It pays to have connections…
Two strollers, one teenager, five children, and a bookstore! Whee!
We went looking for a couple of copies of Ish, by Peter Reynolds, a book I adore, to be given as gifts. But let two bibliophiles (and five trainee bibliophiles) enter a bookstore, and you’re not going to exit with a mere two books!
We picked up a few other books, and then, when we were at the till the owner (a friend and mother of a former daycare tot) dashed into the back room. Seems that sometimes books are deemed too damaged for sale… but they can be given away!
We scored two brand-new books. One was DOG, a push-pull book with a teeny-weeny tear on the cover, and one push-pull tab that neither pushed nor pulled. It’s not one I’d have chosen — dog-lover though I am, it’s more than I’d usually pay for a gimmick book that, despite my best efforts, will almost surely be broken even further in short order. However, I am a dog-lover, the book is cute as can be, and I’m delighted to have it.
(Especially that page with the dog peeing on the tree. Ha!)
The other? As far as I can make out, the ONLY thing wrong with it was that it was bent in a rather dramatic curve. An hour later, with a little reverse-bending and strategic flattening, and it is… absolutely perfect.
And it is the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. Stick, by Steve Breen, an utterly delightful book about an independent frogling and his amazing adventures, beautifully illustrated.
The pictures are fun — I laughed out loud at the expression on the woman’s face when the frog-stuck-to-a-dragonfly whizzed through her livingroom — and the whole book so delightfully playful that I was more than happy to read it three times in succession, a treat demanded by children who fell in love with “the funny frog” within the first two pages of the first reading.
I love this book! I’d have paid the $8.50 ($6.99 US) without hesitation. To score such a terrific book for free???
It made my day. Totally.
🙂
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It's Not All Mary Poppins 
I had read lots of good books and the occasional pathetic book (even found misspelling in one!) for three years before it dawned on me that I could trash/give away the worst ones and only read the stuff I like. I’m brilliant, I know. Free books may be subjected to different standards for a while, but even a free lousy book won’t make it too long. A friend who owns a book store must be tended with love!
The only thing better than a new book is a free new book.
That’s spectacular! I’ve been honing my skills at the local used bookstore (where Jeffrey’s books are usually fifty cents), but free books are just a treasure!
I know all too well what you mean about bookstores, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
My 9-year old stepson bought me the DOG book as a gift (he bought the companion CAT book for himself). It’s the thought that counts – and it is just too cute.
(And the dog peeing on the tree is my favorite, too! Sometimes I am younger than the 9-year-old.)
My son absolutely loves the DOG book, and the CAT book, and the TAILS book … (all by the same author). Those books definitely require some supervision to prevent ripping/tearing but they are so cute and well done.
I looove FREE books!
Now I’m gonna have to go get the frog book. It looks so cute!!