much the brushing), so I picked up a Dora and Diego book, despite the fact that I still don’t know who those characters are. Besides, those, however, I steered away from television character books and instead picked up books exhibiting ethnic and cultural diversity, manners, and, noticeably, sleep story books. I guess I’m tired.
I love that they’re developing a love for books. Reading is part of our weekend family time as well as our evening routine. Even after baths, play, milk, brushing teeth, and books, on their own, they’ve developed an additional bedtime cue: grabbing a book and heading to their respective rooms as a way of telling us they are really ready for bed. And there, we have special one-on-one reading time, Jennifer and I alternating kids each night.
Lately, they both say “book” and “read” during our wakeup routine and so we often get a book in even before breakfast. Letting them hold and “read” a book has also made diaper changes a little less…acrobatic.
Best part of all? I walked out with 42 books for $45.47!
6 comments
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October 1, 2009 at 10:47 am
meg
What a great bargain!!! I wonder if our libraries here do that? I will have to check it out!
October 1, 2009 at 11:19 am
sekifamily
That is awesome…I am going to have to see if they do that in SA. By the way, Maisy is a HUGE hit in our house. They love Maisy and will read the books over and over and over. But, they teach good lessons…I always try to get them to read Maisy Cleans Up in hopes it will help influence them to pick up around the house 🙂 Books are such wonderful things and I think starting them early is a true gift. Congrats on your good purchases!
October 1, 2009 at 12:14 pm
LauraC
I really have tried to go the enlightened route by buying books like Teeth are Not for Biting (love that entire series) and stories with good morals but you know which books are my boys’ favorites? The BOY ones – books with pictures of trucks, dinosaurs, and firemen. My fave board books to get cheap are the holiday ones. It really helps to explain the holiday and makes it so much more fun for everyone.
My faves for the 1-2 set are the sing-songy ones with rhyming. It’s easier for them to memorize and if you think it’s cute to see them reading the books, waiting until they start holding up the book and reading out memorized passages to each other. LOVE TWINS!
Right now my boys are in love with Polo books. No words so they get to make up the story.
October 1, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Melanie
Love that sale, we have that here too. It is an awesome thing, plus those library bound books last SOOOOOOOO much longer than store bought.
YAY! Great collection BTW!
October 1, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Kate
My partner, a teacher has very strong views about some great kids books:
Kevin Henkes (The mouse books)
Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are and many more)
Mem Fox (http://www.memfox.com/wilfrid-gordon-mcdonald-partridge-2.html)..a youtube video of the book, on the author’s website
Libba Moore Gray (Miss Tizzy)
Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar)
Tomie DePaola (Oliver Button is a Sissy)
October 5, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Lisa
If you aren’t familiar with “The Read Aloud Handbook” by Jim Trelease, you should check it out. He has all kinds of recommended books for children of all ages through young adults and he talks about all kinds of ways to incorporate it into other aspects of learning – like making a map where you mark all the places you read about and trying to cover the entire map with your kids.
Love learning about the sale. I will definitely check it out in the future!