Where do you buy books for your kids ?

[WiseKat]

I have a 7 year old DD. She needs to constantly practice her reading but not always keen on re-reading the books we have.

So I need to keep a constant supply of kids books from somewhere to keep her motivation and interest levels up.

Many thanks for your ideas !

The library? My daughter is 10 now and still loves going

Yes it's perfect actually . We are currently in Asia , libraries are not so popular here ... But once we relocate back to the UK soon it will definitely be a great option .

Here people buy kids books on Amazon , but yeah can't see how I can keep constant varied supply like this. Library is better .

Library, charity shops, World of Books, Freecycle...

Subscribe to a kids magazine?

Agree with the library.

My 9YO is a keen reader and I'm considering getting him a kindle soon.

Waterstones - my DS reads endlessly. It's like funding a cocaine habit 😕

The good thing about it is he asks for Waterstones vouchers for every birthday/xmas so my family each buy him a £20 voucher. Easy for them, genuinely appreciated and keeps him in books for a few weeks.

We tried the library which worked for a while but he read his way through all their suitable stock. We go back every few months to see what new books they have in.

I've tried to find someone to swap books with but no luck yet.

I give all the books he has grown out of, to the school.

Have a look to see if you have a Bookworm in your area. It's like Avon for books. The books are fantastic and work out at like £2.50 if ordered through your local seller.

Are you a member of any international parenting groups? You could put a shout out there? Often parents have a stack of books their kids have outgrown and are keen to sell secondhand instead of carting to the next international posting.

The works tends to have great deals on books!

We regularly borrow books from the library.

We buy from Amazon, supermarkets, Waterstones, independent bookshops, charity shops.

My older 2 DC have also both had subscriptions to children’s magazines / comics since they were about 7. They’re both very keen to read the new magazines whenever they arrive in the post.

Oh great , thank you very much for your reply !

Could you recommend any specific kids' magazines which you children enjoyed ?

Thank you so much !

We buy from charity shops etc but also invested in a kindle which has kindle unlimited which is a digital library, bloody brilliant!

Usually the charity shops.

I also like the website www.bookdepository.com

Free worldwide shipping.

Do you have any fqmily in the UK? If they have a library card, or are willing to join a library, you could use their library for the digital service which is usually Borrowbox or Libby. Some libraries will give you a 3 or 6 month temporary membership if you have a UK address you can use to join.

Actually we are relocating to the UK in a couple of months ourselves , so will have a UK address and will definitely join a library .

It seems like a recurring advice and definitely a good idea .

Everyone , thank you very much for your answers and thoughts . Really useful !

Swaps with friends? My DD sometimes does this as she has lots of friends who are also avid readers

Waterstones usually as we don't have a local indie, plus they do points which add up quickly. If we had an indie book shop though i would shop there. Lots of indies have online now so for pre order for the kids i often order from one. Pre orders really help in the book world so if the kids like a series we always order before release. Plus you can get special indie book shop editions signed copies and all sorts. For magazines depends on your child and their interests. The Week Junior is good for current events for primary age. Eco Kids is all about nature, animals, plants etc and is advert free unlike the kids national geographic which is full of ads. Whizz Pop Bang is a science magazine. Aquilla for older primary maybe up to Yr 7 is a mix of things.

I've found Book2Door to have some great deals on box sets.

@WiseKat At the moment, my DC have subscriptions to The Phoenix comic and the Beano comic. They’re both published weekly and both filled with stories. We definitely get our money’s worth out of them, the DC love them and re-read them a lot.

In the past, we had a subscription to Whizz Pop Bang magazine, but we dropped that as the DC were less interested in it.
Whizz Pop Bang is, however a fantastic monthly magazine if your DD is interested in science - each magazine is centred around a different topic, and filled with facts and experiments that can be done at home.

We also had a free copy of National Geographic Kids magazine once, if your DD is keen on reading about nature and animals that would be a good one to look into. I think that’s another monthly one.

My nephew has a subscription to The Week Junior, which is a magazine about current affairs aimed at 8 - 14 year olds, which he enjoys.

Thank you so much for the detailed answer🤗

I keep my DCs topped up with a mixture of library and charity shops. I find with charity shops that a lot of the children's books are barely read and can be in perfect condition for £1 or so. Also use Facebook market place for series/bundles

Probably half the books that enter our home are because we have made it known they are preferred as gifts over toys, stuffed animals and clothes.

We get some from Amazon when we want a specific title that we cannot easily find locally. (The Dr. Seuss board books spring to mind.)

The rest are a combination of independent bookstores, local stores that sell everything cheaply including Dealz (where Peppa the pig is bought), and the book section of the big department store (where Cocomelon is bought).

We could easily get a bunch off the local parenting Facebook group and WhatsApp group if we were more motivated.

Your daughters school most likely has a library she can borrow from?