Thursday, November 11, 2010

I'm a sucker...

...for the school book orders...especially their books that are $3 and under.  Yep, a big sucker!  Parents like me are the reason the book order companies exist.  You remember the book orders, right?  They haven't changed much since I was a kid.

I know I'm not the only one whose a sucker because last time I went to Goodwill, I scored someone else's old stash of bookorder books for 50 cents a piece.

I used to dream of having my kids' bookshelves filled with nothing but nice hardbound of great works of classic children's literature.

But I'm starting to see the value in the cheap paperback bookorder versions too...and even the value in some of the mass produced, popular character books that are not quite great literature. 
  • The paperback ones actually hold up pretty well when you reinforce the binding with good mailing tape.   (If you don't know what that means, click on the link.  It will extend the life of your paperback and boardbooks by at least 3 or 4 times.)
  • My kids LOVE the books with their favorite characters, even if I don't see them as great works of literature...and who wants to spend full price for those kinds of books?
  • I don't have to pay shipping...which is important when there are no bookstores nearby.
  • And most of all...Firecracker WANTS to read them and it gives her motivation to read more.
So guess what my kids' stocking are going to be filled to the brim with this year?

8 comments:

  1. I just sent my order in yesterday. It's my first one as an adult. I resisted two rounds so far this year and every single round last year in preschool, but the powers of the book order were too strong. I finally caved! ;) The massive numbers of books that we already have . . . and I mean MASSIVE . . . will be joined by another pile in a month.

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  2. I'm with you too. Massive piles of books.

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  3. Book orders were one of my favorite parts of teaching! I would talk them up so much, and as a result, many of my students would end up ordering! I worked in a pretty low income school, so most of the kids had no books at home. Thanks to Scholastic for these cheap books to fill the emptiest of home and classroom libraries!
    And I agree with you on the character books. Not great literature, but as long as the kids are excited about reading, some good comes out of it!

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  4. So I think the answer is yes (maybe I'm wrong), but can you get your hands on a book order if your kid isn't in school yet? Like if I did it through an elementary school or something?

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  5. Katie, I'm sure that if you hook up with an elementary teacher, he or she would love to share a book order form with you. The teachers score free books for their classrooms when more books are ordered, so it's a win-win. If you don't know a teacher already, just call the nearest elementary school and ask to be put in touch with one of their primary grade teachers.

    Polly, I agree with you 100% about how wonderful book orders are! We ordered many books when you and your siblings were small.

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  6. I want to order books too! I miss living in Rexburg where there were part of the Dolly Parton book program. Every kid in Rexburg up to age 5 could get a free book every month.

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  7. Oh yes. I get them and somehow owe $60-80 on each one {Joshua comes home w/ 2 each time} My husband just shakes his head. And now when he says only you can manage to spend money sitting on the couch I will refer him this post. Thanks! :)
    werethejoneses.blogspot.com

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  8. I loooooooved book orders! One of my favorite times of the school year :)

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