Thursday 12 January 2017

Searching for Second hand Children's Books

This is the second post in a series of two about which books to search for second hand. The first post dealt with specifically Christian authors whereas this post is more general.

I haven't read every book by these authors so use discretion. However, these are authors whose books I have enjoyed and are the authors that I look for in second hand shops. I'm sharing my secrets!

 R.J. Unstead was a headmaster and author of children's history books. I remember devouring his books when I was in school. We particularly like People in History which has short biographies of famous people in British history and lovely big font for early readers.

 Enid Blyton is well known and I wouldn't spend too much time looking for most of her books except for her Tales of Brave Adventure which is a child friendly retelling of Robin Hood and King Arthur. A book that I haven't seen, but is often recommended, is her Nature Lover's Book.

Barbara Willard wrote the Mantlemass series. I have only read one of these historical fiction books for older children but keep an eye open for the others. In addition, her book Penny Pony was a book that the children enjoyed a couple of years ago. An author worth checking out in the shelves.

BB was the pen name of Denys Watkins-Pitchford. We have only read Lord of the Forest which is a history and natural history of an oak tree in Sussex over several hundred years from the Middle Ages to the Second World War. However, he wrote many other books including the famous Brendon Chase.

Malcolm Saville wrote children's adventure stories set in Shropshire and Sussex. I loved these as a child and have some rather loved, tattered copies. Sadly, second hand copies are only available at enormous prices so I keep my tatty versions!

Ladybird history and nature books. These are famous and worth having despite the recent parodies. The history books, in particular, are often available relatively cheaply.

If you don't have a copy of Edith Holden's The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady then look for this. We dip into this book for nature study and usually have it open at the relevant month on our nature table.

Our copy of The Macmillan Treasury of Poetry for Children has been used so much that the covers are falling off. Again, worth looking for in second hand shops. 

I would love to have some tips about which out of print/older children's books you recommend.

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