I just followed my own Best Tips for Scoring Big at Used Book Sales at a recent library used book sale. I wanted to share the amazing deals I got so you can see exactly why these sales are a treasure hunt that is worth your time, especially if you homeschool.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure to learn more.
At this particular sale, each bag of books was $5 or you could pay $.15-.50 per book. Because the prices were not going to get lower, I knew I wanted to get there near the beginning of the sale. This sale began at 1pm on Friday and I was able to get there with my 3-year-old and 6-year-old by 1:45pm.
I spent about 40 minutes at the sale which was plenty for my young children. They were able to look at books and there was some room for them to sit down, but it is a bit boring, so I worked quickly to fill my own small canvas bag.
Because of the sale pricing, I got ALL the books pictured above for $5! That means that each book cost less than 25 cents!
Some of my notable finds:
Black Fox of Lorne by Marguerite De Angeli
This book is a hardcover illustrated edition which I could buy online for about $15 shipped. Paying 25 cents for this title by one of my favorite authors made the whole trip worthwhile. My heart actually beat faster when I picked it up and noted that the condition was good! I plan to read this together as one of our lunch-time read alouds next school year.
Anno's Spain by Mitsumasa Anno
My daughter loved a book sale find of Anno's Journey so I was excited to grab this one which was in nearly like new condition. It sells used online for $5-8.
Digging Up Dinosaurs by Aliki
My kids and I really enjoy Aliki books and we have a few from book sales and one (Manners) which was a Christmas gift. Our library owns this one, so it would never be a high priority for me, but at 25 cents, it is definitely a buy!
To Go Singing Through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda by Deborah Kogan Ray
Another beautiful picture book in like new condition. I enjoy sharing biographies of artists and writers with the kids so this will be added to our morning time at some point.
Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press by Bruce Koscielniak
I love nonfiction picture books! We all learn so much when I include these in our morning time.
The Sunflower Family by Cherie Winner and Sherry Shahan
I am always on the lookout for nature lore books to add to our collection. This book has beautiful photographs and at a quick glance, I could tell that it goes into a lot of detail.
The rest of my finds include several volumes in a nonfiction math series (we already own a few more of these series from this sale last year), a field guide to reptiles and amphibians, a new-to-us Little Bear, a Clifford Book, a few more picture books and nature books. I was also able to snag a paperback Kidnapped by Robert Lewis Stevenson. I had included this title in my son's homeschool plans for next year but was planning on borrowing from the library. Now I don't have to!
With a brand new baby due any day now, I won't be able to get to my favorite large used book sale this spring or this fall. But, this shows that some great deals can be found very close to home without breaking the bank.
And although I only added 1-2 books that I will likely include in my official lesson plans in the future, great picture books and nature lore for my morning time are another part of my Homeschooling with Really Cheap Books!
How fun! What a lot of treasures! I'm wishing you a safe and joyful delivery!!!
ReplyDelete