To not know which children's books to keep and which to give away

[chaletdays]

Oh how I regret giving away my old Malory Tower books with their familiar covers and references to old money. And the many Chalet Schools that now cost a fortune to replace. And how I loved finding some of my old Noel Streatfeild's up in the attic, complete with the silly drawings on the inside pages done during boring afternoons at home from school with a cold ,when I'd already read the book inside out for the 4th time.

Now I look at books and wonder which ones to give away to the Charity shop and which ones will become this generation's Enid Blyton, Just Willliam etc. Will the Olivia series provide them with escapist comfort some afternoon in thirty years time when life is getting them down a bit?
Will Horrid Henry books cost a small fortune to buy on Abe Books? Will the Harry Potter books have annoying changes made to 'update' them, taking away something small but valuable from the narrative?

How do you all decide what's for the charity bag and what's for the attic?

My mum kept them all in an attic open to the elements. So, when the time came to use them for my daughter, they were too rotten to read. I'd say (obviously) it depends on the size of your house. But, if you have an average sized house and space is an issue, there are probably more important things to keep in the attic than sentimental books. One or two favourites is doubtless fine. But, I wouldn't go as far as saving an entire series of Blyton, I'm afraid.

It's hard to know for sure but one rule I do follow is do my children reread the books and if they do do they reread them frequently. My oldest is an avid reader and enjoys new books, however, I know that like me when I was a child he has some more beloved books. I have noticed when he is down or trying to get to sleep he will reread his Diary of a Wimpy kid books, or Mr Gum or Diary of a Wimpy Vampire so I know he favours those as 'comfort reading' material just as I did with Malory Towers, The Faraway Tree and 'The Ordinary Princess'. So I would advise noting what books are comfort reading books and keep those, in all likelihood those are the books they will want to read to their own children. I have done the same with some of their more baby books too.

It's too hard to tell, so I would just give them all away. I have 40 or so Chalet school books saved from my childhood, and 3 dds who all read a lot, but none of them are interested. Such a waste. One dd read a few of them. They're not that bothered about my cherished Antonia Forrests either. They don't really go for old fashioned school stories.

I also can't get any of them interested in the Swallows and Amazons books, though they sail, camp etc, so why not? I suppose these books are just too dated.
They do read some old books, but I haven't been able to predict which (Noel Streatfeild, E Nesbitt, Charlotte Sometimes, Just William).

So I imagine that Horrid Henry etc will be similarly dated in 20 years or so. Am sure Harry Potter will be easy to get, cheap.

It's a difficult one. I'm very sentimental about books, so I keep them all! That said, if you're pushed for space I would keep any 1st editions and ones which your children are particularly fond of.

I have a very simple method:

I keep them all

Actually I do get rid of some:
I tend to pass them onto someone I think will use them rather than just giving them away if they're books we liked.
I pass on ones that we liked, but not loved, that the children have grown out of.
I pass on ones they loved if someone mentions they're specifically looking for them and mine have well grown out of.
Occasionally I give ones back to the charity shop when they've read them once and said they don't really like them, and I don't think the other dc would like them.
And occasionally they get one that I don't really like the topic and I pass it onto the charity shop. Not morally wrong, but things I don't really feel I want them reading about. For example none of mine like ghost stories and we got one which was really creepy for a gift, and I thought if dd2 got hold of it she wouldn't sleep for a month, so I got rid of it pretty quickly as she tends to read anything that is around.

But mostly I keep them.

Thanks for the replies. I agree that keeping them all is difficult unless you have lots of storage space so choices will have to be made!

Personally I would like to give away any of the ones that have glittery covers, but I realise that is my own personal prejudice

I keep the ones they love to reread.

My Dad read the Swallows and Amazons books as they were first published, he remembers waiting for the next one to come out, a bit like I did for Harry Potter.

We're not at the giving children's books away stage yet - DS2 hasn't grown out of the baby ones yet - but my intention is to keep the ones they like reading a lot now, space permitting.

I can't see much point in keeping a book that neither DC has shown much interest in.

Having this problem ourselves. I cannot part with any of them....but especially Stuck by Oliver Jeffers (and Kipper and his *bloody blanket which we read every night for a year...) Sadly none of my DCs are interested in Mrs Pepperpot which I loved as a kid.

I have just kept the ones which my dc's absolutely loved - Hairy mcLairy books, anything byt the Ahlberg's and book like the Gruffalo etc. I recently found a boxed paddington bear set which was mine as a child and my 10year old dd is currently reading but I too wish i had kept my mallory towers and St Claires books as I think she would love those.