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Original poster

How much would you pay, just for the memory of a childhood book?

101 replies

JenniferYellowShat · 22/04/2016 22:03

£25-£30 for What-a-mess the original?

Everyone must have their childhood favourite that they'd love to read to their children?

How much would you pay, just for the memory of a childhood book?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
TapDancingPimp · 23/04/2016 06:26

Can't seem to link properly from phone but I've lost hours on this Oxfam page going through the children's books, some amazing finds:

www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/books/childrens-books?i=1;page=40;q=*;q1=Books;q2=Children's+books;show_all=products;sp_s=productcreationdate;x1=secondary_cat_1;x2=secondary_cat_2&gid=&owner=

Chrisinthemorning · 23/04/2016 06:29

Apple Pigs was mine, it was going for £50 on eBay. It has now been reprinted and is about £10 in National Trust gift shops.

Chrisinthemorning · 23/04/2016 06:29

Love Phoebe and the hot water bottles!
I have my originals of both though Smile

londonrach · 23/04/2016 06:32

Thank you witch end i loved that book too and forgoitten its name (rushes off to order the hot water book from amazon)

bertsdinner · 23/04/2016 06:59

I wanted "The Adventures of Pip", Enid Blyton, I wanted a specific edition/cover that is available for about £60. Ive bought the Kindle version and may get round to buying the book I want at some point.
I also bought a tatty copy of "Tammy" annual 1978 as I wanted to re read a story in there I kept remembering, it was about £5, which was reasonable.

Titsalinabumsquash · 23/04/2016 07:02

My sisters longs for a copy of Chilly Billy from our childhoods but it's always £££ when I find it. Sad

mathanxiety · 23/04/2016 07:07

There's a book I loved as a child but I can't for the life of me remember what it was called. It featured a fox and a railway track and some night time adventure with the fox running. The illustrations had trees and hills iirc. I might have been 3 or 4 when I had it. My mother looked at me as if I had lost my marbles when I tried to jog her memory of it.

I looked up a few of the books the DCs had as toddlers and small children. 'What Do Babies Do?' was one they all loved. It is going for $74.50 used and $491 new.

SnakeWitch · 23/04/2016 07:26

OP thank you for starting this thread, it reminded me of some books I had when I was little and they are on eBay for a few pounds! I am almost in tears seeing the covers again. The DC obviously think I've lost my marbles though.

LadyPenelope68 · 23/04/2016 07:58

Rat that was my absolute favourite childhood book as well

Charley50 · 23/04/2016 09:09

I paid about £20 for my favourite childhood book on eBay. 'Theodore the mouse who wanted to own a frying pan.' I was really glad to have it again; it brings back such vivid memories.

DramaInPyjamas · 23/04/2016 09:19

I'd love to own 'Home Is The Sailor' Rumer Godden again, my mum threw my copy away when we moved home

Not particularly expensive, but can't justify spending on it atm
I look in second hand book/charity shops all the time
Quite a hard book to come by though

How much would you pay, just for the memory of a childhood book?
BestIsWest · 23/04/2016 09:22

Here is mine, Plain Brown bear who lived in a Swiss zoo. I do have a copy, Think it cost me about £10 twenty years ago when I bought it to read to my own DD.
I still have my own copies of my other favourites, Winnie the Pooh and the Wind in the Willows.

BestIsWest · 23/04/2016 09:22

That should say Mary Plain.

Newes · 23/04/2016 09:23

Wow, I have A Candle In Her Room. Had no idea it was worth that.

BoomalakkaWee · 23/04/2016 09:25

DH paid a tenner on eBay to get me The Gnomids by William Chalk as an anniversary present 11 years ago. We've never seen another copy for sale anywhere since.

There's a short story collection in the same series (Booster Readers, 1965 - reprinted around 1970) that I'd give my eye-teeth to have. I can't remember the title but one story involved a young boy who bought a sentient typewriter from a second-hand shop. Sigh...

Witchend · 23/04/2016 10:00

Thanks Trumpton. I loved it, and I don't know whether ot was ours ( on which case it probably is still at dp, or the library). Lovely book.

Zen. I have all the Lone Pine books (and many others by Malcolm Saville). A good first edition is much more than £20 now. They rose very sharply, in fact at one point a magazine on finance recommended them as an investment. Some of them are worth around £100 now in good condition.
I have a couple of books worth over £100, although neither I paid anything like that. One is a first edition Chalet School. Last time I checked it was going for around £175. I paid £2, didn't realise it was a first edition until I got home. Other one is the last Monica Edwards. I did pay £30 for it, but I think people pay round about £100 for it. I wouldn't sell so that's irrelevant really.

notsmartenough · 23/04/2016 10:08

I remember Mary Plain (from the bear pits in Berne?) and the Owl Man !
I'd have loved a copy of one of those but the last time I looked they cost £14 to £35 on ebay.
Instead I bought a book called The Madcap Brownie for 99p plus postage as I'd read it about twenty times as a child and just loved it.

unlucky83 · 23/04/2016 10:23

I loved this one - Daddy read me a bedtime story
www.amazon.co.uk/Daddy-Read-Me-Bedtime-Story/dp/0723505667
When I first looked I thought it was too much at £30 - thought I'd see if I could get it cheaper - wish I'd bought it then as it is now £71.50!
If you want old books have a look at www.abebooks.co.uk/ -
lots of expensive first editions but there are also some cheap ones ...and worth checking back as if more copies turn up / become available the price may come down...

Kariana · 23/04/2016 10:31

bertsdinner do you have a pic or link to the version you want? I'm sure I've got a copy of this somewhere and I thought there might be a tiny chance it matches. If it did you'd be welcome to have it but I don't want to get your hopes up as I'm guessing it might not be right. Thought it was worth a shot though.

My favourite out of print books are Tim and Tobias. There is a whole series and they are at least £70 for one book on eBay! Mostly they were used as school reading schemes so most got thrown in a skip when schools moved on to new schemes.

PartiallyStars · 23/04/2016 10:32

I have been buying the gold and silver level Through The Rainbow books that we had as reading books when I was at infant school. I always found them mysterious and enchanting because they had names like Elflight and Taperlight. There's a particular one I am trying to find with the story of the violets/ strawberries in the snow in, but I haven't found it yet! They are going for about £8.99 each which isn't too bad I suppose but there's quite a lot of them...

unlucky83 · 23/04/2016 10:38

Don't get too excited about how much the books you have are worth (I used to work for a book dealer) - condition is everything.
Thing like being ex library, writing inside (To Jim, Happy birthday from Uncle Bob - not signed by the author ), not being a first edition - not being the right first edition etc
But if you find one of these in your attic ...even not in such good condition
www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jun/04/ulysses-sells-record-price

get really excited ...

spankhurst · 23/04/2016 10:42

I paid £40 for A Circling Star by Mara Kay about 6 years ago. Fabulous book, must have read it 10 times as a kid.

Witchend · 23/04/2016 10:43

And, if it's hardback you need a good dust wrap for the book for a good price.

liz70 · 23/04/2016 10:58

I've just ordered "Grump and the Hairy Mammoth" for DD3 for less than £3 (2nd hand HB). Thinking of ordering "Miss Happiness and Miss Flower" on Kindle for £3.79.