I just bought my 8 year old daughter 50 books for the summer holidays

[mamalife1990]

As its the summer holidays I decided that I would let my 8 year buy some books for over the summer. She absolutely loves to read and I realised that it might be nice for her to have some new books to read over the next 6 weeks.

So I ordered her some books. However most of the books I ordered were series. I got a few individual books. But most of the books were series. Meaning I didn't really calculate how many books I was actually buying. My plan was, wait until all the books arrive, put them all in one big box and give the box to my daughter.

The last box arrived today so I went into my room and got every book and series out of their boxes....and I realised...that's a lot of books. So I decided to count and there is 50 books. 50! When you're buying book series, it's easy to forget how many books you are actually buying.

I gave my daughter the box and she is extremely happy. So seeing her smile was worth the financial cost of all these books.

Let's just hope my husband doesn't want a divorce after seeing so many books. Was this financially responsible? Nope. Do I regret anything? Nope.

Now my 4 year old wants some new books too 😭 Thankfully the books he would read are a lot cheaper lol

I once found a complete set of Arthur Mee's children's encyclopedia at a jumble sale. I absolutely adored those books and read them until they fell apart. Fell in love with poetry thanks to those.

It’s incredibly obvious that the OP’s situation is completely different to yours.

This is my rule too. If they want a book then can have it. Although I often buy from world of books.

I would love to take them to a library but our local one is rarely open

Dear god stop trying to load everything with therapy speak

My parents bought me heaps of books and I loved it. They still do actually.

It sounds like your family has a lot of issues but you don't need to project these on to others.

The books will be worth every penny for the long-lasting pleasure your daughter will get from them. At least some of them will be books she returns to more than once.

She's already almost read one of the books already 🤣

Also keep an eye on Facebook Marketplace / ebay. When my son was younger, we picked up series of books for here for a fraction of the price. Whilst the first couple of books in the series have been read, the rest of the set hadn't even been opened.

What else are you doing with her though? She needs to active , to be out and about, go be socialising. Yes, reading has an important place, but it is a solitary pastime and she needs human interaction too. Also I cant understand why she isn't choosing her own books. A weekly trip to the library where they can borrow 10 books st a time (here anyway) would have been so much better for a myriad of reasons.

Lol what? Why are you assuming that she's not playing sports and being active, and why are you assuming she isn't socialising?

That's an insane assumption.

I know what books she loves and I also know what books she has been wanting to read for a while.

Because you said she spent all yesterday reading!

Our local library has reading challenges throughout the summer Certainly wouldn't be paying for 50 books new , especially as she may read first one of a series and not like it

I've picked up whole series of kids books at bootsales for a couple of pounds. Get most of my adult ones there also for 20p or so. It's caused me to hunt out more authors as I pay 20p for one tgen find out I really like it and hunt out more

especially as she may read first one of a series and not like it
If you read @mamalife1990 's posts you will see that her daughter had read the first books in the series and loved them. That's why she bought the others for her.

I read she had bought more than one series.

Yes, so did I. And she says her dd borrowed the first book from each series from the library before she bought the other books.
For the series I bought, she read the first book from each series first before I bought the whole series. She borrowed the books from the library.

Christ, you're patronising. A pass-agg winky emoji and adding 'with respect' doesn't make a comment any less rude/bitter/inappropriate, you know.

I'm sorry your family has become 'a therapy family' as you put it, and that your child felt you tried to force into her being like her older sister because you bought her books, but honestly, you need to focus on your own family therapy rather than trying to impose your family's issues on to other people. Your family is one thing, the OP's is another, and you're coming across really badly here.

Are you always this literal-minded?

Do you genuinely think that because a child spends a lot of time reading, they don't do other things as well? Really? Because there's nothing in the OP's posts to suggest that her child doesn't do other things too, so it's very strange to assume that she doesn't also do active stuff and see friends and what-have-you as well as enjoying reading.

Even if she spent an entire day reading, so what? It's one day. Spending one day doing a thing you really enjoy isn't harmful for anyone, unless the thing you enjoy is crack cocaine and murder. Calm the hell down, eh?

There are some deeply odd people on this thread who seem determined to make a really nice thing into something bad.

I assume @ShetlandishMum meant the public library, not a library in her own home.

This is all lovely. It brings back memories of the hours I spent as a child in the 80s reading all the books that my Mum had been given as school prizes as a child in the 1950s (complete with the award dedications stuck inside) AND every Sweet Valley High I could get my hands on, via all the pony ones.

However, OP, just be careful that you are coming across a little tone-deaf with your “oh I didn’t even realise I had spent 150 quid on books” and “it’s OK we have a spare room in our house to use as a library”.

I was also interested in the comment by the teacher who seemed to be equating children who do not read with those who have very few books at home. I don’t think it’s that simple. My 9 year old has all sorts of books, he goes to a school that cites “encourage love of reading” as a core objective, I read to him nightly from when he was a baby and he has no special educational needs (he gets excellent reports for English and is probably an “advanced reader”). I spend hours and hours researching books he might like and have shelves full of them, we have limited screen time, we try audio books in the car and still he will not pick up a book for pleasure. My husband was an avid reader as a child and also tries to foster this in our son.

He doesn’t like movies either. Doesn’t seem to get drawn in by stories. The only books he ever took to were the Treehouse Series and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Both very picture-heavy.

Does anyone have any similar experience or suggestions as to what we might do?

However, OP, just be careful that you are coming across a little tone-deaf with your “oh I didn’t even realise I had spent 150 quid on books” and “it’s OK we have a spare room in our house to use as a library”.
How patronising!

@UhOhRatPoo - have you tried comics or graphic novels?

The Alex Rider graphic novels are popular with that age group

This graphic novel is beautiful - https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/encyclopedia-of-early-earth-book-isabel-greenberg-9780224097192?sku=GOR005394301&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17416831122&gbraid=0AAAAADZzAIB3Vkl1wbNKRjd9bCRJ6WYeJ&gclid=Cj0KCQjwg5zTBhCLARIsAP2AFU6YhYEfSecjRiAAzY7a2MD0mBIOjAtb13DRHNDlOFyhcydziXX4qQ4aAuADEALw_wcB

Also it's worth looking at non fiction.

One of mine likes books like this -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Maps-Nature-Atlas-Curious/dp/1783787104

It is phrased like it is in her home but I think you're probably right!

Ok, fair enough. That was not my original intention in my first post, but I admit that the smug response/smiley emoji of the OP annoyed me.

The point i was trying to make is that I was very like OP - but that later, when my younger DD had therapy (for something completely unrelated and tragic), she became able to articulate that many of the 'big gestures' that I had prided myself on just didn't land with her as I'd assumed they would.

But you're right - I bristled at the tone of the response and got snarky.

My son was the same but my daughter loves reading. She is doing A level English and has masses of books to read over the summer for her course. I think its a girl thing possibly!

Enid Blyton, although you can't call her books 'literature', has an important place for young readers who are beginning to 'fly solo' and need a lot of simple-ish repetitive text at more or less the same level. We used to call it "plateau reading", and it has its place. When I was about 7 I loved the "Secret 7" books, don't know how they've weathered. But children still really love her stuff.

How fab! My most memorable present at that age was a big cardboard box of second hand books my mum had collected from multiple charity shops for months before - I was in heaven!!