How many books does your child have?

[UndertheCedartree]

I was putting away the books my DC got for their birthdays (a couple of months ago!) and took off the shelf some that were too young or had been read but I didn't think they would read again etc.

I can't help but think they have tonnes of books! I remember as a child having probably less than a quarter of what they have and read them over and over. Not sure they have ever re-read a book! They have 2 shelves each packed with books plus another 20 odd books on another shelf (tall ones that don't fit in bookcase). My DS also has a couple of big Trofast bins filled with books he has bought (as he is very precious about his books and doesn't like anyone touching them!) And that's only fiction they have a shelf each of non-fiction downstairs! My DD also reads books on her Kindle and has all the Mallory Towers, all the Worst Witch and various others on there.

My DS is a book worm and DD is getting really into reading now too. They are 14 and 9. I know some people say 'you can never have enough books' - I don't really agree with this - I only have a small house so there has to be some limits! And the library is always there.

Interested to hear how many books your DC have and if you set any limits?

I’d have to look at her kindle to get the current count, but it will be hundreds. She is 12. The beauty of infinite space and a voracious reader. We have a shared family account and many of our tastes overlap so I can’t just go to the main account and check there.

Hundreds upon hundreds.

yep i totally hear you@UndertheCedartree
mine were prolific readers-we were a travelling family&my no1priority in every new town/city was making a beeline for the library-from an early age they thoroughly enjoyed chosing their own books,ordering in sequels etc..now at mid teens and settled in1spot (cheers covid)they love the local library&all its free courses&group activities-if your kids are readers I cant recommend it enough!

One of the tall IKEA bookcases absolutely crammed full, to the point she is using the top as well, with bookends, plus 5 shelves on her wall, plus the 3 shelves at the end of her desk. Then we have a few crates of books she's outgrown in the loft- kept in case she has children. My parents did this and DD has enjoyed all my childhood books

One Christmas she received 60 books altogether (mainly from other people, only 2 from us!) and last time we went on holiday, she spent all her holiday money on books.

What can I say? She's a bookworm, and shares our love of reading.

Loads but I've given 4 x that away. Hope other kids are enjoying them now. Sadly secondary school and tech has destroyed ds's reading and he rarely chooses to now.

I don’t see the point either in keeping every book I have ever read. It would be 1000s.

Growing up, I lived in a house crammed with books. So many books piled everywhere, bookshelves in every gap. It took over. No space to breathe or have anything else kept as it was a regular small terrace.

As an adult it doesn’t stop me reading, but I read books and then donate 95% of them. Since kindle came out I have used the last 10 years so it’s very very rare I now read a paper book. I do find it weird that people assume houses not full of books are uneducated or something.

Ds has a nice little collection, mainly toddler type board books so far. But as he grows I won’t be keeping every book forever. The odd favourite maybe put away in loft, but again 95% donate so someone else can enjoy rather than just sitting around gathering dust.

DS has many more than I had - both of us complete bookworms. We just bought him new bookshelves, visit the library several times a week, and have a subscription to Epic Online Library. Serious problem getting rid of books (autistic) but I have a huge bag of potential discards hidden in my wardrobe atm. They'll be there for 3 months, and if it's not requested in that timeframe it will be donated. I tend to buy books online (just ordered a couple this morning from a second hand bookseller in the US).

Waist height bookcase in the bedroom, small crate of them in living room and a trunk full of seasonal books in the loft. I really want to clear some out but most of them are so beautiful I can't bring myself to.

@00100001

Why do you all keep these books? do your kids re-read all of them??

Well, my dd is 2 and her books are mostly picture books. She's obsessed with them, we probably read about 20 a day. She knows every story better than I do!

Maybe once she's outgrown picture books I'll donate some but I'll be keeping the majority of them because they have sentimental value now. Especially ones that were bought for special occasions or on holiday and things. Some of them are really beautiful books. The really nice ones I've written her name and the date in so she can keep them forever. I still resent the few books I had as a kid being given away.

My 4yo has tonnes as well. I've bought a lot over the past year as our local library hasnt been open since last March.

I do think a good children's library is built up over generations (if you have the storage).

I just checked my DC2's bookcase in her room- approximately 150 books, around 70 were bought for/by her (or dc1), around 70 were originally mine as a child, around 10 were originally grandparents' as children.

'Why do you all keep these books? do your kids re-read all of them??'

Well I have 4 children so they've been in rotation for 13 years

I bought masses from oxfam - a good way of reading stuff that was popular 5 or so years ago - bookshops like Waterstones are so limited as to what gets onto the shelf and for how long - and if we were buying new books I tried to make it an occasion - I discouraged (not always successfully) my childrens’ free choices in bookshops as often they came back with unsuitable (ie boring) things that predictably never got read. When they were very young, they took 10 books at a time out of the library - great choosing joy - including cookery books!

I donated vast numbers of their books to oxfam and to the local school library - all those tedious series’ about puppy tales, animal ark, different coloured fairies etc but I have kept a lot and even though they are in their 20s we still have several hundred children’s books as we haven’t moved house since they were born and we have lots of space. Time for a big clear out, but it’s hard as even the bad ones have memories - and actually I now really regret donating their 3-7 age picture books - some of them were a joy eg the Chocolate Biscuit Tree, or Bumpus Jumpus Dinasaur Rumpus (pure poetry) or Whose got my hairy toe? (Terrifying.)

We had no money when I was growing up in the 70s and only a handful of ‘new’ books - one of my clearest memories is of choosing Tom’s Midnight Garden from the Puffin paper catalogue and waiting for it to arrive in the post. A truly sublime book!
Even at uni I couldn’t afford books for pleasure. Probably why my book buying for myself has been out of control for a number of years...

@shouldistop

My 4yo has tonnes as well. I've bought a lot over the past year as our local library hasnt been open since last March.

This has definitely contributed to ours, haven’t been able to go to the library since last March either so I know I’ve bought more to compensate.

We have 3 jam packed bookshelves and 2 3-level magazine racks full of books. I'd estimate 150-200 books.

In terms of 6-foot Billy bookshelves, probably 2-3 per child? But lots is magazines and some of my own childhood books that they haven't looked at yet.
13 and 9.

[quote UndertheCedartree]@switswoo81 - Owl babies was a favourite of ours! Your thesis sounds interesting - what age group did it encompass? As an Early Years teacher do you find there is a balance between variety of choice and overwhelm of too much choice with books?[/quote]
It was based on infants in Ireland so between 5 and 6.
Yes I do find like toys , books should be rotated. In my classroom and at home I have one book shelf that the covers face out (research shows it's the best way to interest a child) and a library that shows spines. I swop the books around regularly as too much choice actually means they only pick the same books as they are overwhelmed. I group them by theme so that a child is interested in one book they then are encouraged to pick up another pick as it has a safe and familiar topic.
Sorry for the lecture, this is my hobby horse.

But yes less is more with books and display matters.

@switswoo81 - thanks for the reply and please lecture away I find it very interesting. Sounds a good way to organise the books. When mine were little I used to always do a seasonal 'book display' where I would put some books on display on a shelf so covers were showing so like Christmas books, Easter etc.

@toconclude - agree!

Loads. Dc 1 in particular loves reading: he has adhd and reading helps him calm down and focus. He is a voracious reader and reads his books over & over again, even those that are too "young" for him so I never throw or give them away. It's the same with his magazines.

Dc 2 also likes to read but not as much or as quickly.

We have 2 shelves full of books downstairs, dc 2 has 2 shelves full and dc 1 has 5 shelves full of books and then more on his desk and the floor as well as a huge box full of old magazines.

I sort 4yo ds books by colour as he remembers what colour the book is that he wants. It also looks nice

DS has 19 books in his room currently. I have at least 50 in my room for him but he's 3 and I don't trust him not to rip paper books yet. The books in his room are all toddler board books which he absolutely adores. I'm constantly adding to his collection

Too many to count!
Donated the younger books except for her childhood favs like Hungry caterpillar and funny bones (and my favourite- Not now Bernard) but that still leaves all the Harry Potter, diary of a wimpy kid etc.. so still has about 30 books