How to Find and Buy Cheap Books for Children

If you are a parent it is likely that you have been told over and over again how important it is to read to your children. Parents are encouraged to read to their children from birth on up. It has been said that early exposure to books is successful in the development of a child. Encouraging your child to read has a number of benefits, but it can be costly.

My daughter is only two years. She can’t read, but she can understand pictures. Before she even turned one I was on my way to starting a collection of books. I notice right off the bat that the majority of children’s books are not cheap, especially new ones. After buying a large number of books from local discount and dollar stores I realized that it would be difficult and costly to fill up her new bookshelf. That was the moment when I decided it may be better to buy used children’s books instead.

Many parents would prefer to purchase new items for their children, but that cannot always happen. I my case it didn’t matter if the cover of a book was worn, because in a matter of weeks my daughter would completely rip it off anyways. I soon learned that buying used children’s books was the way to go.

If you are interested in encouraging your child to read without spending a large amount of money on books there are a number of routes that you can take. I first began searching for books on ebay. I large numbers of cheap books that I purchased were grouped in lots. The benefit of purchasing children’s books in lots is that you often get more books for a better price. Many online sellers are willing to ship their books via media mail; therefore, the shipping prices of most books are reasonable.

The summer after purchasing used books online, I happened to come across a yard sale with a number of children’s items. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the children’s books were being sold for only ten cents. I picked up as many books as I could. That summer I also came across a number of yard sales that are known as bag sales. At bag sales you fill a bag and only pay one price for the whole bag. I picked up a large number of children’s books with these types of sales.

Right now we have two bookshelves that are actually overflowing with books. It is hard to imagine that I was even worried about filling one bookshelf. I get great joy out of watching my daughter pretend to read. It is nice to see her excitement when she picks up a book, but it is also nice to know that I provided her with a large selection of books without going having to go broke.