I’d wager that at least 75% of our children’s home library is made up of second hand books. There is no better way to aquire books without breaking the bank. Furthermore, I think it’s important that children see that we spend money on books… not just on groceries, toys, and clothing. We show them books are important and worth our time and money. While the public library is a fantastic resource, nothing beats the feeling of a child randomly wondering about Iroquois Indians and being able to pull a book off the shelf about it. As homeschoolers, establishing a suitable and generous home library is extremely high on our priority list. Keep in mind that I’m extremely picky about books and do not recommend just buying every cheap book you see, just for the sake of having lots. No, quality over quantity. But variety is important too. Some of the books I bought yesterday wouldn’t have made it onto my Amazon wishlist necessarily, but I think they’ll be useful to have on hand… and at 25 cents or so, I’m willing to splurge. Let me introduce you to my finds yesterday at St. Vincent’s:

The Boy Who Loved Music(excited about piecing this together with our Haydn studies!)
Scholastic Children’s Dictionary (the kids have been needing their own dictionary)
Sounds of the storyteller (neat anthology of stories/poems with intriguing layout/fonts) Thunder Cake(my favorite Patricia Polacco book, replacing our worn out paperback)
Welcome to the Ice House (not linking it because it’s mildly disappointing)
Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book: Make a World(my boys LOVE Ed Emberley books!)
The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science (a good basic reference point)
Hedgie’s Surprise(another replacement for a worn out copy we had)
Wolves for Kids (I love the real photographs in this one)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse(we’ve collected most of Marguerite Henry collection now!)

Times Tables!: Multiplication Made Fun!(hoping to have these memorized over summer)
Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z(a classic)
Pocahontas: Princess of the River Tribes(it’s okay but not as great as the D’Aulaire’s!)
Protecting Endangered Species (kids are eating up the pictures and facts here)
A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History (eager to read this in depth)
Jemima Puddle-Duck (okay I’ve broken down. I’ve resisted buying any of the Peter Rabbit books despite several opportunities because I desperately want the whole boxed set. But it’s been a long want and the price tag isn’t getting any lower so I may as well try to have a couple here and there in the meantime.)

All in all, I think we did pretty great for spending right around $10!!!

“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” -Groucho Marx