How To Save Money and Buy Used Children’s Books on Ebay

Learn how to buy used children’s books to save money. Whether you are buying books for your own child, or a teacher purchasing books for your classroom, eBay is a good place to start your search. You will find a large variety of children’s literature, both fiction and non-fiction books at a bargain price.

When you are ready to start your search, break down your desired book lists into categories. For example, if you are a teacher, you might want to start your search on eBay with the grade or age of the students you teach. Then continue to search USED CHILDREN’S BOOKS to differentiate between new and used books. Remember that your goal is to save money.

If you are a parent or grandparent or daycare provider, with younger children, you may be more interested in picture books. The best bargains for picture books will be the sellers who advertise lots, series, groups, etc. If you were to go to a retail bookstore to purchase new books, you could pay as much for one new book as a dozen used books would cost on eBay. Remember that your goal is to save money.

Buying used children’s books from eBay sellers will provide your students with a variety of popular books and help you reach your goal of saving money on kids books.

Dinosaurs Before Dark, Book #1 in the Magic Tree House Series

Dinosaurs Before Dark – a Review of a Highly Popular Children’s Book

100_9201The first book in the Magic Tree House series, Dinosaurs Before Dark , is a highly popular children’s book written by Mary Pope Osborne. 

The book, Dinosaurs Before Dark, is fun and educational, and helps children learn to read by using short, simple, and easy to understand sentences. Illustrations and a fun plot keep young readers entertained and engaged in the story, one that fills their imagination and teaches a bit about history at the same time.

The dinosaurs in this book are of the friendly sort and each time Jack and Annie encounter these friendly dinos, they gather scientific facts. The excitement of the story builds as readers are first introduced to a somewhat “mysterious” tree house that is packed with books. As Jack begins reading and hoping to see a Pteranodon, a flying reptile related to the dinosaur,  the story unfolds into a magical adventure. Jack and Annie are transported back in time, to an era when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

In their adventures, Annie and Jack encounter a flying Pteranodon and name him “Henry.” The fun and sometimes heart-pounding adventure sends the brother and sister fleeing back to the magical tree house after encountering a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex. Jack soon realizes that his backpack, which contained the dinosaur book he had been reading, was left down in the colony of Anatosauruses.  When he leaves to retrieve the backpack, Annie sends Henry, the Pteranodon, to save him.

The characters portrayed are full of personality; while Jack is an intelligent little boy who loves reading and learning interesting facts about dinosaurs, Annie loves animals and seems to have no fear as she delves further into the adventure. In Dinosaurs Before Dark, Annie convinces Jack to do things he would never do without her insistence, including riding on the back of a flying dinosaur! 

Brief, simple to read, and valued for the education and entertainment the book provides, Dinosaurs Before Dark is a great choice for children beginning to read chapter books, usually at the end of 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buying Used Children’s Books vs new books

Children’s books are the foundation for a lifetime of learning and adventure. Used children’s books, the way to a lifetime of learning and adventure in the least expensive way. You will be getting the same book with the same content as the book purchased retail. Buying used children’s books on eBay is the economical way to achieve the same goal.

Frequently Asked Questions about buying used children’s books

1) Why not just get the book at the library?
Pride of ownership. The library book needs to be returned in a timely manner, but the book that your child owns can be read over and over again. Kids love the familiar wording of a favorite book.

2) Aren’t used children’s books worn out?
When a seller lists used children’s books on eBay, the condition of the book is described. In my experience, children outgrow their books before they are worn out.

3) Now that I have decided to purchase used children’s books, how do I decide which books to buy?
The first thing you should consider when buying children’s books, is the age, grade, and reading ability of the child.

4) When should I begin to buy books for my child?
It’s never too early to read to your child. In fact, there are many great books that could be given as a baby gift. As a grandparent, I can say that reading to a baby or young child is a great bonding experience for both the grandparent and the infant.

5) What kind of books should I purchase for my toddler?
When your toddler is learning new words, it’s time for board books. These are sturdy books that are fairly indestructible. The “touch and feel” books are perfect for the little hands that want to touch everything.

6) My child is in preschool. What kind of books do they enjoy?
The preschool age child likes silly, simple, colorful, repetitive books. Eric Carle’s books are loved by most children. There are many used children’s picture books to choose from on eBay.

7) What kind of books should I buy for the child who is just beginning to show an interest in reading?
A child around age 5 and/or in kindergarten would probably enjoy books with only a few words on each page, with lots of pictures and repetition. There are books with sight words and books that teach phonics. Sometimes these books are called emergent readers.

8) Which books are good for the beginning reader?
When a child reaches first grade until about the end of second grade, they usually enjoy books that still have pictures along with the words. There are many interesting groups of books, such as “An I Can Read Book”, Step into Reading, HelloReader! books, and All Aboard reading. Some of my favorite early readers are: Biscuit the Puppy and Henry and Mudge.

9) How can I keep my elementary student reading for enjoyment?
As your child becomes a fluent reader, the chapter books become a good choice as the author’s begin to write books about specific interests. Some of the popular series of children’s books are: The Magic Tree House, Geronimo Stilton, Junie B. Jones, Bailey School Kids, Goosebumps, Boxcar Children, Encyclopedia Brown, Beverly Cleary (Ramona) books, Judy Blume, Magic School Bus. These are just a few of my favorite series. Of course there are many other great books by interesting authors. A very economical way to buy entire lots of books is to purchase them on eBay.

To summarize, what really matters is that your child develops a love of reading. Provide them with a large assortment of used children’s books so they will have a lifetime of learning and adventures.

Used Children’s Books

Giving books as gifts

It’s time to buy used children’s books!  I have many book sets to choose from in my eBay stores.  You will be able to see all my offers to the right of this article…………..please click “next” to see page after page.  When you click on an item, it will take you to my stores, patso330 and gmas7readers.

I have books for children of all ages including christian books, super hero books, board books for the smallest “readers”.   There are picture books and chapter books.  Also, you may find cookbooks and collectible books. Chil

If you are a teacher, Christmas vacation might be a perfect time to order books for your classroom library.  After the holiday, many of my books will be sale priced!

How to Help your Child Develop A Love for Books and Bedtime

The first steps to instill a love and respect for books and reading is to read to your child and let them see you read for enjoyment. Make sure you have a good supply of used children’s books in your home library to accomplish this goal.

A few hints that might make nap time and bedtime a perfect time to help your child develop a love for books while easing them into a peaceful bedtime routine.

For the toddler, reading before settling them down for a nap or bedtime is an important first step, as reading calms a child down and helps them relax so sleep comes naturally. Cloth books can be used as an aid to help them get back to sleep or entertain themselves in bed if they awaken early. Even the youngest child should have a set of bookshelves stocked with used children’s books so they know from the beginning that books are part of their world.

For the preschool age child, setting aside a special time for reading is a good way to establish a lifelong love of books. Buying used children’s books can keep your child supplied with an interesting library. For very young children who fight an afternoon nap, calling it an “AFTERNOON READ” might be the solution. Allow your child to choose several books from his personal library to read in bed and encourage him to rest rather than sleep. Setting a special timer for the amount of time your child GETS to read in their bed takes the emphasis off  sleeping and makes nap time fun. If you want to take this a step further, reward him with a special outing or allow him to choose more books from his library stocked with used children’s books.

For beginning and established readers, a special reading time, after they are all ready for bed and in their room for the night, might alleviate that night time struggle to get your child to go to bed willingly. This would be called BONUS READING time after their regular bedtime. The child will be thrilled to be staying up past their bedtime and you will be thrilled that there was no struggle getting them in their bed!

This is the time to stock up on great used children’s books for summer reading. Buying books on eBay is an inexpensive way to accomplish this task. If your child has a favorite series, such as, Junie B. Jones, Geronimo Stilton, or Magic Tree House, start searching for those books now so you will have complete sets for your child to read this summer. A simple way to accomplish this is to find sellers on eBay who are offering books from the sets you want to buy. There might be a seller offering 10 books and another seller offering 5 or 10 or 15 books from the same series. Eventually you will have a complete set. Sometimes a seller will offer a complete 28 book series of Magic Tree House books so you would only have to make one purchase. A complete set of Magic Tree House books bought new at retail prices would be quite costly, but buying used books on eBay would be a small fraction of that cost. There are many great children’s books available.  Children outgrow books rapidly and move on to higher reading levels so buying used childrens books will allow a greater variety of books in your child’s collection. The same holds true for toddler board books and cloth books and preschool picture books.

Instill a life long love for learning and educaion with books. Keep your child’s private home library stocked with age appropriate used children’s books.

 

Teacher collections

This is a great time to start building your classroom library. There are many collections in my two stores. Check out eBay books from patso330 and gmas7readers.  The current listings are on the right side of this page. Click on titles to go to my eBay page for more information.

Mummies in the Morning, book #3 in The Magic Tree House Series

Mummies in the MorningMummies in the Morning (Secret of the Pyramid in the U.K.), is the third book in the Magic Tree House series written by Mary Pope Osborne. Boys and girls about 6-9 years old will enjoy this book of fantasy and adventure.

Jack and Annie have returned from their last adventure when they hear a strange sound coming from the tree house, which Jack believes to be a coughing noise. Being curious, they wonder if the sound they hear may be whoever it is who puts all of the wonderful books inside the tree house.

 

Once Jack and Annie determine that there is no one around the Magic Tree House, Annie pulls out a book about ancient Egypt. Jack flips through to a page of the book marked with a bookmark and the tree house, once again, begins to spin when he points to a picture of a pyramid. From here, the adventure takes off spinning all kinds of fun and wonder for young readers.

In Mummies in the morning, Jack and Annie find they have landed in the desert when the tree house becomes still. Now Jack and Annie become involved in secret codes, decoding hieroglyphs, and other adventures. After the siblings find the queen mummy and discover the Book of the Dead, they return it to Hutepi, Queen of the Nile, so she can travel to the next life after 1,000 years of waiting for someone who would help her find the book and then  return to the Magic Tree House.

The Magic Tree House books offer plenty of adventure and a few surprises along the way, and are highly educational, helping children read while developing active imaginations. Mummies in the Morning offers suspense and intrigue, a “magic” formula found in all of the books depicting the exciting adventures and travels in which Jack and Annie find themselves involved.

 

 

 

The Knight At Dawn, book #2 in The Magic Tree House Series

 The Knight at Dawn (The Castle of Mystery in the United Kingdom), is the second book in the Magic Tree House 100_8960series written by Mary Pope Osborne. This is a children’s chapter book filled with tales of fantasy and adventure. This book is high interest for boys and girls in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, about 6 to 9 years old.

In the Knight at Dawn, Jack and Annie are transported back to the middle ages after Annie finds a book in the magic tree house about castles and knights. The story is mesmerizing, as the tree house begins to spin after Annie discovers the book, and ultimately lands in front of a castle.

The Knight at Dawn is about the children’s magical journey into the castle where, before they are caught by the guards, they witness many interesting and unusual goings-on inside, including crocodiles swimming in the moat, feasts featuring peacocks, armor, weapons, and more! After Jack tries on a helmet, making a noise, Jack and Annie are captured by the guards of the castle. But, ultimately, Jack and Annie are rescued by a knight on a horse who delivers them safely back to the tree house where their adventure began.

The Knight at Dawn is a compelling story that fuels children’s imaginations and helps them become comfortable with chapter books. This book, like others in this series, makes reading fun for children so they look forward to Jack and Annie’s next adventure in The Magic Tree House.

Magic Tree House Series of Chapter Books

100_87391What better place to find books for children who love to read than in the Magic Tree House, which Jack and Annie find is filled with books!

This series of chapter books is for the child about age 7-10 and  is in the 2nd and 3rd grade.  There are 28 books in the original series by Mary Pope Osborne.  Reading levels for books 1-28 range from 2.6 to 3.4. The Magic Tree House books provide fun reading while teaching about times in history, different cultures, myths, and mysteries.  This series of  children’s books is a best seller in North America and is also available in many languages so children from many countries can enjoy reading the Magic Tree House books.

After the original series of 28 books,  Mary wrote the Magic Tree House “Merlin Missions” books.  Jack and Annie continue their adventures with Merlin the Magician. These 22 books are longer and increasingly more difficult. In this series, Jack and Annie go on adventures to fictitious places in the first few books,  then travel to actual locations in accurate time periods. Reading levels for Merlin Missions books 29-50 range from 3.6 to 4.0.

To further the learning experience, there are 28 Research Guides which are nonfiction companion books that accompany the original series of 28 books. This collection of books is now referred to as The Magic Tree House Fact Tracker series. Reading levels for this series range from 4.4 to 5.2.

MAGIC TREE HOUSE BOOKS

1 Dinosaurs Before Dark

2 The Knight at Dawn

3 Mummies in the Morning

4 Pirates Past Noon

5 Night of the Ninjas

6 Afternoon on the Amazon

7 Sunset of the Sabertooth

8 Midnight on the Moon

9 Dolphins at Daybreak

10 Ghost Town at Sundown

11 Lions at Lunchtime

12 Polar Bears Past Bedtime

13 Vacation Under the Volcano

14 Day of the Dragon King

15 Viking Ships at Sunrise

16 House of the Olympics

17 Tonight on the Titanic

18 Buffalo Before Breakfast

19 Tigers at Twilight

20 Dingoes at Dinnertime

21 Civil War on Sunday

22 Revolutionary War on Wednesday

23 Twister on Tuesday

24 Earthquake in the Early Morning

25 Stage Fright on a Summer Night

26 Good Morning Gorillas

27 Thanksgiving on Thursday

28 High Tide in Hawaii

MAGIC TREE HOUSE MERLIN MISSIONS

29 Christmas in Camelot

30 Haunted Castle on Hallow’s Eve

31 Summer of the Sea Serpent

32 Winter of the Ice Wizard

33 Carnival at Candlelight

34 Season of the Sandstorms

35 Night of the New Magicians

36 Blizzard of the Blue Moon

37 Dragon of the Red Dawn

38 Monday with a Mad Genius

39 Dark Day in the Deep Sea

40 Eve of the Emperor Penguin

41 Moonlight on the Magic Flute

42 A Good Night for Ghosts

43 Leprechaun in Late Winter

44 A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time

45  A Crazy Day with Cobras

46 Dogs in the Dead of Night

47 Abe Lincoln At Last

48 A Perfect Time For Pandas

49 Stallion by Starlight

50 Hurry Up Houdini

MAGIC TREE HOUSE RESEARCH GUIDES AND FACT TRACKERS

1 Dinosaurs

2 Knights and Castles

3 Mummies and Pyramids

4 Pirates

5 Rain Forests

6 Space

7 Titanic

8 Twisters and other Terrible Storms

9 Dolphins and Sharks

10 Ancient Greece and the Olympics

11 American Revolution

12 Sabertooths and the Ice Age

13 Pilgrims

14 Ancient Rome and Pompeii

15 Tsunamis and Other Natural Disasters

16 Polar Bears and the Arctic

17 Sea Monsters

18 Penguins and Antarctica

19 Leonardo da Vinci

20 Ghosts

21 Leprechauns and Irish Folklore

22 Rags and Riches: Kids in the Time of Charles Dickens

23 Snakes and Other Reptiles

24 Dog Heroes

25 Abraham Lincoln

26 Panda and Other Endangered Species

27 Horse Heroes

28 Magic Tricks from the Tree House

 

 

Biscuit, the Little Yellow Puppy that Helps Young Children Learn to Read!

100_8817The author of the Biscuit series, Alyssa Satin Capucilli, knows exactly what content to put in the Biscuit books that the young child will enjoy. After all, what entices a 4-7 year old to read, more than an adventurous little yellow puppy named Biscuit?

The Biscuit books have basic words and lots of pictures. There is a lot of repetition which helps children learn and remember the new word. The content of each book goes along with the child’s day to day activities and social situations, such as taking a bath, going to bed, and going to the doctor.

Your child or your students will learn fast and will enjoy each new adventure, so be sure you have a good selection of Biscuit books in your home library or your kindergarten or 1st grade classroom library if you are a teacher. Children’s books are expensive so you could buy used children’s books on eBay or from garage sales and your child or students will be able to read them over and over as little children love to do.

BISCUIT BOOK LIST:
Biscuit
Finds a Friend
Bathtime
Picnic
Happy Birthday
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Easter
Christmas
Valentine’s Day
Time to Paint
Day at the Beach
New Trick
Merry Christmas
Earth Day Celebration
And the Little Pup
Goes to School
Hello Biscuit
Visits the Petting Zoo
Wants to Play
Wins a Prize
Meets the Class Pet
Big Friend
Takes a Walk
Lost Teddy Bear
MInd Your Manners
Visits the Big City
Visits the Farm
100th Day of School

Starting your first classroom library with used children’s books

Preparing your first classroom for the arrival of your students is an exciting time in your teaching career. The library is one of the most important segments of your classroom and can also be the most expensive.  If you are like most teachers, there is not a large source of funds to work with, whether you are using school funds or money from your own pocket.

When planning your classroom library, choose used children’s books to save money.  To start, aim for 10-15  books per student providing a balance of fiction and non-fiction books.  Provide books that reflect the range of reading levels for the grade that is being taught so your children will have a wide variety of choices within their reading level range. Your collection of used children’s books should offer a nice variety of older classics along with newer published books. Having complete series of popular children’s literature will assure that when your student finishes a book from the series, he will have access to the next book in the series. You might wish to have more than one complete series of the most popular sets.

Now the time has finally come! Actually purchasing your books is the fun part! There are many inexpensive places to buy used children’s books, which will free up some of your funds for other classroom projects.

1) Many garage sales have books that have been outgrown and are ready to pass on to others at a reasonable price. This is a good source of books, especially if you live in a warm climate, but is a seasonal option for those who live in colder areas.

2) Library book sales are another place to find used children’s books for your classroom.  Check your newspaper or library web site to find sales near you. Many large libraries have a sale in the spring and another in the fall. You will find discontinued library books and donated books by library patrons. many of these books will have library markings but are still quite readable.

3) For an economical way to stock your classroom library with a wide variety of books of your choice is to buy used children’s books, in great condition, on eBay. You can choose and order the exact books or series that you want in your classroom library without waiting for them to appear at a garage sale or library sale. Most sellers use media rate shipping, for books, from the United States postal service, which keeps shipping costs down, thus keeping total costs of your classroom library to a minimum. Also, most eBay sellers combine shipping costs when you purchase more than one set of books. This is another way to save money when you buy used children’s books on eBay.

4) Though not inexpensive, both new and used children’s books can be purchased on Amazon. This might be an option when you need just a book or two to fill out a series. Unfortunately, shipping is usually a big expense as, in many instances, the shipping is as much as the cost of the book!

Buying used children’s books for the teacher’s classroom library can be a fun and rewarding endeavor for the lover of kid’s books. Now that you have amassed the information you need to help you start your first classroom library, enjoy the experience and happy book shopping!