Minimalism: Children's Books

[SnMomof7]

I have been on an ongoing journey to purge my book collection. I left 11 boxes behind when we moved cross country three years ago. I have gotten rid of another 5 boxes or so since then. I have a long way to go...

 

I found that I had accumulated many 'lesser' titles at good prices (Goodwill etc.) but there were many that I didn't enjoy reading to my children. Consequently, they were never really read :).

 

I just pitched a bunch of board books yesterday.

 

I'm thinking of cutting back to, and establishing, a core collection of quality titles. The ones I LIKE to read. The ones that ARE read. And maintaining only that. These are outside of established curricular reading, like the literature in Notgrass etc. This list also doesn't include easy readers for establishing fluency or reference/non-fiction works, though I am also paring those down. These are STORIES.

 

I do have seven children from babies to young adult (12), so I need to keep a number of levels on hand.

 

I'm thinking that it would be reasonable to have:

10 Board books (baby-2)

20-40 Picture books (2-7)

20-40 Chapter books (8-12)

 

That would be incredibly drastic for us. Most of my books are still in boxes under the beds and stairs (embarrassing!)

 

I'm making lists, I'll share my picks. Want to share yours?

[SnMomof7]

Here is my board book list.

 

If it has an * I need to rebuy it. An R* means we wore out our first copy and need another.

 

R*Mr. Brown Can Moo (soooo fun to read)

Brown Bear Brown Bear

R*Very Hungry Caterpillar

Book of baby face photos - currently have Hugs and Kisses from Baby Faces series

100 first words kind of book with photos of things

Runaway Bunny

Some kind of things that go book with photos

*Goodnight Gorilla (we have it in a treasury, but not board book)

Animal book of some sort, currently Zoo Babies

*Pat the Bunny (which we...have never owned)

 

What would you consider your ten core board books?

[SnMomof7]

I think I still have 30 or so. Just not all of the ones I want. Sigh.

[tm919]

Pat the bunny had the shortest lifespan ever at our house, it just wasn't sturdy enough to survive my kids.

 

We cannot live without the board book: Snuggle Puppy. Free Kisses for Mommy at every reading!

[ElizaG]

This is timely for me; I'm actually in the middle of getting rid of a lot of board books.  They're all pretty good, but nothing extra special, which is why we've ended up keeping so many during past rounds of paring down (it's hard to choose between them, so I just gave up and kept them all).   I'll let you know when I get to one that seems really, really worth saving.  :001_rolleyes:  

 

For picture and chapter books, I'm not ready to commit to such a low number, because we don't use any specific literature-based curriculum.  So the list would have to cover all of our children's fiction.  Also, my older ones each have a couple of dozen books that they were given as gifts, so I'd have to exempt those.   Still trying to figure out what would be a reasonable limit for the family shelves. 

 

But in general, I'm right with you.   :001_smile:

 

[Aurelia]

DD insisted on keeping her board book copies of Time for Bed and Goodnight Moon. She still has them. She also loved Pat the Bunny to bits, quite literally. So I guess my list would look like:

 

Time For Bed

Goodnight Moon

Pat the Bunny

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

So Big

some kind of counting book

an ABC book

a book about colors

 

[SnMomof7]

I just pitched Goodnight Moon yesterday. Our fourth copy. I just feel so...done with it now that I'm on kiddos 6 and 7. I was hoping to sub Goodnight Gorilla. :P

[SnMomof7]

Maybe 40 chapter books is too low. We own many series. Hmmm. Maybe 100. That's still cutting back...a lot.

 

We also have Kindle apps on all our devices, I'm just talking paper book maintenance. DD2 is a paper book lover though :).

[Sherry in OH]

Our favorite toddler board books:

 

Moo, Baa, La La La

But Not the Hippopotamus

The Going to Bed Book

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Freight Train (my children also loved Inside Freight Train – they wore out two copies)

Babies

Bedtime for Bunny

Dear Zoo

We’re Going on A Bear Hunt

And a book of nursery rhymes (we have several, not sure which one I’d pick)

 

 

 

[Soror]

All of mine have had different favorites, I don't know how to choose! It was Goodnight Moon, I Love You this Much and Where the Wild Things Are, dd2 it was Beatrix Potter and Rumplestilkin, dd3 has wore out Wocket in my Pocket, Goodnight Gorilla and Snuggle Puppy and it was always fairy tales with dd1.

[SnMomof7]

Pat the bunny had the shortest lifespan ever at our house, it just wasn't sturdy enough to survive my kids.

 

We cannot live without the board book: Snuggle Puppy. Free Kisses for Mommy at every reading!

We have Snuggle Puppy. It only worked the first time with my 2-yo. Sigh. I have some stingy kissers here.

[ElizaG]

Edited:  Okay, I've come up with a tentative list of board books, though some of these might still end up going out the door. 

 

I'm pretty strongly influenced by Montessori, so for this age group, we tend toward calm, realistic books with gentle artwork or photographs.  My sense is that a lot of board books are made to appeal more to parents than to babies and very small children. 

 

(The starred ones are currently missing.  Yes, that includes most of them.  We clearly need to get rid of a lot of things that are in the way of other things.   :001_rolleyes:)  

 

The Gospel for Little Ones by Maite Roche

* Prayer for a Child

* Thank You, God -- published by Brimax, out of print

* Thank You, God -- different one by P. K. Hallinan

* My First Mother Goose by Lisa McCue

* Animal Babies Around the House

* Who Says Quack?

Daddy Kisses

Moo, Baa, La La La -- the only Boynton book that we've kept for any length of time... still a bit hyper, but okay for ages 2+

* Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks from A to Z -- not one I'd choose for babies and toddlers, but the preschoolers and older ones find it hilarious 

[Ali in OR]

Sandra Boynton was a favorite here. The Going to Bed Book is the only board book I ever replaced. Too may fond memories of my middle dd reciting it--when our copy fell apart I had to get another. We also enjoyed Moo Baa La La La and the counting book with dogs--looking at Amazon I guess it was just called Doggies.

 

The other board books I have stored away for grandkids are Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Very Hungry Caterpillar and I think a little book about a tea party that was sweet.

 

Some picture book favorites: Guess How Much I Love You, Can't You Sleep Little Bear, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, Little Rabbit's First Farm Book, some beautiful fairy tale books, Olivia books, a few Christmas books. This is the stage that we really used the library a lot.

 

Can't imagine only 40 chapter books, especially when you start thinking about series books. Most-used books here: Harry Potter, Sisters Grimm, Ramona books, Roald Dahl, Penderwicks, Mysterious Benedict Society, Rick Riordan books. That's probably 40 right there. 

 

[Farrar]

I think 10 board books is fair. I think we would have done...

 

Moo Baa La La La

The Going to Bed Book

But Not the Hippopotamus

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

My Many Colored Days

Freight Train

Goodnight Gorilla

Bear and Ball

Bears in the Night

Goodnight Moon

 

For easy readers, I'd easily go down to just a few if I still had youngers - Frog and Toads, an Elephant and Piggie or two, maybe an Amelia Bedelia. You go through so many of those that I think piles from the library is the best way to do it.

 

For early chapter books, I think I wouldn't go minimalist. The library rarely has them. We racked up a ton when my kids were the right age for them. A good number did get read and good number didn't, but they were so picky about books that I was glad we had a huge number. I'd leave out the first title in series and pack the rest away under a bed but hold on to them. But maybe that's just me.

 

For middle grades books, I'd leave it up to the kids and let each kid in that bracket pick their favorite ten and then part with the rest. Those are also usually library available, at least for us.

 

 

[stm4him]

I think I am only keeping the books that are Christian, out of print, hardback and beautiful, and books that I don't have in the libraries I have access to.  Of course, I would keep anything that we go through or that I reread regularly (our favorites).  But I haven't gone through my books yet.  I have books in all the bedrooms, one tall but narrow bookshelf in our family room and one wide but short bookshelf in our dining room.  Right now I'm thinking it is more important to have my book lists to constantly refer to.  

[lovinmyboys]

I agree with the pp that a Sandra Boyton book needs to be in the ten. My kids favorites are Blue Hat, Green Hat and Barnyard Dance, but they loved several of hers. They all also loved Good Dog Carl and several by Karen Katz. I think Goodnight Gorilla could replace Goodnight Moon.

 

Good luck with the purging. My youngest is 3 and we still have about 30 board books. I keep trying to get rid of more, but I have such good memories of several of them and my 3yr old still picks them sometimes.

[eternallytired]

Oooh, what a fun topic! 

 

My board book/toddler book picks would be:

Goodnight Moon

Brown Bear

Pajama Time

Moo, Baa, LaLaLa

Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Little Red Caboose

Dr. Seuss' ABC

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

100 First Words

Something Richard Scarry--probably Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, which has a storyline AND lots to look at...though What Do People Do All Day is awesome for preschoolers.

 

Picture Books:

I need the Frances books by the Hobans, especially A Baby Sister for Frances and Bread and Jam for Frances, though I own and love several more.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Make Way for Ducklings

A few Little Critter books like I Was So Mad and Me, Too!

But No Elephants (an obscure book I loved so much as a child that I tracked it down on eBay in college--my kids have loved it, too)

Stop that Ball and A Fly Went By by McClintock (though arguably these could go to toddler books--since my kids started loving them at 2--or Early Readers...but they're a bit long for that)

A book of fables and one of fairy tales, well illustrated.

 

For early readers I'm all over Elephant and Piggie.  I bought a few because it seemed like they were always checked out when we wanted them.  Fly Guy is a good step-up, as is Huggly.

 

Chapter Books (younger):

Little House

Trumpet of the Swan and Charlotte's Web by White

A few Ramona books

My Father's Dragon

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Magic School Bus chapter books serve double-duty for us as fun and informational--and the library doesn't have them!

 

And there's the catch--our old library system was epic and county-wide, so we could get our hands on virtually anything.  Where we live now, each town has its own single library (and ours is a mere 20 years old).  We have something like 26 public elementary schools in town and the children's section of the library here is no larger than in my old town, where there were only three schools--and a whole county of books to choose from.  Here there are only five Elephant and Piggie titles, about 12 assorted Magic Tree House books...  So even though I got rid of something like 1000 books a few years ago, figuring I had no need to house them under my roof when I could check them out any time I wanted, I now find myself haunting Half Price Books' bargain shelf and re-stocking because we're constantly running out of reading material.

[CanadianAlison+3boys]

For board books we'd probably do:

 

Sometimes I Like To Curl Up In A Ball (this one was literally loved to death here and we would for sure replace if we have a baby in the house again)

The Gruffalo

Snuggle Puppy

Happy Hippo, Angry Duck

Belly Button Book

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes

I Love You Through and Through

I Love You Because You're You

A Book of Prayers (not sure which one though)

 

It is clear from my list my like of Sandra Boynton and my love of books that talking about loving and/or the affection between parent and child :)

[vonfirmath]

I agree with the pp that a Sandra Boyton book needs to be in the ten. My kids favorites are Blue Hat, Green Hat and Barnyard Dance, but they loved several of hers. They all also loved Good Dog Carl and several by Karen Katz. I think Goodnight Gorilla could replace Goodnight Moon.

 

Good luck with the purging. My youngest is 3 and we still have about 30 board books. I keep trying to get rid of more, but I have such good memories of several of them and my 3yr old still picks them sometimes.

 

Sandra Boynton was essential for my oldest, but my daughter didn't like it as much -- until recently. Now that she is 4 and knows her letter and is starting to try to put words together, she is FINALLY wanting to read Sandra Boynton

 

Moo Baa Lalala

Snuggle Puppy

Pajama Time

 

Are the three essential here. (Doggies has a lot of fondness because it was the first book DS would let me sit and read to him. But doesn't feel as important now he's on to reading to himself more)

 

Other books we LOVE

Going on Bear Hunt

Helen oxenbury's It's my Birthday

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Puff the Magic Dragon

Babies by Gyo Fujikawa

A word and picture book

Goodnight Moon

 

[SnMomof7]

(The starred ones are currently missing. Yes, that includes most of them. We clearly need to get rid of a lot of things that are in the way of other things. :001_rolleyes:)

 

This. Exactly this. I want to cling more tightly to the fewer, better books that matter and let go of the lesser ones. Even if that means buying the books we need but don't currently have...despite the copious books we do already have. That's hard to do without a clear target or goals, hence...priority lists!

 

Thanks for chiming in so far, everyone! I pulled a bunch of picture books off the shelf last night (again...poor picture books, I'm always after them!). I'm not quite ready to make a list there yet. I actually want to buy quite a few treasuries.

[SnMomof7]

I think I am only keeping the books that are Christian, out of print, hardback and beautiful, and books that I don't have in the libraries I have access to. Of course, I would keep anything that we go through or that I reread regularly (our favorites). But I haven't gone through my books yet. I have books in all the bedrooms, one tall but narrow bookshelf in our family room and one wide but short bookshelf in our dining room. Right now I'm thinking it is more important to have my book lists to constantly refer to.

My shelves tend to be wall to wall. Sigh. We are in 600 sq ft right now. The house will be around 2009 sq ft when finished but we are still living in the back 1/3. Hence all the books in boxes still. I do have a large bookcase in the living room mostly filled with homeschooling stuff. Two pantry type cupboards with doors I keep my curriculum in. A wall to wall unit above the dining room table on the wall (yes...it's true) and a wall to wall above the couch in the living room, and a tall unit beside the couch (around a double wide).

 

Oddly, I'm purging most of the Christian picture books we have. I already did our story Bibles. I was able to get down to 7 in the end (that's bad...I know). Story Bibles I love. Christian picture books? Bleh. They tend to be boooooring! Picture books aren't how I teach my children doctrinal issues it seems. We do that orally around the breakfast table mostly.

[arliemaria]

I have one shelf on a bookcase that is for board books.  If I can't fit them all on that shelf, I toss a few.  

 

I will try to list my top 10, but then I have a few like the Baby Lit books that were gifts from godparents that I couldn't imagine tossing.

 

Prayer for a Child

Goodnight Moon

1 is One

Each Peach Pear Plum

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Dear Zoo

I am a Bunny

Fujikawa's Baby Animals

The Little House

 

After going through them maybe there are some generic-ish titles I could toss.

[Mavy]

Funny how these minimalist threads make my shelves(at least my wish list) grow fuller!

[SnMomof7]

Here we go with picture books! Share your list too! I went with 40 or so...and lots are treasuries ;). I love treasuries!

 

*means I need to buy it for my plan to work. *R means I need a replacement copy soon.

 

*4 Seuss/Eastman Treasuries to consolidate our individual titles

*5 Little Golden Book Treasuries for consolidation (particularly the ones including The Poky Little Puppy and The Color Kittens)

James Herriot for Children

Harper Collins Treasury

20th Century Treasury

*Beatrix Potter Treasury (to consolidate all our little white and green books)

A Grimm's collection

A nursery rhymes collection

A common folk tales/Anderson/Chaucer type collection (any suggestions?)

*Munsch Grand Treasury

*Thomas Treasury (up and coming boys)

*Frances Treasury

*Amelia Bedelia Treasury

*Mike Mulligan and More

*Frog and Toad Treasury

*Make Way for McCloskey

*A Franklin Treasury

 

Most of those treasuries we have some individual titles from, these are consolidating and gap filling collections. Buying books to get rid of books. I hope I'm not the only person this makes sense to!

 

Papa Papa/Mama Mama

Perfectly Arugula

Ten Big Toes and a Prince's Nose

I Saw an Ant on the Railway Track

MSuch a Noise

The Mitten

Fritz and the Beautiful Horses

A Phoebe Gilman or two

Ferdinand

The Story About Ping

Tikki Tikki Tembo

Love You Forever (sob!)

Princess and the Kiss

Just in Case You Ever Wonder

R*Baby Beluga

My Mommy My Teacher

Goodnight Moon (our hardcovers last longer than the board books and eldest put it in her top 10, have to have it somewhere!)

 

It is honestly much easier for me to tell what is valuable and useful now that my oldest is 12 and I have youngers in many stages to watch.

[Guest]

 

Buying books to get rid of books. I hope I'm not the only person this makes sense to!

 

 

Nope, this is definitely a future project for me too. I'm not posting my lists because we are different generations and have different family configurations, so we undoubtedly have different favourites and priorities.

 

My oldest is 27 and my youngest is 7. I'm going to need to clear shelves to make room for Henry and Mudge soon, as well as rebuying a lot of the chapter books I passed along to clear shelves for board books and picture books.

 

I can't have any more children, so I aspire to be the gramma or the neighbour lady who reads stories, but if I get stuck being Old Mother Witch with Alzheimer's, I still want my own picture books in a box under my bed at the nursing home.

 

I'm on my third copy of Stellaluna and probably fourth of Love You Forever. Next time I'm getting library bindings. They're shockingly cheap if you buy used.

[arliemaria]

 

Nope, this is definitely a future project for me too. I'm not posting my lists because we are different generations and have different family configurations, so we have undoubtedly have different favourites and priorities.

 

My oldest is 27 and my youngest is 7. I'm going to need to clear shelves to make room for Henry and Mudge soon, as well as rebuying a lot of the chapter books I passed along to clear shelves for board books and picture books.

 

I can't have any more children, so I aspire to be the gramma or the neighbour lady who reads stories, but if I get stuck being Old Mother Witch with Alzheimer's, I still want my own picture books in a box under my bed at the nursing home.

 

I'm on my third copy of Stellaluna and probably fourth of Love You Forever. Next time I'm getting library bindings. They're shockingly cheap if you buy used.

 

I second this sentiment.  I've gotten quite a few used books with library bindings on amazon.  I love it when I can buy one of these.

[mellifera33]

Our top ten board books:

 

The Snowy Day

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Jessie Bear, What Will You Wear?

Goodnight Gorilla

The Napping House

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

There's a Wocket in my Pocket

Little Cloud

Moo Baa La La La

DK Baby Animals

 

It's hard to choose just ten!

[SnMomof7]

I buy good condition hardcovers and library bindings used whenever possible. So much better than a new paperback.

[Ali in OR]

RE: treasuries. These work for read-alouds because I can lift them, hold them, etc. But for their own reading, my kids always preferred smaller, individual books that their small hands and bodies could easily maneuver. And having a few good ones by a particular author may take up less shelf space than a full hardcover treasury of that author's works. 

[SnMomof7]

RE: treasuries. These work for read-alouds because I can lift them, hold them, etc. But for their own reading, my kids always preferred smaller, individual books that their small hands and bodies could easily maneuver. And having a few good ones by a particular author may take up less shelf space than a full hardcover treasury of that author's works.

Treasuries are definitely unwieldly for little hands, but I find once my children are actually reading, they spend most of their time with chapter books. I use the picture books the most, and treasuries take up less space (for us) and...this sounds bad...are harder to lose on the shelf. 😨

 

Those skinny minny picture books! Golden Books are the WORST!

[Runningmom80]

*Temporary thread hijack*

 

I'm a minimalist myself, and I'm wondering when it's ok to completely get rid of the board books? I might keep a favorite for each kid, but I'm kind of ready to give them away. (Youngest kids are 5)

[RootAnn]

Just went through two book purges here. Both times, dd#2 (my want-to-be-organized kid) helped me by going through every book with her four siblings & asking which ones they couldn't part with. Got one huge toilet paper box each time. I added smaller shipped-by-amazon type boxes of my own books that I was willing to part with, too. I still have two or three boxes of books, including curriculum stuff, that I want to get rid of, but haven't yet. Not sure it is worth it to sell. I might just send them to that Book Samaritan place and be done with them.

[Sherry in OH]

My youngest is 7.  He still pulls board books off the shelf from time to time.  I have been slowly selected titles from our collection.  We are down to twenty or so board books.  I do not expect those to leave anytime soon.   I've managed to pull three grocery sacks full of picture books that are either worn out (lift the flap type), flops, or duplicates.  

 

I'm wondering how long to hang onto Magic Tree House books.  Ds1 read each of them once.  He had no further interest in them.  Ds2 listened to his brother read them but to the best of my knowledge has never picked one up to read for himself.  His reading level is far beyond MTH but perhaps not interest level?

[tm919]

Here we go with picture books! Share your list too! I went with 40 or so...and lots are treasuries ;). I love treasuries!

 

*means I need to buy it for my plan to work. *R means I need a replacement copy soon.

 

*4 Seuss/Eastman Treasuries to consolidate our individual titles

*5 Little Golden Book Treasuries for consolidation (particularly the ones including The Poky Little Puppy and The Color Kittens)

James Herriot for Children

Harper Collins Treasury

20th Century Treasury

*Beatrix Potter Treasury (to consolidate all our little white and green books)

A Grimm's collection

A nursery rhymes collection

A common folk tales/Anderson/Chaucer type collection (any suggestions?)

*Munsch Grand Treasury

*Thomas Treasury (up and coming boys)

*Frances Treasury

*Amelia Bedelia Treasury

*Mike Mulligan and More

*Frog and Toad Treasury

*Make Way for McCloskey

*A Franklin Treasury

Does poetry need to fit in here? If so, at least one Shel Silverstein would be great. Even if not Poetry, The Missing Piece is a book that lasts and lasts, until adulthood. By Frog and Toad, I guess early readers count - so Danny & the Dinosaur treasury!

 

Other favorites: Mr. Seahorse, a Kevin Henkes (we like Chrysanthemum), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Olivia, and a Leo Leoni treasury (his stuff is good for so many connections, like Tillie & the Wall- > Christopher Columbus, Frederick -> should we value art, what are our responsibilities to society).  Maybe a Maurice Sendak?

 

 

[Ali in OR]

I got rid of most board books as soon as I could just because they take up too much shelf space. I did save the favorites--probably between 5 and 10 books--but they're in a small rubbermaid tote in their closet so they don't take up shelf space. My girls were pretty careful with real books at an early age. They were not the target board book market!

 

My purging this summer has been higher quality kid lit that I'm finally admitting they just aren't going to read. They were mostly books I had picked up at the library book sale because I'd heard about them here--great books, just not ones my kids want to read. We were starting to double stack books because they didn't fit on the kid lit bookcase, so I just purged 20 or so books so everything would fit.

[Guest]

I was going to say we have never had a board book, but we do have that Snuggle Puppy business. Ohhhhh Snuggle puppy of mine...

 

 

[SnMomof7]

Does poetry need to fit in here? If so, at least one Shel Silverstein would be great. Even if not Poetry, The Missing Piece is a book that lasts and lasts, until adulthood. By Frog and Toad, I guess early readers count - so Danny & the Dinosaur treasury!

 

Other favorites: Mr. Seahorse, a Kevin Henkes (we like Chrysanthemum), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Olivia, and a Leo Leoni treasury (his stuff is good for so many connections, like Tillie & the Wall- > Christopher Columbus, Frederick -> should we value art, what are our responsibilities to society). Maybe a Maurice Sendak?

Thanks for chiming in! No, those are just our STORY books :). Poetry is a different category (we do have Where the Sidewalk Ends) :).

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check some of them out! I'm odd, but I don't dig Sendak. ;)

[SnMomof7]

I just fills up another BIG box off the shelves. Fun...and somewhat scary times. Books are my weakness. Some of these are really nice and like new, but just not stuff we reach for. Salvation Army. Ho!

 

That makes three boxes of books, two garbage bags of baby clothes and blankets, and two big rubbermaids full of toys and board books ready to go out the door. Where does all this stuff come from? And I still have so much.

[HomeAgain]

I couldn't begin to make a list. :)

We move every 1-2 years.  Our book list is kept down simply because of that, but it's more than what you have. :)  I sort mine by a different method:

 

-books I loved as a child.  If I can open them today and get lost in the story, they're still worth it.

-out of print.  ValueTales take up a bit of room, but getting a new set would be very hard.

-small publishers/not found at the library.

-books that are special to my kids.

-special copies.Yes, I have three of the first Harry Potter book.  Yes, each one has a purpose. :P

-fills a niche.  We may not use it all the time, but it's worth having on hand. 

 

 

The rest of the books can all be found at the library or get read so sporadically they're not worth keeping around.  I only have some easy readers because they were given to us recently.  I kept 3 board books (but if we had a wee'un I'd buy more of those and tyvek books, because I don't like borrowing teethers)  The collection is kept down to a manageable bit, or at least I'd like to think so. :D

[SnMomof7]

We have most of VT on the shelves. It falls into character training/biographies for us, not kid-lit per say :). They are falling apart over time though.

[vonfirmath]

Here we go with picture books! Share your list too! I went with 40 or so...and lots are treasuries ;). I love treasuries!

 

 

Do your kids use treasuries? I found my kids love the individual books but are not as fond of treasuries at this age. They don't seem to get that they pick up a book of books and then find the one book they want inside.

[Junie]

I can't clean out my books yet -- someone always wants whatever I'm trying to get rid of.

 

I am planning to keep books by this factor:  Is this something that I want to read to my grandchildren.

[LostintheCosmos]

I purged children's books a few months ago and will do another round in Advent. We own about twenty board books now, but if were to pare down to ten, we'd probably keep: 

 

The Bible for Little Ones - Maite Roche

What Did Baby Jesus Do? - Virginia Esquinaldo

One of these two sets from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Colors, Animals - we LOVE these, beautiful art, simple but rich language

DK My First Farm Board Book

And Who is Coming to Our House? to pull out during Advent. 

 

And I'd add a Mother Goose board book - I can't believe we don't already own one, actually.

[SnMomof7]

I purged children's books a few months ago and will do another round in Advent. We own about twenty board books now, but if were to pare down to ten, we'd probably keep:

 

The Bible for Little Ones - Maite Roche

What Did Baby Jesus Do? - Virginia Esquinaldo

One of these two sets from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Colors, Animals - we LOVE these, beautiful art, simple but rich language

DK My First Farm Board Book

And Who is Coming to Our House? to pull out during Advent.

 

And I'd add a Mother Goose board book - I can't believe we don't already own one, actually.

I think we need to add a Mother Goose board book as well. We have never had one, surprisingly.

[edeemarie]

*Temporary thread hijack*

 

I'm a minimalist myself, and I'm wondering when it's ok to completely get rid of the board books? I might keep a favorite for each kid, but I'm kind of ready to give them away. (Youngest kids are 5)

My youngest is just about to turn 5 and we just did a board book purge. We kept a few favorites and a couple that have writing in them from relatives (nothing breaks my heart more than to buy a used book that has a sweet message in it addressed to the previous owner).

[Hunter]

ALL of my books are gone. AGAIN!

 

The city ripped up the street in front of my highrise and disrupted some big roach nests. The roaches have climbed up the pipes and infested my building. And after so much poison that I'm worried about my health, the problem is worse not better. I mean it is REALLY bad. I haven't just thrown out books and paper, but everything I don't need NOW.

 

What I have learned after losing EVERYTHING so many times, is that books are the easiest things to replace.

 

I kept my large print dictionary and have been using that a lot. The spellcheck on my phone doesn't work. I have a large print NIrV Bible. Everything else is gone or about to be gone.

 

I have a nice big 6 inch phone with 4G unlimited data, that is my only home connection to the outside world. I have no landline, TV or newspaper subscription.

 

And I have a small Chromebook I can lug to hotspots. I'm at the park, now, getting a sunburn and need to log off soon. I have most of my curriculum on it. Thankfully it can read thumbdrives, unlike my phone.

 

For Christmas I am buying myself a 3G Kindle.

 

It started to rain!

[SnMomof7]

Do your kids use treasuries? I found my kids love the individual books but are not as fond of treasuries at this age. They don't seem to get that they pick up a book of books and then find the one book they want inside.

They are especially fond of the ones with pictures of the individual titles on the front page. They pull it out and point to the story they want. I find them on the floor pouring over them them. So, I'm going with 'yes'. :)

[Hunter]

I'm home and pecking this out on the phone. Outdoor WiFi is for the birds. :lol:

 

After losing WiFi, getting a major rent increase, my laptop breaking, and some other major hits a couple months ago, and then the recent roach problem, I've had to deal with minimalism more extreme and different than I expected.

 

I'm finding that sticking to TWTM rotations means I only have to plan ahead a year at a time. This year I only need year 3 literature. I can worry about next year next year. That is really a relief.

 

So this year I need to worry about Don Quixote through Moby Dick. Month to month, I will evaluate whether a hardcopy, eBook, purchase, library loan or whatever is my best option.

 

One year at a time. One book at a time.

[ElizaG]

I have mixed feelings about large treasuries, even for older children and adults.   

 

The children do tend to find them less appealing, but that wouldn't be a problem if there weren't a lot of alternatives.  And speaking as someone whose children tend to read too much, making the books slightly less attractive isn't necessarily a negative thing.   There's something to be said for the experience of running out of things to do during a rainy spell or illness, flipping through a long-neglected volume, and finding a "treasure" inside.   

 

For me, the main source of frustration is that the bindings on larger, heavier books tend to break more easily.  I'm not sure what can be done about that, other than reinforcing them right after purchase.  (Please, don't let me near the library supply catalog!  :laugh: )

[SnMomof7]

I have over readers too. So...even I the treasuries are a wee bit less accessible, we still have single titles and no lack of reading here.

 

Hunter, I find my phone the easiest for internet access while I'm nursing the twins. So accessible. I'm actually thinking of going internet-free. I believe it would help my focus and family connections. Weekly library trip for wifi. Maybe I'm nutso :).