Miss Aly, Book Detective!

I've never been very good at New Years Resolutions, mostly because I don't often remember to make them until New Years Day, when suddenly everyone starts talking about them and I realize I forgot about them again. I think it's because, no matter how old you are, a full year is a long time! A lot of things happen in a year! You meet a lot of people, go a lot of places, and once 365 days have passed, you may be miles and miles from where you started last January 1^st, physically or metaphorically. By New Years Eve, I have no recollection of what I might have resolved to do on New Years Eve the year before. That, I suppose, is the purpose of writing things down (if you can remember where you wrote your resolution a year later – good luck). Still, a resolution is a nice thing, so I decided that this year, I wanted one.

First, I wanted to create a new blog. I make no promises about maintaining it because it has been a considerable amount of time since I last blogged regularly. I just wanted to create one which, clearly, I've done. Well, hooray! That's one resolution down! That's also very anticlimactic, however, so I figured I needed a second one.

So, my second resolution – which I have already started – is to commit to building my classroom library this year. I know that seems a little silly, since I don't have a classroom yet, but there is no way that adding to my collection of high-quality children's books won't serve me as I go through student teaching and subbing and my other work with children. Having a collection of high-quality children's literature – high-quality, foremost in content, but also good physical quality – can really make a classroom. If you want children to love books and implicitly want to read and be read to, it really doesn't help anyone if all you have to share with children are free books from the scholastic catalog and some old leveled readers. I resolve to build a strong library that I will be proud to share with children.

This is a challenge, foremost, because I'm a poor graduate student and books, as a rule, cost money. I'm not in the market for anything full-priced because it just isn't practical. Luckily for me, books that have been previously loved are just as funny, exciting, interesting, colorful, beautiful, enticing, lyrical, and/or well-written as brand new hardcover books straight from the shelf in Barnes and Noble. Therefore, I have begun a quest to get the best possible price for any book I buy while striving for the highest quality! As of today, January 10^th, 2012, I have already added eight books to my collection and I have spent a total of $20. Not bad, hmm? I happen to be quite proud, particularly because five of the eight books are hardcover books in brand new to excellent condition and usually retail at between $10 and $18 each! 

The first three books I added to my collection are brand new Eric Carle hardcover books: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?, and The Very Busy Spider, all for $5 each from Kohls. The full value is donated to Kohls Cares for Kids, which is a children's charity – so $15 of the $20 I have spent on books so far has gone to a good cause! You can't beat that! I'm thrilled to add these books to my collection at such a discount. 

The other four I picked up at a local used children's shop. Unfortunately, when I stopped in to browse I discovered that the store was in the middle of doing buy back, so the place was mobbed by rumpled looking parents toting old exersaucers and bags full of children's clothing. One whole shelf of books was blocked by cranky people waiting in line, so I didn't even get a chance to look through everything! I did find a beautifully illustrated, brand new, hardcover retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jim Aylesworth and Barbara McClintock which usually retails for $18... for a buck! Additionally I picked up a hardcover The Little Engine That Could (how could you go wrong?), and paperback copies of Caps for Sale and Sylvester and The Magic Pebble, which were standards I couldn't turn down for a dollar each! I think those prices may merit another trip during a more convenient time! There's a whole shelf of books I haven't even seen yet! Who knows what treasures might be hiding?

I still have plans to visit thrift shops and warehouse sales this year, so I plan to get better at digging through shelves for the hidden gems, but I think I'm off to a good start! Even if I don't remember that I made this resolution by next January 1^st, I'll definitely have made a dent at the beginning of this year! Plus, I have a nifty new blog to boot!