Used bookstores

When I was growing up, I found bookstores to be a magical place and that hasn't really changed. What has changed is the overwhelming increase in prices. I know this is due to the economy and the invention of e-readers. That's all well and good, but it also means that the price of used books are higher too (unless you hit up library book sales, thrift stores, and yard sales) at your local used book stores.

I typically avoid used bookstores. The one in my hometown is extremely overpriced and the ones in neighboring cities aren't much better. They can't really help the situation. (And I can't really help the fact that I absolutely HATE reading books via computers/e-readers/tablets...this also goes for speech articles.) This results in the endless search for some recently released book for roughly a year or more at Goodwill. 

I went out to my old college town this weekend to see my "big sister." As I have briefly mentioned in previous posts, I went to a woman's college for my undergraduate education. My college has a lot of atypical college traditions but it also has some of the more traditional things too. We have a voluntary big sister-little sister tradition that most traditional students enjoy. It has the potential to create life-long friendships and definitely worked in my case. I see my "big" every couple of months or so back at our old stomping grounds. On this particular visit, we stopped off at the local used bookstore. 

Edward McKay Used Books & More

It was a piece of nostalgia as we often attempted to buy and sell textbooks here. The store layout has changed and we are no longer college students. Yet, the sweet smell of well-loved books and some not so loved remains the same. To my surprise, I even ended up buying books to use with my kiddos this time. I couldn't resist purchasing Jan Brett books for $2.20 and my teacher's discount helped save almost $1. 

If you have never used a Jan Brett book in therapy or when reading to your child, you need to try one out a.s.a.p.! I love her illustrations and the layout of her books. Each page shows a glimpse of what will happen next in the story. It's great for predictions and story-sequencing. The stories also have great messages that teach valuable life-lessons. I used her the Mitten and the Hat last year with craft activities. My favorite was having the students put the animals in their very own mitten as we read the story. It was wonderful for sequencing.

Jan Brett has many coloring pages for Hedgie on her website. http://www.janbrett.com/activities_pages.htm

Ideas for this book.

For Armadillo Rodeo, I can already see the students designing their very own cowboy boot and answering questions about the story following my story-rope. They may even find a "picture" of Carmen at a rodeo tucked carefully inside (with no written note this time lol) as we continue to search for clues.