mazakaal Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 My youngest is 8, nearly 9, and neither he nor my 10yo look at our picture books any more. We will probably be moving in the next few months, and I'm wondering if I should just get rid of most of the picture books before the move. So, how old were your kids when you got rid of the picture books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 A friend of mine is a high school teacher and she was telling me recently how once in a while she'll whip out a children's picture book and read it aloud (normally a famous/award-winning one) and they'll have a discussion about it. She said it all came about by accident but she was amazed at how interested her students were in dissecting them. Just a thought. That being said, I know how healthy a good purge is during a move so maybe now is your chance to goodwill them out of your hair. Maybe you can keep the classic, much-loved ones for your boys and take them out once in awhile as a novelty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 When he quit reading them. I've kept a couple we really, really loved, esp those out of print, like Thayer's Outside Cat and Ipcar's One Horse Farm (although it is back in print). Anything that is really beautiful, too, I've kept a little longer. But now, at 10, I only have about 10 in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We got rid of almost all ours (except for a few favorites) when we moved. I wish I had kept more. My kids will see some of the ones we had and wish they still have their copy to read. So, I vote for keeping any that you or your children had repeated interest in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 dp sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I agree with the others, keep the ones that meant something. Toss the rest. And by toss I mean find a new home for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I agree with the others, keep the ones that meant something. Toss the rest. And by toss I mean find a new home for them. I would definitely save some of them. My mother-in-law was able to give me several books that my dh had read as a child. It was great being able to read them to our kids. Now I'll be able to pass those along with some of our own down to the next generation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 It depends on the book. Board books by 2. Most of the picture books we have re non-fiction educational. I have a shelf of 2 I save for my Grandchildren. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We saved all our favorites for grandkids, got rid of twaddle though. Broke out a bunch of them to read together for the last hurricane, and we loved it. Even though the kids are 12 and 16 now. Miss Twiggly's Tree was perfectly appropriate for the occasion. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We also have kept many of our most-loved picture books. Every year or so I bring out the box of them, and we go through it. It seems that every year, one or two more are discarded. Love can fade! I haven't gotten rid of any books without the kids' explicit permission. But I can understand the need to be more aggressive when getting ready to move. Maybe sit down with them, go through the books, and give them a limit they can keep? (BTW 5 years ago we moved 70 boxes of books. We are obviously not good at purging. I regret many of my discards.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We recently did this... my boys are also 8. They do still read picture books... but not like they used to. And they prefer ones that are new to them with longer stories, so we get them from the library mostly. We also still use a lot of picture books for science and history, but again, mostly from the library. So why keep all the ones that are geared toward 4 yos? I gave away the piles and piles of them and kept just one shelf full. Enough to save the special ones and maybe one day give each kid a pile of books from their childhood when they become a parent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Well, my kids are 14 and 17. I'll let you know if I ever decide to get rid of any of theirs. Honestly, books around here usually get purchased and given as gifts or because a kid asks for them or as part of the homeschool curriculum. I figure the first two categories make those books the belongings of the child to whom they were given, meaning it's not my job to get rid of them. (I don't go around disposing of another person's stuff.) At the end of each academic year, I move all of the materials from the "in use" shelf to the "not in use" shelves. At that point, a kid is free to ask me for permission to keep any books from the year that he or she especially enjoyed. Those books are moved to the kid's shelf and become the property of that kid. For any remaining books, if I think there's a chance I might use it again, or if I just love it or am sentimental about it for some reason, it stays on the shelf. Anything left over might get sold or swapped or eventually donated, but it's a small percentage of the books we buy. My son still has most of his old favorites on the shelves in his room. He enjoys being surrounded by books he loves. My daughter prefers a neater look to her shelves and has done a couple of rounds of cleaning out and packing up to store some books that are no longer in active use. But to get rid of them just because they've been outgrown? It hasn't happened yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Never. Even as an adult, I appreciate picture books. My kids are soon to be 13, and 10, and I still occasionally read picture books, just because it's so enjoyable. I will especially be reading a lot of picture books this Christmas season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullia Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I've kept most of our picture books and plan to eventually pass them along to my son. However, we didn't have a large collection--I tried to buy high quality (content and bindings) and borrowed a lot from the library. We still enjoy the Milo Winter Aesop. I'd suggest you keep your favorites and find new homes for the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Getting rid of our childhood picture books is one of my regrets. Some I was able to rebuy, but others are out of print. Getting rid of the twaddle is a no brainer, but there were plenty of favorites that will never be seen again. :sad: Best wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I only got rid of junky books that no one had any attachment to. I have kept all of the books I bought for homeschooling and beloved bedtime stories from when my kids were little. They occasionally get them out and laugh and talk about find memories associated with the book. I would be tempted to weed out if I was getting ready to move. Good luck! Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Never! Oh I could die thinking about it. My 9 year old still has his favorites. I do get rid of books every year, usually junk my MIL insists on buying them (think Dora the Explorer books or Spongebob etc)But picture books like the Caldecott winners, very special books that we have shared, ones with wonderful artists etc I will always keep. I have some books that were mine as a child that my kids read. Owl At Home, The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate The Wash, The Princess and the Goblin, our LOTR set. My dh has this book that was made especially for him as the main character Me and The Bee. I have read it to all of our kids, just changing dh's name for theirs. It's so special. I imagine I'll store some of those special ones away one day and pull them out for grandkids or something. It really takes you back when you see those old books with your name scrawled in them and you recognize those illustrations. I still feel the same way i felt as a child when I read Owl At Home to them. I remember how I would pretend my feet were the bumps in the bed. I don't know if I would have the same feeling if it were just the book but not the exact one I held in my hand. What a treasure trove for grandkids and adult children to look through later if they are well kept and stored properly. I imagine I'll even keep certain board book sjust so i can say look where you chewed on the corner of Brown Bear Brown Bear. ETA: I just noticed the OP was moving. We moved across country when my oldest was little. I was brutal about getting rid of books. I don't have any regrets about it, but I did try to keep the very best and special of the lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Okay, after reading all the responses I think what I'll do is a light clear-out. I've already purged some of the more twaddle-y books, but I'll go through them again with the kids and see if we can weed out any more. But I'll keep holding onto the best of the bunch. Thanks for all the responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 We severely culled recently. My youngest is 8.5. ETA: We've kept most of them in airtight bins, in case of grandkids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyz Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 This thread makes me sad. :( I remember having a couple of book cases of picture books growing up and often wonder what happened to them. I wish I had them to share with my son. We'll keep ours indefinitely. My son is 8 and while he now reads novels, he still LOVES picture books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 This thread makes me sad. :( I remember having a couple of book cases of picture books growing up and often wonder what happened to them. I wish I had them to share with my son. We'll keep ours indefinitely. My son is 8 and while he now reads novels, he still LOVES picture books. I agree. I remember the joy I had when I was going through a few boxes of things that must have been mine as a kid and found my copy of The Secret Garden and The Witch with a Blue Nose. The Secret Garden wasn't out of print and I could get another copy but I love that copy. That copy was the one that spent sleepless nights with me and that I spent hours looking at all the illustrations. I don't know where the witch book came from but I remembered it at my grandmother's house as a kid. It was a cheap old paperback and I just loved it. That experience has led me to keep almost all of DD's childhood books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Just in the past couple of months my mother delved into her storage closet and attic and extracted a couple of boxes of children's books that had been put away since 1989 when we moved into a new house. I'd bought new copies of many of them in the meantime, but it was such a thrill to see those pictures again. They were all recalled the minute I saw them again. I'd read all those books so many times. I'd forgotten about much of the "twaddle" but I was still so happy to see it again, stuff like a Little Golden Book called Panda Bear's Paint Box and this odd little Disney book where a bunch of swimming puppies are mistaken for the Loch Ness Monster. Not to mention that I'm delighted that I'll be able to read Gator Pie to my son! In summary, if you are able to save and store some of them, come the year 2035, your children and grandchildren will think you are a total hero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 This thread makes me sad. :( I remember having a couple of book cases of picture books growing up and often wonder what happened to them. I wish I had them to share with my son. We'll keep ours indefinitely. My son is 8 and while he now reads novels, he still LOVES picture books. I ended up with piles of books like that - not two book cases full, but a lot - from my childhood and dh's. There were some lovely gems, but it was about 80% junk. I guess I just see it through that lens. I gave away about 5 boxes full of books, but I kept a full shelf. A shelf probably holds more than 50 picture books or more. We just had so many and I knew they weren't heirloom quality or even memorable to the kids. We live in a house with 15 floor to ceiling bookshelves full of books and books in baskets and stacked in corners. If we're to get more books, we have to be able to part with some of the old ones, which I do periodically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I'd get rid of all twaddle, but keep AA Milne and Beatrix Potter and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 at what age do you get rid of picture books? ** gasp ** NEVER! Those are priceless, heirloom books you box up, move with you, and read to your grandchildren, or give to your children to read to their children! "Get rid of" and "picture books" are concepts that do NOT go together in this universe -- sort of like putting matter and anti-matter together. Only worse. :tongue_smilie: [Did I state my position strongly enough?! LOL!] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyz Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I ended up with piles of books like that - not two book cases full, but a lot - from my childhood and dh's. There were some lovely gems, but it was about 80% junk. I guess I just see it through that lens. I gave away about 5 boxes full of books, but I kept a full shelf. A shelf probably holds more than 50 picture books or more. We just had so many and I knew they weren't heirloom quality or even memorable to the kids. We live in a house with 15 floor to ceiling bookshelves full of books and books in baskets and stacked in corners. If we're to get more books, we have to be able to part with some of the old ones, which I do periodically. I think I'm more sad at the thought of him growing old enough that he no longer loves his picture books. This is such a wonderful magical age, I wish it wouldn't end. lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroljenn Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 My kids are 19 and 15 and I have a box full! Right now, they don't take up space on the bookshelves, but I am waiting to break them out again for the grand babies. Can't wait to read them again with a little one in my lap. <3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Picture books are a wonderful resource for teaching art elements and literary devices. I frequently use them for adult education, because they are the most efficient way to teach some things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Never. I cull our bookshelves, but I would never get rid of all our picture books just because the kids are growing up. Picture books are not just for young children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Inspired by this thread, I got out one of our boxes and asked the kids to go through it. They hadn't seen the books in about a year. They kept 37, discarded 11. I was surprised at some that they kept; I hadn't realized they were so precious to them. They had a great time looking over some of their old favorites, and took the time to read a few of them. I think one of the most precious to my son was an easy reader he struggled mightily through at about age 8 (he is a great reader now). We probably bought more books than we needed to when they were little. We should have used the library more. But we didn't! Book-buying has consequences! :001_smile: PS: not too long ago my in-laws sent us a bunch of books that were my husband's. They were in terrible shape with bindings coming apart and smelling of mildew. Those went right into the trash. That was a bit sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELITEANDLOVINGIT Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I would never get rid of picture books, but my DD9 refused to let me read them to her last year. She has been reading chapter books since she was five. Conversely, my DD7 (July birthday) will likely allow me to read them to her forever, or that's what I am hoping for! She has not yet progressed to reading chapter books and definitely needs pictures as prompts to assist her in moving her way through the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I really think it depends on the picture book. The lame ones, you know - the commercial books that re-tell abbreviated storylines of popular animated films, or insipid counting books with the plastic lady bugs, or the early phonics readers I bought because of characters they enjoyed at the time - those I passed on as soon as my kids were done using them. But anything of quality - anything poetic, imaginative, informative, or with fabulous illustrations - I kept. My 7 yr old is a gifted reader who is now reading 700+ page novels, and a few nights ago I found her in bed reading "Harold and the Purple Crayon" - she probably reads that book every couple months. My 10 yr old often revisits books with great illustrations. And think of those books like the Seuss books, that can be re-visited when kids are learning about the powerful themes in those books - themes they didn't fully appreciate when reading them as young children. The same applies to chapter books too, I think. Many are just a fleeing aide to learning (like Magic Treehouse), while others are timeless stories to keep and revisit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Our house is so full of stuff that I finally had to let go of many of them. We kept our favorites. It was hard, but I don't have the space to keep a bookcase/library for the grandkids. My children who live here now need more space! I try to give them to my daughter for the grandkids but their family has moved often and books are hard to move and store. Plus, those lovely little grandchildren are still in the "tear pages" stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansmama Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I get rid of the board books as soon as my dc are done looking at them to reduce clutter, but I plan to keep the picture books. My 9yr old ds doesn't ask me to read them with him anymore, and he doesn't read them to himself, but every time I read a picture book to my 5 yr old my oldest is right by our side, engaged. He still really enjoys them! So do I, if they are quality picture books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 I have all my picture books from my childhood and I am so glad my mother did not get rid of them. My children have loved those books. I even have a few from when my father was a boy, those are cherished also. I will be doing the same for my kids, not get rid of their picture books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 My husband recently asked me this question. I just looked at him (as if stunned) until he went away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Ask each boy to pick up to 3 books that they'd like to keep and donate the rest. Allow them the opportunity to gift them to a church, family shelter, youth center or goodwill or even the opportunity to offer them to a friend whose family would like to have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justme824 Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Never! I couldn't even imagine giving them away. We are bookies to the very core and are surrounded by shelves of them :D Now, cull my bookshelves? Yes, I do that often. There are books that end up there that I have no desire to read again - gifts, books that I thought would be good, etc. Luckily not much twaddle. But the bulk of our books are keepers. I cull so I can add the new gems we find. I've got an 8-year-old that will read a dozen chapter books, get overloaded on words, then spend the next couple weeks reading stacks of picture books from our shelves. They are like old friends. I still buy them for him all the time. I've got youngers coming up behind him (baby/toddler at the moment) and I have regrets about some of the books I donated to make more room when I assumed there would be no more kiddos. Not because I need them again now. But because I miss them. I'm purchasing those that I can. But many are now OOP and hard to find :( This I think is what really changed my thinking. That, and my MIL telling me how much she wished she had saved certain books that she can't find now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Perhaps I'm just overly sentimental, but my short answer is never. While I have no problem tossing the random Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, and Disney Princess books that tend to accumulate those are a very, very small fraction of our picture books. Our shelves are full of good, classic picture books. Growing up my nana had a special shelf of books that had belonged to her children and she would read them to us when we visited. She's been gone many years and I now have many of those books; a treasure trove of Robert McCloskey, Virginia Lee Burton, autographed copies of Tomie De Paola books, all of the original Frances books by Russel Hoban, and so much more. Over the years I've added to the collection and have curated a very nice little library of classic picture books. I fully intend to keep them until the day when I possibly have my own grandchildren who will (hopefully) love them as much as the generations before them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyr Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 The last time I was tempted to do a really thorough culling my husband pointed out that with the increasing prevalance of digital books, these books might not even be available in print form for our grandchildren. As a result, when we need more space on the bookshelves I find myself choosing a few to keep in storage rather than giving away all that I cull. I've also found that our library's selection seems to be continually veering towards the Disney and Nick Jr type books and the quality books seem harder to find. For literary/art purposes etc I am also glad to have kept the better "below grade level" books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 I gave away some of the picture books to my niece but we've kept all their favorites which happen to be quite a few. I figure when dd lets me take those off her shelf, I will pack them in a bin and save them for grandchildren. I enjoy the stories to many of the classic picture books so I don't know that there is ever an age to get rid of them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Reading this thread, I start to see that a collection of children's books can be viewed as part of a child's inheritance. I don't mean that in any way that triggers associations with entitlement, just that being able to pass along some of what your family has earned and wisely stewarded is an honorable thing and can be a blessing to the children that come after! Maybe saving children's books isn't just about hoarding, or even about specific titles, but more about sending the message, "This is what we value in this family, and these are the stories we share with each other." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 We aren't there yet. While I can see some culling for sure, a wholesale "get rid of" will not happen here, I think! I love having my picture books and sharing them with my kids. I hope they will do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 We kept the classics like Polar Express, Aesop Fables and donated to friends and the libraries picture books that my boys were no longer interested in like Thomas the Tank Engines, Bob the Builder. The picture books have beautiful illustrations that we enjoy looking at even if we are no longer reading them often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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