From the beginning of my pregnancy with Little Miss we started collecting books. I knew that I wanted books to always be a priority in her life. She would always expect to get one for every holiday or birthday.
As we continue to build her library I usually put out holiday or seasonal books in her room so she can grab them at any time. If she has a nightmare she will wake up and sometimes grab a book to calm her down. She always falls asleep with a stack of books by her side. Books are so important for kids development I cannot emphasize that enough.
Where to find books
Start our small. Start shopping or even thrifting if you don’t mind used books. Little Miss’s Grandma has a little free library we visit often to get a new book and replace it with a duplicate. If you want to visit a little free library in your area go (here). This is a great place to start building your library on a budget.
Ask for books for holidays from your relatives instead of toys. They last so much longer and kids take a lot longer to out grow books than toys. Since Little Miss’s birthday is somewhat close to Halloween she always asks for Halloween books.
Seagull book is one of my favorite places to shop for inexpensive books. Their online store is crap, so you have to go in for the good book. Even if you aren’t religious they have a huge variety of non religious children’s books. I have found some really cute classic books there like “Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs”, “Book of Fairy tales”, “The Pout Pout Fish”, “Max the Brave”, and so many more really cute classic children’s books.
Like I said before thrift stores always have a lot of gently used books that you can snag. I have seen brand new, never opened books there before.
If you don’t mind spending the money there are also small book shops in your area that need your business, especially with the pandemic. The one in my area I love supporting is Dolly’s. I have been going there since I was 5 years old. There are always cute little cats curled up on the couches and they have a HUGE variety of books. Some local, some from different countries. It’s a book store you can sometimes find books that are out of print.
Before the pandemic hit, getting out to Target or Barnes and Noble was something fun for Little Miss and I to do. She would pick out a book I would grab a Starbucks to share with her and it was just a nice way to get out and add to her collection.
Amazon always has sales on great books. I add them to a wish list and it alerts me when they are on sale. This comes in handy for Christmas Books especially because when the season comes around those sell out quickly!
Visit the book table at Costco or Sam’s Club. I usually find really cute Dr. Seuss packs there for a really good price. Disney books are always the cheapest there, and they also always have holiday/seasonal books that are adorable.
How to display and store books
I have an inexpensive Ikea book shelf where we store most of our books.
It is packed full so we also got Ikea frame shelves for Arias room. That is where I display her seasonal books. They are easy for her to access. So if she wants some quiet time she will grab a few sit on her bed and read. It looks clean, organized and it reminds your child to read. Both are really inexpensive ways to store your books. I like to color coordinate my books, but you can arrange them however you feel fit.
Books we love
If you are looking to start and not sure what to start with here is a list of some of our favorites I did a full post here about them. This will range from baby and up. Little Miss still loves some of her baby books.
-Creepy Carrots
-First 100 Words
-The Pout Pout Fish
-Max the Brave
-Go Dog, Go!
-The Cat in the Hat
-Little Blue Truck
-The Very Hungry Caterpillar
-Where the Wild Things Are
-Oh no, George!
-That’s not my… series from Usbourne
-Cloudy with a chance of meatballs
-Dirty Dinosaur
-The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
-Peter Rabbit
-Lyle Lyle Crocodile
-Any Sandra Boynton books they are all so cute
-We’re different, We’re the Same
There really are soooo many different books you can get but I know these were our first purchases for our library.
If you want to see seasonal books we display you can follow my instastories I change out her books monthly to keep us all from getting sick of certain books.
I have a post about here with some of our favorite Halloween books.
