Literature for homeschooling that is better to own than get from library

[annegables]

Very unexpectedly, I am being gifted an amount of money to be used towards the education of my children. What I would like to do with it are to buy books that I will use to teach literature to my children who are in 3rd, 5th, and 7th (I am fine getting books to be used in a few years from now). My natural tendency is to use the library for our books, but over the years of homeschooling, book creep has set in and we now have several bookshelves full🤣 (thank you, Covid library closure and the Hive's recommending books my library doesn't have!). 

What literature books do you think are important to own a copy of? Or is there something not literature that you think I absolutely must have? (We own all the science and most of the history and geography). 

[Little Green Leaves]

1 hour ago, annegables said:

Very unexpectedly, I am being gifted an amount of money to be used towards the education of my children. What I would like to do with it are to buy books that I will use to teach literature to my children who are in 3rd, 5th, and 7th (I am fine getting books to be used in a few years from now). My natural tendency is to use the library for our books, but over the years of homeschooling, book creep has set in and we now have several bookshelves full🤣 (thank you, Covid library closure and the Hive's recommending books my library doesn't have!). 

What literature books do you think are important to own a copy of? Or is there something not literature that you think I absolutely must have? (We own all the science and most of the history and geography). 

I would buy poetry books -- the Norton Anthology is the first one that comes to mind but there are so many others. It's nice to have poetry collections on hand that you can dip into whenever you want.

I would also buy high-quality art books.

[annegables]

8 minutes ago, Little Green Leaves said:

I would buy poetry books -- the Norton Anthology is the first one that comes to mind but there are so many others. It's nice to have poetry collections on hand that you can dip into whenever you want.

I would also buy high-quality art books.

Do you think the edition matters? I lean towards earlier editions because they are available used and cheaper

[Little Green Leaves]

Just now, annegables said:

Do you think the edition matters? I lean towards earlier editions because they are available used and cheaper

 If you're getting a range of poetry anthologies and you can afford it, I would include one latest edition. But if it doesn't fit your budget, I think it's totally fine to get used editions.

We have a used history encyclopedia which stops in the Clinton years; we also have one atlas that shows Yugoslavia. It's kind of educational, in its own way.

 

[Lori D.]

Starting in middle school/high school we found it much easier to just purchase *all* of our books for all subjects, rather than have to deal with library and due dates. By high school, our schedule got more crazy, and it was just so much easier to buy used books and possible resell if not needed at the end of the year, than have to juggle in trips to the library. Since our homeschool group has a "classifieds" section on the website, plus an annual used curriculum sale, it was pretty easy to resell at the end of the school year to clear shelves for the next year. BUT... I see that your children are younger, so that probably is NOT a need for you right now. 😉 

For the current ages of your children, you might look at getting some out-of-print anthologies, probably in this order of preference to fit ages:
Collier's Young Folks Shelf of Books (10 vol) -- your kids are at the perfect age for this one as read-aloud (gr. 3 & 5) and solo reading (gr. 7)
The Children's Hour (16 vol)
Journey Through Bookland (10 vol) -- 8FillTheHeart likes teaching Lit. to her DC out of this one
My Bookhouse (12 vol)

You can also save $$ by NOT buying complete sets, but just purchase the volumes that are a fit for your family. For example in all of those anthology sets, vol. 1 tends to be nursery rhymes and pre-k stories -- so not necessary for your DC's ages. 😉 

Here are a few past threads to help you think about if any of these might be a fit for your family:
My Book House vs. The Children's Hour?
Anthologies vs. Young Folks Library vs. ?
My Book House vs. Journeys Through Bookland - compare
What vintage reference and anthology type sets do you recommend?


re: other kinds of anthologies
Depends on the anthology -- I really prefer some of the selections in the earlier Norton anthologies of American and British lit. (These were my old college editions, and we used selections out of these in our homeschool high school.) But for poetry anthologies and world lit. anthologies, it's nice to have more recent editions, as there is some great more contemporary works that you don't get with the older editions.

Edited September 5, 2020 by Lori D.

[annegables]

20 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

Starting in middle school/high school we found it much easier to just purchase *all* of our books for all subjects, rather than have to deal with library and due dates. By high school, our schedule got more crazy, and it was just so much easier to buy used books and possible resell if not needed at the end of the year, than have to juggle in trips to the library. Since our homeschool group has a "classifieds" section on the website, plus an annual used curriculum sale, it was pretty easy to resell at the end of the school year to clear shelves for the next year. BUT... I see that your children are younger, so that probably is NOT a need for you right now. 😉 

For the current ages of your children, you might look at getting some out-of-print anthologies, probably in this order of preference to fit ages:
Collier's Young Folks Shelf of Books (10 vol) -- your kids are at the perfect age for this one as read-aloud (gr. 3 & 5) and solo reading (gr. 7)
The Children's Hour (16 vol)
Journey Through Bookland (10 vol) -- 8FillTheHeart likes teaching Lit. to her DC out of this one
My Bookhouse (12 vol)

You can also save $$ by NOT buying complete sets, but just purchase the volumes that are a fit for your family. For example in all of those anthology sets, vol. 1 tends to be nursery rhymes and pre-k stories -- so not necessary for your DC's ages. 😉 

Here are a few past threads to help you think about if any of these might be a fit for your family:
My Book House vs. The Children's Hour?
Anthologies vs. Young Folks Library vs. ?
My Book House vs. Journeys Through Bookland - compare
What vintage reference and anthology type sets do you recommend?


re: other kinds of anthologies
Depends on the anthology -- I really prefer some of the selections in the earlier Norton anthologies of American and British lit. (These were my old college editions, and we used selections out of these in our homeschool high school.) But for poetry anthologies and world lit. anthologies, it's nice to have more recent editions, as there is some great more contemporary works that you don't get with the older editions.

We own The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls with we have read aloud through. Off to check out the others...

[annegables]

@Lori D. Your first paragraph is kind of what I was wondering. I think that ultimately, it will be better just to own the books rather than deal with the library.

[Lori D.]

Also, what about spending on beautiful editions of books that will last you all for years and become family heirloom books -- like beautifully illustrated collections of fairytales, myths, etc? This thread has some ideas: "Recs for folktales, myths from around the world".

Edited September 5, 2020 by Lori D.

[8filltheheart]

Love JtB.  🙂  I also really like Colliers Jr Classics.

The single most expensive lit purchase for high school that I have ever made was buying Anton Lesser's reading of Paradise Lost.  It was also so worth it! His reading is superb and words I thought I would never say---it is one of my favorite works to study during high school.  (I just did it last yr with my dd when she was a sr.)  The problem with this sort of purchase though is that technology is changing so quickly that by the time your kids are older, who knows if CD players will still be around.  (Same with all of my GC lectures on DVD.)

I also like several of the annotated classics we own.  (We own Norton's Grimms, Wind in the WIllows, Classic Fairy Tales, Alice in Wonderland, and a few others.)  I have used them in designing several courses with my kids. 

But, if really had a lot of $$ and wanted to buy books, I would not buy any of those but instead Folio Society editions of my favorites. https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/childrens  (way out of my price range for books, though.)

 

[Ausmumof3]

For me personally I find the classics are reasonably easy to find second hand in op shops etc so I tend to use homeschooling money for those more homeschooling specific resources that are hard to acquire.

I do find using the library system for school books is proving difficult because holds come on at the wrong time and books have to be returned before we’re done with them often.  

[Meriwether]

Because you typically use the library, you could focus on choosing books for home that are special in some way. Maybe buy one nice book instead of three that could be gotten at the library. Maybe concentrate the money on beautiful editions or series of books that would be reread often or a binding set that appeals to you.

So, Robert Ingpen books. Or the Junior Illistrated Classics (I think that is the series I am thinking about). Or whatever illustrator/genre would interest you.

Or nice hardcover/nicer paperback sets of Lord of the Rings, Shakespeare, Harry Potter, or whatever your kids would be interested in reading multiple times.

Maybe the flexibound classics? They look nice on the shelf.

Or you could go the opposite way and get multiple cheap copies of books for the kids to annotate, since they cannot write in library books.

[annegables]

1 hour ago, Meriwether said:

Because you typically use the library, you could focus on choosing books for home that are special in some way. Maybe buy one nice book instead of three that could be gotten at the library. Maybe concentrate the money on beautiful editions or series of books that would be reread often or a binding set that appeals to you.

So, Robert Ingpen books. Or the Junior Illistrated Classics (I think that is the series I am thinking about). Or whatever illustrator/genre would interest you.

Or nice hardcover/nicer paperback sets of Lord of the Rings, Shakespeare, Harry Potter, or whatever your kids would be interested in reading multiple times.

Maybe the flexibound classics? They look nice on the shelf.

Or you could go the opposite way and get multiple cheap copies of books for the kids to annotate, since they cannot write in library books.

I think this is more the way I am inclined to go- thank you for putting it in words for me. But this bumps up against my desire for minimalish living, but also needing to educate and having resources. I like the idea of owning the books needed for high school to remove the burden of having to remember library deadlines. Plus, if I own them, it is easier to remember to use them...

[katilac]

I wouldn't really buy ahead unless I found a great deal on something I definitely plan to use, and don't mind owning anyway. I would tuck the money away and spend it as I find wonderful things. It's so hard to know what you will use in future years, because there is so. much. choice! in literature. If I had bought ahead when my kids were those ages, I would surely have ended up with all the lovely editions of Jane Austen's work - and neither of my kids care for JA! If I were their father instead of their mother, I would doubt they were mine 😉

In general, what I find very valuable for difficult literature selections is high quality editions that were easy and enticing to read: clear font, good spacing, white pages, and lots of bonus points for interesting illustrations. The Gustave Dore illustrations added a lot to our study of Dante. 

Not a one of us writes in books, so that wasn't a concern (we take separate notes). 

With gift money, I would definitely be buying beautiful books and not going for complete practicality. 

Another thing I would strongly consider is giving each child a budget and a book list, and letting them each choose a selection for the home library (with no time limit, just keep each kids' money to the side). 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by katilac
tense agreement matters

[Lori D.]

32 minutes ago, katilac said:

I wouldn't really buy ahead unless I found a great deal on something I definitely plan to use, and don't mind owning anyway. I would tuck the money away and spend it as I find wonderful things. It's so hard to know what you will use in future years, because there is so. much. choice! in literature...

Agree! 

Kids change so much... life circumstances change so much... more and more educational options keep coming out... I would not buy ahead by more than 1 grade, and ONLY if I were 99% sure we were going to use those books or that program AND that it was a great fit. 

Buying books for high school when kids are grades 3, 5, 7 means you're still at LEAST 2 years away from using them for the oldest -- who may end up needing to attend a school, or prefer an outsourced class that doesn't use any of the books that you bought ahead... And if you've used the money to buy multiple copies of books for annotating, you've stored extra books that won't be used for 2 years, and now you have to wait *another* 2 years and hope middle child will use what you bought ahead, and hope that other things don't come up that you wish you'd saved the money to spend on that instead... 😉 For example -- what if a child suddenly gets very interested in music, and you need a large sum of money to purchase a high quality instrument? 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Lori D.

[annegables]

33 minutes ago, katilac said:

I wouldn't really buy ahead unless I found a great deal on something I definitely plan to use, and don't mind owning anyway. I would tuck the money away and spend it as I find wonderful things. It's so hard to know what you will use in future years, because there is so. much. choice! in literature. If I had bought ahead when my kids were those ages, I would surely have ended up with all the lovely editions of Jane Austen's work - and neither of my kids care for JA! If I were their father instead of their mother, I would doubt they were mine 😉

In general, what I find very valuable for difficult literature selections is high quality editions that were easy and enticing to read: clear font, good spacing, white pages, and lots of bonus points for interesting illustrations. The Gustave Dore illustrations added a lot to our study of Dante. 

Not a one of us writes in books, so that wasn't a concern (we take separate notes). 

With gift money, I would definitely be buying beautiful books and not going for complete practicality. 

Another thing I would strongly consider is giving each child a budget and a book list, and letting them each choose a selection for the home library (with no time limit, just keep each kids' money to the side). 

 

The bolded is tragic. I would get a maternity test.🤣 I have a 1000 piece JA book puzzle and we make this puzzle about 5-6 times a year (we love puzzles and this is a great one). I am hoping that early indoctrination prevents such a fate. 

Gustave Dore!!! That is a great idea! I have been salivating over his Dante! 

My natural inclination is to save the money for future use, but my mother knows me too well and banned that😁. My childrens' stipulation was that it cannot be used on writing or grammar instruction. Fair enough. 

[katilac]

40 minutes ago, annegables said:

The bolded is tragic. I would get a maternity test.🤣 I have a 1000 piece JA book puzzle and we make this puzzle about 5-6 times a year (we love puzzles and this is a great one). I am hoping that early indoctrination prevents such a fate. 

Gustave Dore!!! That is a great idea! I have been salivating over his Dante! 

My natural inclination is to save the money for future use, but my mother knows me too well and banned that😁. My childrens' stipulation was that it cannot be used on writing or grammar instruction. Fair enough. 

It really is tragic. Then oldest was meh about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and youngest didn't even read it, but willingly plunged into Tolstoy. Changelings, I tell you. 

Okay, I'm sure your mom knows you best 😄 so I would definitely look for a lovely copy of Dante.And there's a Dore illustrated Paradise Lost as well. Those would be two excellent choices that are worthy of shelf space no matter what. Then I'd look at getting one or two things for the upcoming year, with perhaps more age-appropriate illustrations, lol. At those ages, you almost can't go wrong with a colorfully illustrated edition of something like Robin Hood or myths and legends. 

[Junie]

If one of my children checks out the same book from the library more than two or three times, I will try to buy that book for them so that they can have it at home.  So, you may want to check with your kids what they would want.

[LMD]

On 9/6/2020 at 11:33 AM, 8FillTheHeart said:

Love JtB.  🙂  I also really like Colliers Jr Classics.

The single most expensive lit purchase for high school that I have ever made was buying Anton Lesser's reading of Paradise Lost.  It was also so worth it! His reading is superb and words I thought I would never say---it is one of my favorite works to study during high school.  (I just did it last yr with my dd when she was a sr.)  The problem with this sort of purchase though is that technology is changing so quickly that by the time your kids are older, who knows if CD players will still be around.  (Same with all of my GC lectures on DVD.)

I also like several of the annotated classics we own.  (We own Norton's Grimms, Wind in the WIllows, Classic Fairy Tales, Alice in Wonderland, and a few others.)  I have used them in designing several courses with my kids. 

But, if really had a lot of $$ and wanted to buy books, I would not buy any of those but instead Folio Society editions of my favorites. https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/childrens  (way out of my price range for books, though.)

 

My bold - just found this on audible! Thanks for the recommendation!

[LMD]

I tend to buy a lot of books, I like to have our home library full of options. Feel like a book about pirates? Try this etc. I can usually pull out something for any kid. 

I like hardcover Shakespeare with illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Dh and I try to buy most classics from a series (everyman's library) if possible, unless I get a great second hand deal!

[HazelAnne]

Oh, how delightful!! I agree with others that I’d be tempted to get beautifully bound classics. The Chronicles of Narnia are a favorite here for kids those ages. I am trying to be more minimalist too, but for books I make an exception. I keep books in most every room of the house, in hopes they will catch someone’s eye, and they usually do. 
In addition to good literature, perhaps biographies or books filled with artwork. Poetry. 

[Earthmerlin]

On 9/5/2020 at 3:24 PM, Little Green Leaves said:

I would buy poetry books -- the Norton Anthology is the first one that comes to mind but there are so many others. It's nice to have poetry collections on hand that you can dip into whenever you want.

I would also buy high-quality art books.

What are high quality art books? Can you give an example or two?

[Little Green Leaves]

3 hours ago, Earthmerlin said:

What are high quality art books? Can you give an example or two?

I just mean books with lots of high-quality color reproductions. I think Taschen and Phaidon are both good publishers, but I'd research it before buying anything. Normally I'd want to browse in a bookstore and look at everything first but of course that's tricky now1

[vonfirmath]

On 9/6/2020 at 12:28 PM, annegables said:

The bolded is tragic. I would get a maternity test.🤣 I have a 1000 piece JA book puzzle and we make this puzzle about 5-6 times a year (we love puzzles and this is a great one). I am hoping that early indoctrination prevents such a fate. 

Gustave Dore!!! That is a great idea! I have been salivating over his Dante! 

My natural inclination is to save the money for future use, but my mother knows me too well and banned that😁. My childrens' stipulation was that it cannot be used on writing or grammar instruction. Fair enough. 

A nice book about the Roman and Greek myths? Both of my kids have been fascinated at various times (4th and 8th currently) and there are popular books about them that may lead to them wanting to look into what the myths actually say. (and when I was in 7th grade, we discussed mythology in ads and how it was used there in a unit that talked about how companies try to sell products)