From about 2 1/2 to 3 years old our daughter had a fascination with the song The Wheels on the Bus (before that it was Baa Baa Black Sheep). One day at library story time the instructor brought out the book The Wheels on the Bus by Paul O. Zelinsky. Quin's eyes lit up and she sat completely enthralled as the instructor read the story while showing the children all of the moveable parts; windshield wipers, bus doors, a woman getting off and on the bus, the babies crying, the mamas shushing, even the people going bumpity bump. I knew Quin wanted to touch that book, I knew she wanted to HAVE that book. On my urging she timidly asked the instructor if she could check the book out and bring it home. The kind instructor explained that unfortunately they could not let this book out of the library. It was only for story time. This made sense to me, since I have seen the shape some library books end up in, and a baby or toddler could really harm this book. I reminded QQ that her birthday was coming up and maybe we could get it for her birthday. She was sad she could not borrow the book but happy that maybe someday we would have one of our own...
I honestly, rarely, buy our kids new books. In fact, I am a book-aholic and I rarely buy myself a new book anymore. There are just too many places I can get good books for next to nothing; 50 cent children's books on the library sale shelf, 3 for $1 at the local thrift shop, yard sales, friends' hand me downs, a bag for $3 on the last day of the library book sale fundraiser, and of course, borrowing from the library. I know it sounds funny but this $25 new book amounts to 75 books from the thrift store. But, I knew we had to buy Quin this book. So, I did with some birthday money that grandma sent. I would have loved to have bought it from a local independent bookstore, but ours went our of business recently (that's another story for another time... ). I bought it online and it arrived lickity split. Quin was THRILLED and still is to this day. We have spent many fun times with daddy reading this book. And it has been a good way for Quin to learn how to take care of her things. She has been pretty good although her biggest lesson was learned on the day we taped the hand back on the woman who gets on and off the bus... C'est la vie!
1 comment:
Hey Tiffany, have you ever purchased used books/music through amazon.com? They are mostly independent book stores and you can find them super cheap. When you look up a book on amazon it will say for example "28 used from $.88" and you click on it and will list all the shops that are selling that book used. It's really cool and as cheap as amazon is, it's often cheaper to just buy used. You can often find a book you are looking for, for only $1.00. The only difference is amazon gives free shipping over $20 (I think) and these independent sellers have to charge for shipping so it might be an additional $5.
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