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

[JenniferYellowShat]

£25-£30 for What-a-mess the original?

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

I paid £40 for a copy of Clarence Below the Basement - a rather surreal children's book I remembered from my childhood. The only copy I could find was a signed first edition.

Witchend I did wonder from your name whether you were a Malcolm Saville Fan! The books my mum had are mainly hard back first editions, but I am also a collector of the Armada paperbacks. In the 80s we used to have a good second hand bookshop in our town and I found a signed copy of one of his books in there (a non-fiction one about the seashore).

im another one who love phoebe and the hot water bottles, i wonder if my copy is still at my mums, doubt it tho

I would love to red Tim and Tobias** again but would worry that I'll be disappointed like I am with some of the old TV programmes I used to love watching that I've revisited recently. Can't really justify £75 either!

I have paid a fortune for some childhood favourites. £100 for one, and am so glad I did. It was a nail-biting purchase, though, because the seller (from AbeBooks) was totally flaky, it didn't arrive and she was completely vague about when she'd sent it, not registered or signed for, not even proof of posting. After weeks of seething and fretting I went to my local sorting office and it was there - failed delivery and no card left! One of the happiest moments of my life! It is so rare, I didn't think I'd ever find another copy.

I paid an awful lot for a copy of my favorite childhood book. DD is named after the character in the book, but she's not actually allowed to touch the book.

The fact that I can't remember how much I paid means it was too much
and I've erased it from memory. I reminder convincing myself at the time it was in investment for DD

Sams sandwich Bought it last year for £6/7 on amazon

Zen. Come to the seashore? I have a first edition. Sadly not signed though.

I've spent several years trying to track down a specific copy of a Children's Annual from my Dad's Childhood that he gave to me. Unfortunately time and mice did their worst to the original copy and there was no copyright date anywhere to be found in the disintigrating copy.

It turned out the book had been published every year or so since the early 1930s and had slightly evolved with each printing rather than being an entorely different book each time.

Five (!) copies later at a cost of between £15 and £ 30 pounds a go I stll hadn't got the right book. (Bugger)

The 6th copy from 1933 cost me £50 and (Hurrah) was the right one.

So that's a grand total of about £250. (worth every penny, and I'll never tell my dad it isn't the original copy).

I used to have a very dog eared copy of The Little Girl And The Tiny Doll which was passed down from my mum. Doesn't look like any vintage copies are available, but it's been reprinted, yay!

I tracked down "Listen to the Wind" by Angela Ainley Jeans a while ago... I think it would have been a lot dearer if it hadn't been revived by being turned into a play.

Witchend, I think it's called The Seashore Quiz. Not the most exciting of books, but I think it only cost me 20p or something (I didn't realise it was signed till I got home). The book Lone Pine book I found on eBay was Where's my Girl?

I loved Maggie Gumption as a child, and really wanted a copy for dd2 as I thought she'd like it too.

They were going for about £30, but I found one for about £8. It's not in great condition, but I'm not too bothered about that.

I think £30ish is the max I'd want to pay.

I've probably paid about £150 in total to collect all the "Marlowe" books by Antonia Forest. I didn't actually own them as a child, just borrowed them from the library. I love them, and now I've got the complete set. Dh can't believe how much I've paid for them but I've never paid more than £40.00 for a single book.

Newes I just looked up A Candle in her Room on Amazon UK and the two copies available cost £999.12 .

I liked that book too, you should definitely look into selling it whatever it's condition!

My favourite childhood book is the Dark angel by Meredith Ann Pierce. Fortunately it is still quite cheap as I've had it lost twice by people I have lent it to and had to replace it. Only the dc are getting to read it now and only while they live at home!

Oh I love finding my old books again... I pretend it's for DS but it's clearly not!

The giant jam sandwich :)

Noggin and the island - seems very rare so I'm waiting on this

Today I paid £6 (bargain!) for a copy of the Swish of the Curtain (the original one, not the recent version which has been edited and is not as good). Have been looking for it for a while. Can't wait to read it again, and DD is going to love it too!

Another Tim and Tobias fan here. I have such vivid recollections and once I'd got through them all in the higher levels, I started again. I even know the exact spot on the school bookshelf they were kept. I can transport myself there so easily.

My only other favourite book is on my bookshelf. No idea which year my version is, probably hidden in the ISBN no.

I say for hours reading this! What a geek.

Noggin and the island is about £3.50 on Amazon, Miscellaneous - I had a look becaus I have a copy and was interested to see if they were going for silly money! I love the illustrations of the mermaids, and the description of the lagoon.

Math anxiety did the fox sneeze?

I've spent (and am still spending) a small fortune gathering together the book that meant the world to me as a child.

It's wonderful to see them again, and the DC love them.

I've still got what a mess in autumn somewhere. Also I bought dd a copy of the little grey rabbits Christmas, loved that book. Magic landscapes is another, dd has just started reading it.

My favourite book as a small child was an obscure one called The Doory Story by Fulvio Testa. Luckily it wasn't as obscure as I imagined and after a bit of Internet searching got a copy for under a £5 including postage. No new versions around but I quite like used/older copies as show they have been read which I find nice!

My DS (age 2) loves it too so definitely glad I got it.

I probably would've paid upto £20 to get it though...

Oh wow Partial, dives into Anazon w haste!

When my son was young I indulged in collecting original Topsy & Tim books that I hadn't already got. Some weren't cheap but the illustrations are much more beautiful than the cartoon style modern ones and the details hark back to a nostalgic era. I grew up near where the authors lived so some of the places were actually childhood haunts and not just stories but memories for me.