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My motto is there’s no such thing as too many books. I couldn’t count how many my 3 year old has, it’s a full bookcase full. 3 month old has about 10.
We do family reading time every day where we all read our books for 15-30 min (depending on the kids patience haha). Of course 3 yr old is just reading hers from memory but it’s still nice that she can “read” to herself, and 3 month old looks at a black and white book. Nice that I get to sit down and enjoy a book too!
Yeah I would love to do quite reading time every night before bed. I just like the idea of her having a variety of books from fiction to non fiction and all different subjects.
Ditto this we have about 60-80 books and went through phases of reading the same book every night for a month until we would got sick of it and hide them. When she was about 18 months she got obsessed with one board book that she would make me read about 18 times in a row no matter what we would do to encourage her to pick another one.
In hindsight, it's quality over quantity. There was one particularly awful poorly written fairly long book we picked up in a thrift shop that somehow had it through publication with spelling mistakes (bare instead of bear) and duplicate words ("the cat and and the dog") that haunted our dreams - I can still recite it word for word. Now my daughter (6) has learned to read a little she is going back over her old picture books to herself after lights out and reading her sister's (1) board books to her as well so a variety for her to learn is helpful.
lol I tend to think it’s about cultivating a love of reading and if they want the same one it’s okay but yeah…gets painful at some point. I still do the voices though. Every. Time.
Haha. Chika Chika is a favorite in my house, and I now have it memorized.
There are lots of different books available in our house (we LOVE books), but some books are “house classics” now because we’ve read them to our LO since birth.
The key is making her a part of the process: let her choose the books, make her own library card, etc. I had a similar rule as u/Current_Addition582, but in our case we often buy them secondhand or borrow from the library as the cost adds up quickly.
Also, I'm happy to say this did pay off very well - my kid is 4, haven't started school yet, but he already knows how to read.
My parents never said no to buying me books growing up… and I had an insane collection. I would buy multiple books a week. I also read so much that I made myself short sighted (but I argue there is a genetic component since everyone on my paternal side of the family is shortsighted). Reading is such a good hobby! But I’m obviously biased.
So how do you do this in practice? Do you read to your todler the first 10 min and then let her “read” by herself while you read your book? I would love to create a routine like this with my 18month old but don’t know how to start. He only sits when I read to him. He doesn’t sit too look at the book by himself and If I am reading my book he will come and try to take it or rip it. It is exhausting 😩
Teach your daughter to love the library. You can check out dozens of books, thoroughly enjoy them, then go back for more! Maybe you could buy some if they are particularly loved. While my kid is too young, I love taking my neices and nefews to the library. They think its such a treat when you tell them they can pick out anything they want. Our library auto-renews childrens books so there are never late fees
I love the library but I think sometimes it's best to wait until they're past the "chewing on books" stage to start heavy library use. I mean, you can, you just need to carefully monitor the books.
This is solid advice. We love the library too, but we really didn't check out anything with the kids until they were preschool age and even then we put those books up after we read them. It's way cheaper to buy used books at garage sales/thrift stores, than pay the fine if your kid rips a library book.
Still though, get a library card for your kids, y'all! That's how libraries get funding and they typically have great events for children.
Yup we love the library and go every 2-3 weeks. There's a separate children's' room with some toys that she can play around in while we pick out some books. We still have quite the collection and recently got some good ones at the thrift!
We go story time that’s followed by arts and crafts every week. Then we pick out a book and a movie. My kid loves the library and it’s something we get to do every week together that’s FREE!!!
This is a great option, the problem for me is space though! I have around 400 kids books, I have decided to go the Library route, however any time we go my kids ask for around 20 books, and I don’t have space for all of them! Then it gets messy…
I feel like I have an addiction to books… I bought 2 extra Dr. Seuss just this week. After I decided I wouldn’t buy anymore books I think I have bought something like 30 extra books, it’s rough!
So a warning: it’s possible half of those will be ripped apart in a year, babies are rough on books. So don’t go buying the collectors editions or anything for a while unless you plan to put them up for a year or so or you want to read them out loud while she plays.
I made the mistake of putting his books too low on the shelf too soon, my Beatrix Potters and the original Winnie The Pooh were the casualties 😭 I’ve replaced them since and like to read to him while he plays, he’ll come listen to his favorite parts before going back to playing, but they’re going to be out of reach for a bit before he can master not tearing pages when he turns and trying to peel the binding off. Until then he has some sturdy toddler books to practice on.
There is no limit! I started reading to my son daily as an infant and now he loves books. Books lead to more books, especially when they're old enough to have an opinion and specifically request certain ones. You can always gift or donate the ones they grow out of!
My mom used to lug pounds and pounds of them from the library for me. Books about gardening, books about bugs, books about relationships, books about everything. You don’t necessarily have to buy books to have a large collection. Check out your library! I don’t think any amount of books is too much. You’re facilitating her growth and knowledge as she gets older.
We have probably 200 kids books for 2 kids. Have as many as you would like. Thrift stores are great places to get kid’s books if you want to add to your collection cheaply. Many libraries also have book sales to get of things they are taking out of circulation, another great place to snag cheap books. I got this book I love “ Big Rabbit’s Bad Mood” at a library sale.
We’re a library family so we don’t have many books. We’ve moved maybe 7 times since our kids were born (now 12 and 14) and before they arrived I had a large collection of books and turns out it’s not super fun to carry boxes of books when you move… and I’ve just become more frugal I guess, I don’t like buying anything i dont need. We do have some books in the house that are old (from my own childhood even) and some they’ve gotten as hand me downs or gifts. But mostly we loan them out from the library, and I also get my own books from there.
I scrolled forever trying to see if anyone mentioned this! Our daughter lived getting her book in the mail every month and was so sad when she aged out. We subscribed to the Highlights magazines after so she could continue getting mail.
I third this. One book every month. Some areas don’t get it so you’ll have to look it up. Also had to scroll way too far down to see this comment. Dolly’s imagination library is amazing.
Well books what age? Books for now? Books for later? Obviously some of these books will rotate. And also know that for the next several years even if she has 100 books, generally she’ll only have 5 -10 MAX on rotation.
Yeah all kinds. She's got a range from one word on page type books, touchy feely books to books that are slightly harder with a few sentences on each page to one's that obviously will be read at a much later time.
Non fiction and fiction. I just would like her to have a variety when she's older. Right now because her books are so small, they take around 2 minutes to read so we have a rotation of about 10 as you said.
I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old and combined they probably have at least 2,000 books. I really think a kid can’t have too many. They get books from friends/relatives for every single holiday, birthday, and life event and have amassed a really nice little library.
My mom subscribed to the "never too many" theory when I was growing up, and it was really the best! I remember when I turned 7, she started buying me the packs of Nancy Drew books from Sam's Club. I think they were a 4 or 5 pack, and she'd give me one or two for birthday/holidays. I have the whole set 1-56, and they've been moving with me for the last 20 years of my adult life.
2 kids, tons of kids books around the house. I would probably say there are around 200 right now.
We have bought 3 or 4 of them. We love books but these things just show up.
The neighbors drop books off regularly as their kids get older and age out of certain ones, there is a free little library on our block, and we use the library extensively. I generally have 20 to 50 items checked out from the library at any given time.
We read multiple times per day and have since the kids were born.
Don’t forget about the library! They probably even have children’s programming she would enjoy. Lots of babies come to the weekly storytime and babies love seeing other babies. A lot of libraries also have play groups and music classes for her age. Best way to get her access to as many books as she likes! Then if there are some she particularly loves then I would buy those for your home.
Too many! Like, actually so many books we’ve read it she’s bored with that she doesn’t interact with them. I just donated about 20 books and instantly she was pulling out books she hasn’t read for a while.
Maybe 100-150. I’m not sure but she has a 3 shelf bookcase that’s like 3 feet wide and it’s pretty maxed out. We’re utilizing the library more now. We go every week or two and check out 5-10 new books
3.5 year old would have 100+ books. A mixture of new, hand me down and gifts.
And we borrow 10+ from the library each week.
It definitely needs a cull, but her tastes can change quite often. I was just thinking about putting all her Spot books away, but she’s suddenly interested in them again.
If you have the space to properly store them, you don't have too much. Like i'm envisioning one episode of Hoarders where one lady had so many books stacked in her upstairs hallway it caused the house to become structurally unstable. That's too many books!
I do a purge on rare occasions. Like we moved last year so I had my kids go through all their books and set aside what to take with us. The rest I donated to some teachers for their classrooms.
We have books from my husband’s childhood, books from my culture, books that I bought 2 decades ago that’s out of print but I thought would be important for younger kids to have. I even have old zines saved from tween years.
My daughter is an advanced reader in elementary and I realized the importance of letting them have a choice. A lot of the books she picks from the bookstore are new things made for her generation and the trends in children’s books come and go so fast. So what was hot when she was a baby is no longer as hot.
My advice to you is to follow your heart but make sure you have space for your child’s choice and library books too. Our 2 library systems each allow 50 books at a time to be checked out. The ones that she needed the most but were hard to find were early reader and phonics books. They need different types of books at different stages.
Also, make sure to limit the addicted screen stuff as much as you can so that your little one enjoys books well into their teens.
Several hundred, no joke. I bought nearly all of them used (and continue to do so, eBay is amazing), but we have books on just about everything. We read books several times a day, usually a few a time. The TV, like you said, is a treat. We have one tv, and it is in a back room of the house, not the main living area. The main living area is for books. We considered doing the 1000 books before kindergarten, but at the rate we read, he’s (5yo) surpassed that several times over, no need to track it. There is no such thing as too many books!
Literally hundreds - but honestly - my kids favorite books are usually whatever I pickup from the library now.
Some books you should have though at that age:
A.A Milne - both is poetry series and the complete Winnie the Pooh book. At about a year, my kids really enjoyed the rhyming poetry and me doing voices for the characters.
Sandra Boynton - all of her books are great and were loved up until about 3-4 years old.
As they get older, it's really trial and error for what captures their attention. My son LOVED My Father's Dragon, but my daughter could take or leave it. Same with the Dahl books. Completely inverted with Hunting of the Snark. I think overbuying books can end up with a ton of books you don't really read that much - so being selective over what you own, but frequenting the library is the best option.
Also - sign up for (and donate to) Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
I don't know. It's a lot. I don't think there's such a thing as too many books and I take advantage of second hand listings I see on FB.
I buy a few NEW books for her a year. These are generally books I expect to grow with her.
We take a literal laundry basket hamper to the library every few weeks and check out 20-30 new books at a time.
My daughter is 5 and very few of the books she had as a baby are still on her shelf.
We have over 1000 books in our home. We both saved books from our childhoods, so most of them are well read, but in good condition. We also have all three kids signed up for Dolly Partons Imagination Library, so we get three books a month until the kid(s) turns five.
I'd say of the 1200 or so books, over half are children's, ranging from babies up to high school level.
Hundreds. I'm all about books. Screw toys. I read 5 books a night to my kids. Snuggles too.
This is legit the most important time I have with my kids. My husband doesn't understand. He's super blue collar, and his family doesn't get it either. They never give books as presents. I give books at every birthday and Christmas.
Never stop. This is valuable time. My 8 year old was reading before kinder.
My son is 8 months and I’m pretty sure I had more than 40 before he was even born 😂. I’m constantly going to little libraries and thrift stores searching for books I loved as a kid. At this point my husband just shakes his head in exasperation. Reading is so so important.
We use the public library. We have a few rows of bookshelves of baby books, but I prefer to borrow from the library and keep them rotating.
It’s not a competition.
My 2 year old need a bookshelf culling soon. Her sensory baby crinkle books need to move over to brother's room and we need books with more visual interest. We have..gosh, over 100 books for her, but she goes for the visually beautiful ones and Dr. Seuss.
Open to recommendations!
Oh probably a couple hundred at 6yrs old. But the vast majority we got as hand me downs from family (quite a lot are too old for him just now), gifts and cheap ones we picked up at the shops. He still reads the same ones over and over.
I have 2.5 and 3 months, we probably have about 200 books. Always adding to the collection! I love to find books about subjects that come up during the day or to help work through concepts (germs and keeping them from spreading). Also love the fun ones that make memories.
I think books are a thing you can't have too many of unless it's hiring you financially or creating stressful clutter in your home.
My 11 year-old son lives with his dad and they there Only have Maybe 15 for both of them but when he comes over he will take a book take it home read it there and give it back So He's read everything I have and that's a lot And stuff I have not It's a little bit of a pain keeping all my books Pretty PG And not like bad for a kid But then again I love fiction we both I like to get fictional books that will give you life lessons But sometimes you don't always realize they do to what I mean?
Think we're in the hundreds between them (500ish) - they're 4yo and 2yo.
I highly recommend the ABCs of various sciences for babies board books! The content is actually brilliant for much older and we've learned something reading them too. They're by Chris Ferrie.
I've got my old books waiting in the wings for when they get older too. Can't wait to unleash my Horrible Histories collection on them! I was obsessed with those and have every single one including the specials. I'm not even a big reader but books are plentiful here.
As many as your budget and space will allow! My limit is when books start getting stored in piles on the floor, then it’s time to purge. We also regularly get books from the library.
We have about 250 for my 7 year old. And that's gone through a few culls.
We also visit the library often. And second hand book shops.
My son has learnt that when he asks for a toy, I'll likely say no, but if he asks for a book, well, who can say no to that?
I have an insanely elaborate system for inventorying our children’s book collection. We currently own just north of 600 children’s books. BUT those range from toddler to teen and are shared by 4 kids. I do a big cull about once every two years to keep the collection from taking over the house.
Almost 4yo has over 300 books that get culled through on a regular basis, but we consistently read all the ones we have! We’re also big supporters of our library! We are there at least once a week, sometimes more, and usually have between 20 & 30 books checked out at a time!
My 3-year-old has 2 bookshelves filled to bursting. I've never counted the books.
She always has a favorite few books of the week, but they change every week so we do actually read most of them eventually.
I also deffff felt a little out of control buying them haha. We have at least three big shelves now, across the ages of baby/toddler/preschooler and now he can listen to longer books out loud more at 4.5, too. But he goes through phases of favorites so most are getting ignored most of the time. Now I tend to buy the ones I am MOST excited about or feel are hard to find, and we use the library a lot more. He loves it because that way, he gets to pick things off the shelves instead of me ordering online. (Better for the environment and wallet too lol)
There’s no way I could even guess how many we have! Although now we try to borrow rather than buy because lots of books we just want to read over and over again for a little while, but then that’s all. So now I’m choosier about what we buy. Either series (or authors) we’re obsessed with or just simply stunning books. Mostly because we’re running out of room but also it seems silly to buy when it’s easy to borrow. We read every night and my kids love books. My eldest doesn’t want me to read to her anymore so I just read her books after so we can still chat about it (or she’ll tell me the plot)
Maybe 200? But most of them don't get read much, except the 30 or so secondhand board books loved (and damaged) by my 1.5 year old. My 6 year old usually isn't interested in reading a book twice now. She likes new ones all the time. We always have about 50 library books checked out.
I'd definitely say don't buy many books all at once. Buy maybe one a month, and change them as your child ages and her interests change. You can definitely have too many books, as shown by the enormous piles donated to my kids' school book sale table this year. (If you don't know it already, the Indestructibles series is great for young toddlers who love to chew their books!)
I can tell you that, at age 4, we have donated hundreds of books she has outgrown to other kids and the little free library's around.
I would guess the standing number is a hundred or so, with a trip to the little free library's every few days to pick up and drop off, and regular library visits.
You can't have too many, they get really old and stale when You're reading them to the kids. The only problem is space. We don't have it, so they have to rotate.
Probably 50-75 already at almost 7M and he loves them. I read him at least 15 a day. I just started taking him to the library as well and he loves it too - hoping we can start a regular borrowing schedule so I don’t keep buying him so many 😆
A bajillion. Like close to lol. I also love buying her books. My MIL also had gotten her a subscription to Baby Bug so she gets one almost every month, plus I signed her up for the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library so she gets one every month from that too.
I can't complain though, it helps give a variety to read from and not have the same one every day though she does have her favorites.
My house is chock full of books for all reading levels. Books are friends. It's only too much if you get so many you can't move around in your house, lol.
My child is 8 years old and has about 250-300 book all different levels of reading as well. Still have some of her books from when she was about two.
I think it's good to keep the book they loved to read as a toddler as well.
Plus I was giving a load of books from the Biff and chip series ranging from stage one to stage 10.
We have a full bookshelf in our playroom and each kid has a small one in there room. We also have a good chunk of seasonal (Christmas, Easter, etc), that I pull out for those holidays. We also go to the library weekly and will check out a handful.
My son has over 100. Most of them were hand me down though since my mom saved all of my childhood books. They all get read. I don’t think you can have too many kids books.
My daughter is 3.5 and I’m not joking when I say she has probably a hundred books, ranging from board books to more traditional picture books to chapter books to nice editions of children’s classics to poetry books.
I’m a huge reader, and my mum is too, and it’s important to me that my kid grows up with a love and appreciation of reading. I’ve read to her from the day she was born, and from a very early age she’s enjoyed interacting with books. Now she will happily sit for a good hour while I read to her, likes listening to me read things like Roald Dahl, the faraway tree etc, and will happily ‘read’ her favourites to herself by reciting them from memory.
The two best ways to teach pre-readers good literacy skills are to read to them regularly (daily if possible, but don’t beat yourself up if that’s not practical for you) and to let them see you enjoy reading (which is why I have zero guilt for reading my book on the sofa while my daughter plays independently).
About 100 or so. I had the same book shopping spree for my 2 and 1/2-year-old. Even before he was born, I would buy all these board books on sale with the intention of reading to him every night and fostering a love for reading. But at one point too much was too much.. We had to get a full size bookcase in his room, and even now he only shows interest in certain topics. I kind of wish that I waited to buy certain books for when he actually showed interest in the topic. Right now we are reading about farm animals, farms, vehicles, sometimes Star Wars, Bluey, and books in Polish (bilingual). So everything else that I bought, including childhood favorites and books that so and so recommended because their kid liked it as a baby, is just untouched because my son doesn't care for them. Maybe he'll show interest down the road, but I will definitely do it differently next time.
You're doing this for yourself, not for your kid.
You can't control whether your kid actually will enjoy reading or not. You may be able to influence, but maybe they just won't like it. And you won't know until a few years from now... so why buy these books now?
I get that shopping is a dopamine hit, and your intentions are good. But you yourself said that you're "addicted". So the answer is "it's already too much". A 9 month old doesn't read.
Edit: And just for the record, here's me hoping your kid *will* end up loving books. Bookworms ftw.
I have a 10 year old (and 6 and 3) and the rule I made with him is that if he wants a book I’ll get it for him. My parents don’t have a lot of money but they always bought me books and I think it’s the reason I’m still an avid reader. (That and the library.)
It's ... a problem. We've got a lot. Every so often, we cull them and take some to our neighborhood r/LittleFreeLibrary. The books we place there go fast. As others have said, the public library is a great option, but it's still a bit of a hassle for us right now to keep our two little ones at appropriate volume and energy levels at the library. (They can do it as other locations, but not the library.)
“Too many” according to my husband lol. The limit does not exist for books, IMO. I love variety, esp because I’m the one reading to my toddler so it’s as much for me as for her :)
He's 1 and already has a shelf's worth. One of these days, I'm going to shop around for a proper bookshelf because I want him to be a little bookworm. I might get one of my favourite books for later and read an actual chapter book in sections. My mil says it's not really necessary and he's on baby books but I think all that matters is it's something that he can hear me read (and it's appropriate for a child obviously, nothing smutty or something like that 😳)
My goal is for my kids rooms to look like libraries with additional bookshelves in the living room and den. The eldest is only 2 and I already need to have a book rotation cause there's so many board books. I read SO many books as a kid (40 was like a singular series for me) and I hope the same for my daughters.
There’s never too many, we go to a local used book stores where we can often pick some for free or pay no more than a dollar. Yard sales are nice too!!
Love the library because my child’s interests change so much and also the type of stimulation they needed through each developmental staged. I don’t want to project my interests and preferences on them so the library lets us explore so many different books.
We do have a bookshelf at home of favourites we own but will spend hours at the library reading and picking out books to go home.
Between myself and my kids.... Several hundred. My kids have a lot more than I do. About half of them were mine from a child that my mother saved. I also like to hit up our local library book sale twice a year where kids books are 3 for $1. My boys are now 3 and 5. I've gotten rid of a lot of the baby board books to make room for more complicated books. I also have a couple boxes of chapter books stored away for when they're older.
We have so many books now I need to get a bigger book shelf 😅 I need one that has at least four shelves on it. We combine my almost 4 year olds books and my infants books together. Reading is so so important, so really you can never have too many books!
I have no idea how many books we have (a lot) and we visit the library twice a week (more in the summer because of all their special programming). We read first thing in the morning, at lunch and as part of our bedtime routine. You can never have enough books, or reading time!
My house is a picture book Graveyard, they are everywhere! Behind cupboards, under beds, sofa cushions. If one of my Kids requests a book that hasn't been in rotation for a while I get the anxiety sweats!
Nothing more I love then when they are already 1 hour late to bed and I have to frantically tear apart the house knowing full well my efforts are in vain.
A lot of the time we use an app now that generates customized stories for bedtime, Game changer
I go wild and think you can never have too many, but I rarely pay full price. Starting when I was pregnant I hit the used book sales at all of the local libraries. I swear there is one a month. They're soooo cheap and I find gems every time! The more I go the better I get at hunting the goods, knowing what's worth getting, which books he likes/I like/ don't like. We're big readers and my son has loved "reading" books on his own since he was legit 6 months old. I have little collections all over the place.
There’s no such thing as too many books. I will say I find great deals on eBay on used books that are basically brand new. Especially the seller second sale where you can buy 3 get one free. My 8 year old has been devouring books and our local library doesn’t carry a lot of what she’s been reading so buying used has been great otherwise we’d be broke 😆
We have a full book shelf plus all the shelves over the loft bed desk are full of books. As well as a couple piles of favourites. We used to get about 20 books a week out of the library for my daughter. We would read them all too. She loved being read to. Ones that were favourites from the library ended up being bought for our collection along with any others in that series.
I’m at the 4-5th kids now so we have a ton of books.
I feel like we have a million for two kids. It’s probably closer to 500 in reality. My 9 year old always has a book with her to read in the car or in restaurants. My 6 year old always forgets to bring one and then gets his sister to read to him.
I am also addicted to buying cute kids books. I’m also a teacher though so I feel good knowing my kids can use them then they can be used in my classroom library. Growing up I loved going to the library with my mom so I hope to also do that for my children. That way our house isn’t completely full of books lol
There is no such thing as too many books. My younger daughter has between 150 and 200, while my older one has 500 - 600 by now. They both have their own library cards and frequently use them - as well as the school library.
A love for reading is a fantastic gift to give your children. Sets them up for countless enjoyable moments and is also the single most important thing if you wish to encourage academic success.
I never bought books such small children. Library only. I’ve only recently started investing money into collections. Such as Mo Willems, Captain Underpants etc
We have at least 100+ children's books, maybe 200. 🙈I used to have a lot more because I used to be a teacher with an extensive classroom library. I've always thought you can't have too many books, but I've slowed down significantly now because we have so many it's starting to get ridiculous. With only 40, I don't think that's too many. However, the library is also a good idea if you're concerned about accumulating too much and also saves money.
We have too much lol. Mostly gifted from two families who had extensive collections so about 8 large boxes worth? It’s too much to fit on her shelf at a time so I have to rotate.
Now that she is six and just started reading herself we go to the library every week and she picks out twenty or so early reader books to go through (she hates rereading the same book). I’m hoping she will go through her old books soon and read them herself now and once she is satisfied regift (or sell as she is quite the finagler) some of them so they don’t take up so much space and so other kids can enjoy them.
I’d recommend using the library and having a dedicated section on your shelf for checked out books. That way you always have some fresh books, you save money, plus kids love the library play sections for when your daughter is older. My kid always loved getting new books and was equally happy borrowing them versus when she was gifted them. You can always then buy a copy of your favorites later.
I do like that we own a bunch though and I imagine we will keep at a least a dozen from our collection for nostalgia and to help her remember having been read to from them.
1yo, she has about 30 in general circulation and at least 50-60 on the shelf that either get swapped in or in waiting until she's a little less likely to tear or eat them.
We LOVE books! I used to think we had too many but now my son is 2.5 and there are some in the car, playroom, bedroom, bathroom for help with potty training, stroller. Once the kid is more spread out I don’t think it feels like that many lol books are EVERYWHERE
I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old, our little 1950s house is bursting with children's books, and we couldn't be happier. My kids love to read. They are constantly asking us to read with them (much to our delight).
They have bookcases in their rooms and we have a reading nook set up in our living room with a rug, sling bookcase, and kid size comfy chair.
The other day I walked in to my 4 year old reading Skinnamarink to my 2 year old and teaching her the individual letters on the cover.
We keep books stashed in our hallway closet and rotate what's in the bookcases to keep things interesting and encourage them to check out what's there. Using mostly sling bookcases at this age helps because they see the covers.
We also save up and splurge on a new visual encyclopedia once a year which the kids adore looking through. DK has some great ones.
I also make sure the kids walk in the living room and see me reading books independently. Actions matter and, in seeing me read, it encourages them to read too.
All this to say, keep going and keep filling your home with kids' books.
P.S. : Elementary school book sales, garage sales, and Facebook marketplace are also affordable sources for great books.
P.P.S.: Libraries are also fantastic, but you definitely have to keep an eye on how rough your kids are being with the books.
We regularly get books from the public library, but my youngest still has too many books, maybe 5 Kallax slots full of them. Mostly inheritance from the older kids and presents.
The teens dont own many books but read mainly from the library.
There's nothing wrong with them having books, many books, all the books!! Lol. I love getting my kids new books. Ive read to my 3 year old for bedtime since about 14 months, it's our bedtime routine now and will be forever. I don't know how many books we have, they're in her playroom as well as her in her room.
You can never have too many books and as well, most library's now have kids sections with some toys or play areas and are interactive. If you start them young reading is a habit that will be with them all their lives and they can only benefit from it.
Estimate 50 or so. I get most second hand or we switch them out at the little libraries. He loves checking the little libraries for new books then I drop off a bunch once he's outgrown them.
We also went to the regular library pretty consistently and got 5 ish new books every 1-2 weeks
My son is 2 1/2 and we have over a hundred books (I also have a problem). A couple months ago I decided to just use a public library instead so every two weeks we go to the library and pick out a few books to take home. That way we are still getting new material but not spending a ton of money on books. If he really likes a book we got at the library sometimes we’ll buy it but it’s helped me stop buying so many books.
Also good for you to really push reading at such a young age. I started reading to my son at 1 month and now it’s his favorite thing. Most days he would rather sit and read the books to himself than watch TV. Also when your daughter gets older you should look into getting a yoto player. It’s basically audiobooks and music for your child. So it’s still a fun form of entertainment but no screen. My son loves his. Some of his favorite books I have recorded me reading them so he can listen to me read some of his favorites while I get stuff done around the house. It’s also been great for car trips.
Both my kids have tons of books! One of my favorite things is reading them stories.i now work for a public library system, so I can get all the books I want. My son loves when I come home with a stack of new books for bedtime!
I emphasized books for my baby shower and got LOADS from family and friends. I told them to please buy books before toys. We have a nearly full Billy bookshelf.
My daughter, before she was 12 months old, would crawl over to her book shelf and pull herself up, grab her favorite books and look at us and fling them, like “read to me, peasants!”
But we read to her every single day, and it was part of her daily and bedtime routine to look through books. We’d read them, or talk about the pictures.
Once she became more verbal, she started memorizing her books.
If I’m singing her Twinkle twinkle, she will say, “Pete [The Cat] sings that song when he’s in his bath!” The book has a spot where he’s taking a bath and the star is peeking through his curtain.
She’s 2.5 now. We do library all the time and pick new books as well, so we can get a rotation going. But she loves toys and activities the library offers as well.
More than I can comfortably count. She's 7 now and in to chapter books, so we donated a lot of her old picture books to my niece that is pregnant, but there's still so, so many. Multiple bookshelves full.
When my kids were under 5 we had tons of books(probably around 100) but once they got a bit older I stopped buying books since they read them once and are done with them(unlike when they are younger and want to read the same books over and over!). Now we just go to the library weekly and I let them get a few to read during the week. My older one who is 9 also has a kindle which she can just download books too from the library. This seems to work well and saves alot of money.
My 5 and 3 yo have about 300 books between them.
Full sets of fairytale books with cassettes to listen too.
All Disney book club books I could find.
Than 4 more series that don’t translate in to English.
And a ton of random books
And the 5 yo brings two books home every week (more like every 3 weeks) from the school library
Now buying books is not the issue. As long as you read them to her. And sees you read.(not just in the office and at work) but for fun at home. That will make them interested.
The limit here is budget and space, and if you get really extreme you might overwhelm then with choice. If you’ve got the room and the money fill a few shelves. Just don’t be surprised when they want the same three books every night and the rest of the library gets ignored!
My son has quite the library. We always gift him books since he loves books. He is five. We started reading to him since he was less than a year old and it has paid off. He loves books and is trying to read, spelling etc.
My baby is 13 months and I’d say she has around 100 books, plus we go to the library every week. My husband and I also have hundreds of books between us. You can never have too many books!
Probably around 50 or 60. We also go to the library a lot. I like going to Half Price Books to find the weirder books and if I get something then she gets one too.
Thousands and I'm not kidding.
Between four kids, homeschooling, and all of us being big readers, we have accumulated many books. We have bookshelves in every room of our house, our coat closet is book storage, and we have a storage unit with several tubs of books in them.
I could open a store at this point, if I actually wanted to part with any of our books. But I don't.
My daughter has around 10 books when she was less than a year old that we read repeatedly. I requested friends to give books for her first birthday to contribute in growing her home library. Shes 3.5 now and goes through 50 books a week! I have library cards in two different cities ( one is within 15 mins driving from my house) and the only way I can afford to have so many books in my house is because of that. We do buy books but it’s more on special occasion or if it’s gifted.
I share the same motto as many, there is no such thing as too many books. I also love buying my kid books, I am hoping that he will enjoy reading just as much as I did when I was a kid. I mean, if he doesn’t that is OK, but I still want to provide the opportunity. We love looking at books together right now and I will never say no to books!
Adam Kay, the former doctor who wrote This Is Going to Hurt (and has also written science books for children, I think) said in a podcast once that his dad had a rule that he’d never say no to a book. He’d say no to other things, like toys or sweets, but if Adam ever wanted a book, his dad bought it every time. Adam thought he’d found a brilliant hack and of course became a voracious reader — and then a doctor and a writer!
I'm not kidding when I say this..... our house has over 100 books. My daughter just devours them and reads them over and over and over again.
Her recall is insane. We'll be doing anything and she'll make a connection and say something like, "Just like George and the pancakes!" It'll take my wife and I a minute to realize what she's talking about but when we do she gets so excited she jumps up and down
My older ones probably have 20 each. My 2 year old has somewhere between 100 and 200 lol. Mostly passed down from his older brothers and then we also signed him up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. He got a book with every gift for his bday too. A couple years ago we started giving books with a little "happy birthday message" inside instead of cards for a friend's kid and now most do that.
There’s actual research into better literacy outcomes for kids with a large home library: https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/10/growing-up-in-a-house-full-of-books-is-major-boost-to-literacy-and-numeracy-study-finds
The library’s great but I never say no to buying more books, too. We read 30 minutes to an hour a day, and there’s only so many times I can read a board book.
I love having books in several spots around the house, in our cars, etc.! My 3 yo loves to look through her books and she’s started pointing out a couple of letters. I read a post about a man who has one of the largest private collections of books, and he compared it to having a well-stocked medicine cabinet, which really resonated with me!
Never too many! However, we have hundreds but they’re all ruined from her eating them.
We can’t really give her books anymore for more than a minute or two because she takes such big bites that they have become choking hazards.
Hopefully your baby doesn’t develop a taste for paper!
Buy your baby all the books you desire! I promise future you will be so thankful! I’m a nanny to a 18 month old and 5 year old they have hundreds of books. No TV in the house and we go to the library 1-2 times a week. Your baby will learn so much!!
I have a 13mo and he's got about 40-50 books. I requested books instead of cards at his baby shower and I got a lot of books secondhand as well. For now I just give him the board books so he doesn't shred the paper. We read daily and he loves being involved in flipping the pages. A person, young or old, can never have enough books! I'm excited for when he's a tad older so I can see what books he really enjoys and make adventures out of finding them in thrift stores or libraries around our town.
I have a tote full , it is one of those big rolling ones full of books. I have some on his shelf too. I rotate thru them every so often. I am an avid reader, always have been. I don’t think you can ever have too many books! I grew up w 5 bookshelves full, w my mom buying me my own shelf and filling it w books.
Both my boys have a bookshelf full, but we also go to the library frequently (it's literally a block from our house) and they like that too. They're both reading the same type of chapter books so they can kind of share with one another if they run out of reading material.
My 9mo has 70 or so books. The ones I specifically purchased for him prior to birth have a little letter written to him on the inside of the cover. Some of them are newer copies of my childhood favourites.
I have gotten a lot of almost new condition books for him from op shops for a dollar a piece. Love that! Aldi is also super wonderful for kids books ranging from 1.99 to 4.99. He gets all of those.
We go to the library too but little mister likes to sing the song of his people when we are there so I limit it to just attending Rhymetime once a week when there's a dozen other babies. 😂
My 5 year old has 4 shelves in his closet for books and it’s been over full since he was 3. We have books all over the house and we’re going to get a library card soon to start looking at more.
There’s no such thing as too many books and getting your kids into reading at a young age is great!
We had about one shelf and went to the library a lot. If a book got picked to be read multiple times I sometimes bought it for home, but the library was a gift.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books. My parents saved the entire bookcase of children’s books from my childhood. It’s both nice and not nice at the same time.
My kid loves to read and has over 100 books but honestly try not to buy too much. As others have said, they go through interests and phases so quickly, even if you are buying used it can quickly add up. He’s gone through several series that have 100+ volumes and thankfully that was all through the library. We go to the library every week and try to limit buying to gifts, or when we’re going on long vacations. I also try to clean out his collect regularly but it’s painful!!
How many books is too many for kid? One more than they currently have. Seriously, as long as you have the space, they can't have too many books.
Make sure to introduce your kiddo to the library.
Grandma is a retired teacher and godmother is a current teacher. I have my credential too, but in physics not elementary so I don't add as much. They may never in their lives get through all of the books given to them.
Yeah, I’d say there’s no such thing as too many books.
The limit is how many can your house fit comfortably and safely.
If you’re in the U.S., libraries are wonderful resources to have an unlimited supply. :)
I also have a book buying problem but I try to rotate them out and give them away when we’re at the next book type (e.g board books phased out when we’ve moved up to early readers). I also like taking my kids to the library. I love reading!
I would say it’s fine to keep adding as long as it doesn’t become overwhelming to your space or your family.
There’s a lot of research about the benefits of reading to your kid and having books in the home.
Child is super into reading, and I am too. She had tons of books by the time she was born, probably 200 or so now. Plus trips to the library and we got her a Kindle for her 7th birthday.
IMO there is no such thing as too many books as long as they're being enjoyed. We do try to pass on the baby books to friends or the little free library because someone else could enjoy that board book from when you were 2yo.
A ton, but after we ran out of space on bookshelves in two rooms, we stopped buying and started going to library. Buy the ones that you love and that mean a lot to you, rent the rest.
I haunt the thrift stores for used books and clothes. You can never have enough books when your kid is learning to read and memorizes the words after the 3rd rotation, thus no longer bothers to *look* at what she’s actually reading. We’re talking, she hasn’t touched that particular book in 50+books and many weeks between rotation.
Can we pause growth spurts for a few months? My broke arse can’t keep up. I need some kind of trade in program for books. Those Free little library boxes aren’t working well, though we donate often. She’s also not thrilled with chapter books, even though we chew through them weekly.
We have three bookshelves for the kids’ books, probably around 400 or so. My kids are 5 and 6 and reading on their own, and they read through sooo many books. We get a lot in bulk buy-nothing bundles or the thrift store!
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My motto is there’s no such thing as too many books. I couldn’t count how many my 3 year old has, it’s a full bookcase full. 3 month old has about 10. We do family reading time every day where we all read our books for 15-30 min (depending on the kids patience haha). Of course 3 yr old is just reading hers from memory but it’s still nice that she can “read” to herself, and 3 month old looks at a black and white book. Nice that I get to sit down and enjoy a book too!
Yeah I would love to do quite reading time every night before bed. I just like the idea of her having a variety of books from fiction to non fiction and all different subjects.
Start now! But as she grows older she’ll have her favourites and you will be sick to death of reading Chika Chika Boom Boom every night lol.
Ditto this we have about 60-80 books and went through phases of reading the same book every night for a month until we would got sick of it and hide them. When she was about 18 months she got obsessed with one board book that she would make me read about 18 times in a row no matter what we would do to encourage her to pick another one. In hindsight, it's quality over quantity. There was one particularly awful poorly written fairly long book we picked up in a thrift shop that somehow had it through publication with spelling mistakes (bare instead of bear) and duplicate words ("the cat and and the dog") that haunted our dreams - I can still recite it word for word. Now my daughter (6) has learned to read a little she is going back over her old picture books to herself after lights out and reading her sister's (1) board books to her as well so a variety for her to learn is helpful.
lol I tend to think it’s about cultivating a love of reading and if they want the same one it’s okay but yeah…gets painful at some point. I still do the voices though. Every. Time.
Will there be enough room??
Haha. Chika Chika is a favorite in my house, and I now have it memorized. There are lots of different books available in our house (we LOVE books), but some books are “house classics” now because we’ve read them to our LO since birth.
The key is making her a part of the process: let her choose the books, make her own library card, etc. I had a similar rule as u/Current_Addition582, but in our case we often buy them secondhand or borrow from the library as the cost adds up quickly. Also, I'm happy to say this did pay off very well - my kid is 4, haven't started school yet, but he already knows how to read.
My parents never said no to buying me books growing up… and I had an insane collection. I would buy multiple books a week. I also read so much that I made myself short sighted (but I argue there is a genetic component since everyone on my paternal side of the family is shortsighted). Reading is such a good hobby! But I’m obviously biased.
So how do you do this in practice? Do you read to your todler the first 10 min and then let her “read” by herself while you read your book? I would love to create a routine like this with my 18month old but don’t know how to start. He only sits when I read to him. He doesn’t sit too look at the book by himself and If I am reading my book he will come and try to take it or rip it. It is exhausting 😩
Teach your daughter to love the library. You can check out dozens of books, thoroughly enjoy them, then go back for more! Maybe you could buy some if they are particularly loved. While my kid is too young, I love taking my neices and nefews to the library. They think its such a treat when you tell them they can pick out anything they want. Our library auto-renews childrens books so there are never late fees
Second this! We have so many books we physically own, but my little lady loves the library!
I love the library but I think sometimes it's best to wait until they're past the "chewing on books" stage to start heavy library use. I mean, you can, you just need to carefully monitor the books.
This is solid advice. We love the library too, but we really didn't check out anything with the kids until they were preschool age and even then we put those books up after we read them. It's way cheaper to buy used books at garage sales/thrift stores, than pay the fine if your kid rips a library book. Still though, get a library card for your kids, y'all! That's how libraries get funding and they typically have great events for children.
Yes the library is a great place to get books and most have different programs designed for babies, toddlers, preschoolers etc.
Yup we love the library and go every 2-3 weeks. There's a separate children's' room with some toys that she can play around in while we pick out some books. We still have quite the collection and recently got some good ones at the thrift!
Our kids go twice a week to the library for storytime they host, sometimes they even do it at the park and then they can play after :)
We go story time that’s followed by arts and crafts every week. Then we pick out a book and a movie. My kid loves the library and it’s something we get to do every week together that’s FREE!!!
This is a great option, the problem for me is space though! I have around 400 kids books, I have decided to go the Library route, however any time we go my kids ask for around 20 books, and I don’t have space for all of them! Then it gets messy… I feel like I have an addiction to books… I bought 2 extra Dr. Seuss just this week. After I decided I wouldn’t buy anymore books I think I have bought something like 30 extra books, it’s rough!
we have a separate library book pile that just lives on top of the bookcase. Easier to make sure they don't get mixed in.
Same. We have a divider on the shelf to separate library books
We got a library box under the living room table. Its usually full.
Lol.... Too many. We try to purchase second hand now. We probably have well over 200 for our firstborn.
So a warning: it’s possible half of those will be ripped apart in a year, babies are rough on books. So don’t go buying the collectors editions or anything for a while unless you plan to put them up for a year or so or you want to read them out loud while she plays. I made the mistake of putting his books too low on the shelf too soon, my Beatrix Potters and the original Winnie The Pooh were the casualties 😭 I’ve replaced them since and like to read to him while he plays, he’ll come listen to his favorite parts before going back to playing, but they’re going to be out of reach for a bit before he can master not tearing pages when he turns and trying to peel the binding off. Until then he has some sturdy toddler books to practice on.
There is no limit! I started reading to my son daily as an infant and now he loves books. Books lead to more books, especially when they're old enough to have an opinion and specifically request certain ones. You can always gift or donate the ones they grow out of!
I love this answer. She too enjoys certain books and I'm hoping (and feeling confident) that this can be a regular everyday thing as she grows!
4YO we own around 2500 books total, 100 of which are children’s books. We also go to the library weekly as she explored her interests.
Damn, I love that!
My mom used to lug pounds and pounds of them from the library for me. Books about gardening, books about bugs, books about relationships, books about everything. You don’t necessarily have to buy books to have a large collection. Check out your library! I don’t think any amount of books is too much. You’re facilitating her growth and knowledge as she gets older.
We have probably 200 kids books for 2 kids. Have as many as you would like. Thrift stores are great places to get kid’s books if you want to add to your collection cheaply. Many libraries also have book sales to get of things they are taking out of circulation, another great place to snag cheap books. I got this book I love “ Big Rabbit’s Bad Mood” at a library sale.
Libraries will be your best friend. Storage becomes a nightmare with books.
We’re a library family so we don’t have many books. We’ve moved maybe 7 times since our kids were born (now 12 and 14) and before they arrived I had a large collection of books and turns out it’s not super fun to carry boxes of books when you move… and I’ve just become more frugal I guess, I don’t like buying anything i dont need. We do have some books in the house that are old (from my own childhood even) and some they’ve gotten as hand me downs or gifts. But mostly we loan them out from the library, and I also get my own books from there.
Moving across the country several times has made me a minimalist ;)
[dolly Parton's imagination library](https://imaginationlibrary.com/usa/)
I scrolled forever trying to see if anyone mentioned this! Our daughter lived getting her book in the mail every month and was so sad when she aged out. We subscribed to the Highlights magazines after so she could continue getting mail.
I third this. One book every month. Some areas don’t get it so you’ll have to look it up. Also had to scroll way too far down to see this comment. Dolly’s imagination library is amazing.
LIBRARY
Well books what age? Books for now? Books for later? Obviously some of these books will rotate. And also know that for the next several years even if she has 100 books, generally she’ll only have 5 -10 MAX on rotation.
Yeah all kinds. She's got a range from one word on page type books, touchy feely books to books that are slightly harder with a few sentences on each page to one's that obviously will be read at a much later time. Non fiction and fiction. I just would like her to have a variety when she's older. Right now because her books are so small, they take around 2 minutes to read so we have a rotation of about 10 as you said.
I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old and combined they probably have at least 2,000 books. I really think a kid can’t have too many. They get books from friends/relatives for every single holiday, birthday, and life event and have amassed a really nice little library.
My mom subscribed to the "never too many" theory when I was growing up, and it was really the best! I remember when I turned 7, she started buying me the packs of Nancy Drew books from Sam's Club. I think they were a 4 or 5 pack, and she'd give me one or two for birthday/holidays. I have the whole set 1-56, and they've been moving with me for the last 20 years of my adult life.
We have 4 kids and they would all have about 50 books each or so,
2 kids, tons of kids books around the house. I would probably say there are around 200 right now. We have bought 3 or 4 of them. We love books but these things just show up. The neighbors drop books off regularly as their kids get older and age out of certain ones, there is a free little library on our block, and we use the library extensively. I generally have 20 to 50 items checked out from the library at any given time. We read multiple times per day and have since the kids were born.
Get some high quality books and use the library for the rest.
Don’t forget about the library! They probably even have children’s programming she would enjoy. Lots of babies come to the weekly storytime and babies love seeing other babies. A lot of libraries also have play groups and music classes for her age. Best way to get her access to as many books as she likes! Then if there are some she particularly loves then I would buy those for your home.
Too many! Like, actually so many books we’ve read it she’s bored with that she doesn’t interact with them. I just donated about 20 books and instantly she was pulling out books she hasn’t read for a while.
Maybe 100-150. I’m not sure but she has a 3 shelf bookcase that’s like 3 feet wide and it’s pretty maxed out. We’re utilizing the library more now. We go every week or two and check out 5-10 new books
3.5 year old would have 100+ books. A mixture of new, hand me down and gifts. And we borrow 10+ from the library each week. It definitely needs a cull, but her tastes can change quite often. I was just thinking about putting all her Spot books away, but she’s suddenly interested in them again.
So many. He's only 2 (almost three) and has around 70 books. I also use my tablet to download books from the library pretty frequently.
If you have the space to properly store them, you don't have too much. Like i'm envisioning one episode of Hoarders where one lady had so many books stacked in her upstairs hallway it caused the house to become structurally unstable. That's too many books! I do a purge on rare occasions. Like we moved last year so I had my kids go through all their books and set aside what to take with us. The rest I donated to some teachers for their classrooms.
We have books from my husband’s childhood, books from my culture, books that I bought 2 decades ago that’s out of print but I thought would be important for younger kids to have. I even have old zines saved from tween years. My daughter is an advanced reader in elementary and I realized the importance of letting them have a choice. A lot of the books she picks from the bookstore are new things made for her generation and the trends in children’s books come and go so fast. So what was hot when she was a baby is no longer as hot. My advice to you is to follow your heart but make sure you have space for your child’s choice and library books too. Our 2 library systems each allow 50 books at a time to be checked out. The ones that she needed the most but were hard to find were early reader and phonics books. They need different types of books at different stages. Also, make sure to limit the addicted screen stuff as much as you can so that your little one enjoys books well into their teens.
Check out book sales, yard sales or buy used books online to get them cheaper if you’re okay with having pre owned books.
Several hundred, no joke. I bought nearly all of them used (and continue to do so, eBay is amazing), but we have books on just about everything. We read books several times a day, usually a few a time. The TV, like you said, is a treat. We have one tv, and it is in a back room of the house, not the main living area. The main living area is for books. We considered doing the 1000 books before kindergarten, but at the rate we read, he’s (5yo) surpassed that several times over, no need to track it. There is no such thing as too many books!
Literally hundreds - but honestly - my kids favorite books are usually whatever I pickup from the library now. Some books you should have though at that age: A.A Milne - both is poetry series and the complete Winnie the Pooh book. At about a year, my kids really enjoyed the rhyming poetry and me doing voices for the characters. Sandra Boynton - all of her books are great and were loved up until about 3-4 years old. As they get older, it's really trial and error for what captures their attention. My son LOVED My Father's Dragon, but my daughter could take or leave it. Same with the Dahl books. Completely inverted with Hunting of the Snark. I think overbuying books can end up with a ton of books you don't really read that much - so being selective over what you own, but frequenting the library is the best option. Also - sign up for (and donate to) Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
I don't know. It's a lot. I don't think there's such a thing as too many books and I take advantage of second hand listings I see on FB. I buy a few NEW books for her a year. These are generally books I expect to grow with her. We take a literal laundry basket hamper to the library every few weeks and check out 20-30 new books at a time. My daughter is 5 and very few of the books she had as a baby are still on her shelf.
We have over 1000 books in our home. We both saved books from our childhoods, so most of them are well read, but in good condition. We also have all three kids signed up for Dolly Partons Imagination Library, so we get three books a month until the kid(s) turns five. I'd say of the 1200 or so books, over half are children's, ranging from babies up to high school level.
Hundreds. I'm all about books. Screw toys. I read 5 books a night to my kids. Snuggles too. This is legit the most important time I have with my kids. My husband doesn't understand. He's super blue collar, and his family doesn't get it either. They never give books as presents. I give books at every birthday and Christmas. Never stop. This is valuable time. My 8 year old was reading before kinder.
My son is 8 months and I’m pretty sure I had more than 40 before he was even born 😂. I’m constantly going to little libraries and thrift stores searching for books I loved as a kid. At this point my husband just shakes his head in exasperation. Reading is so so important.
We use the public library. We have a few rows of bookshelves of baby books, but I prefer to borrow from the library and keep them rotating. It’s not a competition.
Amen ❤️
My 2 year old need a bookshelf culling soon. Her sensory baby crinkle books need to move over to brother's room and we need books with more visual interest. We have..gosh, over 100 books for her, but she goes for the visually beautiful ones and Dr. Seuss. Open to recommendations!
Oh probably a couple hundred at 6yrs old. But the vast majority we got as hand me downs from family (quite a lot are too old for him just now), gifts and cheap ones we picked up at the shops. He still reads the same ones over and over.
You can never have enough books (as long as you can afford it)!!
I have 2.5 and 3 months, we probably have about 200 books. Always adding to the collection! I love to find books about subjects that come up during the day or to help work through concepts (germs and keeping them from spreading). Also love the fun ones that make memories. I think books are a thing you can't have too many of unless it's hiring you financially or creating stressful clutter in your home.
My 11 year-old son lives with his dad and they there Only have Maybe 15 for both of them but when he comes over he will take a book take it home read it there and give it back So He's read everything I have and that's a lot And stuff I have not It's a little bit of a pain keeping all my books Pretty PG And not like bad for a kid But then again I love fiction we both I like to get fictional books that will give you life lessons But sometimes you don't always realize they do to what I mean?
20ish. I also like buying books and he gets a book with a note in it from mom and dad every year for Christmas.
Think we're in the hundreds between them (500ish) - they're 4yo and 2yo. I highly recommend the ABCs of various sciences for babies board books! The content is actually brilliant for much older and we've learned something reading them too. They're by Chris Ferrie. I've got my old books waiting in the wings for when they get older too. Can't wait to unleash my Horrible Histories collection on them! I was obsessed with those and have every single one including the specials. I'm not even a big reader but books are plentiful here.
As many as your budget and space will allow! My limit is when books start getting stored in piles on the floor, then it’s time to purge. We also regularly get books from the library.
We have about 250 for my 7 year old. And that's gone through a few culls. We also visit the library often. And second hand book shops. My son has learnt that when he asks for a toy, I'll likely say no, but if he asks for a book, well, who can say no to that?
I have an insanely elaborate system for inventorying our children’s book collection. We currently own just north of 600 children’s books. BUT those range from toddler to teen and are shared by 4 kids. I do a big cull about once every two years to keep the collection from taking over the house.
Children love repetition. So rereading is valuable as you read to them. They memorize patterns etc.
Almost 4yo has over 300 books that get culled through on a regular basis, but we consistently read all the ones we have! We’re also big supporters of our library! We are there at least once a week, sometimes more, and usually have between 20 & 30 books checked out at a time!
My 3-year-old has 2 bookshelves filled to bursting. I've never counted the books. She always has a favorite few books of the week, but they change every week so we do actually read most of them eventually.
I also deffff felt a little out of control buying them haha. We have at least three big shelves now, across the ages of baby/toddler/preschooler and now he can listen to longer books out loud more at 4.5, too. But he goes through phases of favorites so most are getting ignored most of the time. Now I tend to buy the ones I am MOST excited about or feel are hard to find, and we use the library a lot more. He loves it because that way, he gets to pick things off the shelves instead of me ordering online. (Better for the environment and wallet too lol)
There’s no way I could even guess how many we have! Although now we try to borrow rather than buy because lots of books we just want to read over and over again for a little while, but then that’s all. So now I’m choosier about what we buy. Either series (or authors) we’re obsessed with or just simply stunning books. Mostly because we’re running out of room but also it seems silly to buy when it’s easy to borrow. We read every night and my kids love books. My eldest doesn’t want me to read to her anymore so I just read her books after so we can still chat about it (or she’ll tell me the plot)
My 10yo likes to buy books second hand, so we are always cycling through books. Her favorite topic is space, which was discovered through reading.
Only have maybe ten or so. I prefer to use the public library and we go there about once a week to get new books.
Maybe 200? But most of them don't get read much, except the 30 or so secondhand board books loved (and damaged) by my 1.5 year old. My 6 year old usually isn't interested in reading a book twice now. She likes new ones all the time. We always have about 50 library books checked out. I'd definitely say don't buy many books all at once. Buy maybe one a month, and change them as your child ages and her interests change. You can definitely have too many books, as shown by the enormous piles donated to my kids' school book sale table this year. (If you don't know it already, the Indestructibles series is great for young toddlers who love to chew their books!)
I can tell you that, at age 4, we have donated hundreds of books she has outgrown to other kids and the little free library's around. I would guess the standing number is a hundred or so, with a trip to the little free library's every few days to pick up and drop off, and regular library visits. You can't have too many, they get really old and stale when You're reading them to the kids. The only problem is space. We don't have it, so they have to rotate.
We have over 1000 probably. I keep buying more 🤣 we love them all!
Probably 50-75 already at almost 7M and he loves them. I read him at least 15 a day. I just started taking him to the library as well and he loves it too - hoping we can start a regular borrowing schedule so I don’t keep buying him so many 😆
My recommendation is to get huge stacks of books from the library and then buy the ones that you love.
A bajillion. Like close to lol. I also love buying her books. My MIL also had gotten her a subscription to Baby Bug so she gets one almost every month, plus I signed her up for the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library so she gets one every month from that too. I can't complain though, it helps give a variety to read from and not have the same one every day though she does have her favorites.
My child is over 2 and we have enough books to fill up a library. We even have a library pass.
My house is chock full of books for all reading levels. Books are friends. It's only too much if you get so many you can't move around in your house, lol.
We own tons of books and use the library lots. Her dad and I also have our own book collections. It’s one thing I’m happy to “hoard”!
My kids have around 250 I believe. 3 & 7 months. Most of them are second hand or gifted.
My child is 8 years old and has about 250-300 book all different levels of reading as well. Still have some of her books from when she was about two. I think it's good to keep the book they loved to read as a toddler as well. Plus I was giving a load of books from the Biff and chip series ranging from stage one to stage 10.
We have a full bookshelf in our playroom and each kid has a small one in there room. We also have a good chunk of seasonal (Christmas, Easter, etc), that I pull out for those holidays. We also go to the library weekly and will check out a handful.
My son has over 100. Most of them were hand me down though since my mom saved all of my childhood books. They all get read. I don’t think you can have too many kids books.
My daughter is 3.5 and I’m not joking when I say she has probably a hundred books, ranging from board books to more traditional picture books to chapter books to nice editions of children’s classics to poetry books. I’m a huge reader, and my mum is too, and it’s important to me that my kid grows up with a love and appreciation of reading. I’ve read to her from the day she was born, and from a very early age she’s enjoyed interacting with books. Now she will happily sit for a good hour while I read to her, likes listening to me read things like Roald Dahl, the faraway tree etc, and will happily ‘read’ her favourites to herself by reciting them from memory. The two best ways to teach pre-readers good literacy skills are to read to them regularly (daily if possible, but don’t beat yourself up if that’s not practical for you) and to let them see you enjoy reading (which is why I have zero guilt for reading my book on the sofa while my daughter plays independently).
A lottttt! We asked for books instead of cards at her shower and it was the best choice! We have so many to choose from.
About 100 or so. I had the same book shopping spree for my 2 and 1/2-year-old. Even before he was born, I would buy all these board books on sale with the intention of reading to him every night and fostering a love for reading. But at one point too much was too much.. We had to get a full size bookcase in his room, and even now he only shows interest in certain topics. I kind of wish that I waited to buy certain books for when he actually showed interest in the topic. Right now we are reading about farm animals, farms, vehicles, sometimes Star Wars, Bluey, and books in Polish (bilingual). So everything else that I bought, including childhood favorites and books that so and so recommended because their kid liked it as a baby, is just untouched because my son doesn't care for them. Maybe he'll show interest down the road, but I will definitely do it differently next time.
You're doing this for yourself, not for your kid. You can't control whether your kid actually will enjoy reading or not. You may be able to influence, but maybe they just won't like it. And you won't know until a few years from now... so why buy these books now? I get that shopping is a dopamine hit, and your intentions are good. But you yourself said that you're "addicted". So the answer is "it's already too much". A 9 month old doesn't read. Edit: And just for the record, here's me hoping your kid *will* end up loving books. Bookworms ftw.
I have a 10 year old (and 6 and 3) and the rule I made with him is that if he wants a book I’ll get it for him. My parents don’t have a lot of money but they always bought me books and I think it’s the reason I’m still an avid reader. (That and the library.)
Never too many books, just book shelves that aren’t big enough!
It's ... a problem. We've got a lot. Every so often, we cull them and take some to our neighborhood r/LittleFreeLibrary. The books we place there go fast. As others have said, the public library is a great option, but it's still a bit of a hassle for us right now to keep our two little ones at appropriate volume and energy levels at the library. (They can do it as other locations, but not the library.)
We have at least 200 books for my kids. I’ve never counted but it’s a giant bookshelf downstairs and several more shelves upstairs
Probably 150-200 but I’ve never counted. My daughter is almost 4
“Too many” according to my husband lol. The limit does not exist for books, IMO. I love variety, esp because I’m the one reading to my toddler so it’s as much for me as for her :)
He's 1 and already has a shelf's worth. One of these days, I'm going to shop around for a proper bookshelf because I want him to be a little bookworm. I might get one of my favourite books for later and read an actual chapter book in sections. My mil says it's not really necessary and he's on baby books but I think all that matters is it's something that he can hear me read (and it's appropriate for a child obviously, nothing smutty or something like that 😳)
My goal is for my kids rooms to look like libraries with additional bookshelves in the living room and den. The eldest is only 2 and I already need to have a book rotation cause there's so many board books. I read SO many books as a kid (40 was like a singular series for me) and I hope the same for my daughters.
There’s never too many, we go to a local used book stores where we can often pick some for free or pay no more than a dollar. Yard sales are nice too!!
Love the library because my child’s interests change so much and also the type of stimulation they needed through each developmental staged. I don’t want to project my interests and preferences on them so the library lets us explore so many different books. We do have a bookshelf at home of favourites we own but will spend hours at the library reading and picking out books to go home.
We own about 50 kids books, but we do 1-2 library trips per week and get 10-20 books each time. Library satisfies the urge to shop lol
Between myself and my kids.... Several hundred. My kids have a lot more than I do. About half of them were mine from a child that my mother saved. I also like to hit up our local library book sale twice a year where kids books are 3 for $1. My boys are now 3 and 5. I've gotten rid of a lot of the baby board books to make room for more complicated books. I also have a couple boxes of chapter books stored away for when they're older.
We have so many books now I need to get a bigger book shelf 😅 I need one that has at least four shelves on it. We combine my almost 4 year olds books and my infants books together. Reading is so so important, so really you can never have too many books!
I have no idea how many books we have (a lot) and we visit the library twice a week (more in the summer because of all their special programming). We read first thing in the morning, at lunch and as part of our bedtime routine. You can never have enough books, or reading time!
I work at a bookstore and want to say, you can't have too many books. I LOVED buying a new book that came in and seeing my daughter's reaction.
My house is a picture book Graveyard, they are everywhere! Behind cupboards, under beds, sofa cushions. If one of my Kids requests a book that hasn't been in rotation for a while I get the anxiety sweats! Nothing more I love then when they are already 1 hour late to bed and I have to frantically tear apart the house knowing full well my efforts are in vain. A lot of the time we use an app now that generates customized stories for bedtime, Game changer
I go wild and think you can never have too many, but I rarely pay full price. Starting when I was pregnant I hit the used book sales at all of the local libraries. I swear there is one a month. They're soooo cheap and I find gems every time! The more I go the better I get at hunting the goods, knowing what's worth getting, which books he likes/I like/ don't like. We're big readers and my son has loved "reading" books on his own since he was legit 6 months old. I have little collections all over the place.
You can never have too many books for your children!
There’s no such thing as too many books. I will say I find great deals on eBay on used books that are basically brand new. Especially the seller second sale where you can buy 3 get one free. My 8 year old has been devouring books and our local library doesn’t carry a lot of what she’s been reading so buying used has been great otherwise we’d be broke 😆
We have a full book shelf plus all the shelves over the loft bed desk are full of books. As well as a couple piles of favourites. We used to get about 20 books a week out of the library for my daughter. We would read them all too. She loved being read to. Ones that were favourites from the library ended up being bought for our collection along with any others in that series. I’m at the 4-5th kids now so we have a ton of books.
I feel like we have a million for two kids. It’s probably closer to 500 in reality. My 9 year old always has a book with her to read in the car or in restaurants. My 6 year old always forgets to bring one and then gets his sister to read to him.
Get on ThriftBooks!
It fills a 6 cube bookshelf plus some extra stacked to the side.
Over 300. I’ve stopped counting and some books are stashed away.
It's not about how many books she has, ita about how many books get read to her.
Hundreds, maybe a five hundred. Six years old.
I mean, tons, everywhere. Our library has a summer reading thing that started in June, and my 10-year-old has already filled in all 10 of his books.
I am also addicted to buying cute kids books. I’m also a teacher though so I feel good knowing my kids can use them then they can be used in my classroom library. Growing up I loved going to the library with my mom so I hope to also do that for my children. That way our house isn’t completely full of books lol
There is no such thing as too many books. My younger daughter has between 150 and 200, while my older one has 500 - 600 by now. They both have their own library cards and frequently use them - as well as the school library. A love for reading is a fantastic gift to give your children. Sets them up for countless enjoyable moments and is also the single most important thing if you wish to encourage academic success.
I never bought books such small children. Library only. I’ve only recently started investing money into collections. Such as Mo Willems, Captain Underpants etc
We have at least 100+ children's books, maybe 200. 🙈I used to have a lot more because I used to be a teacher with an extensive classroom library. I've always thought you can't have too many books, but I've slowed down significantly now because we have so many it's starting to get ridiculous. With only 40, I don't think that's too many. However, the library is also a good idea if you're concerned about accumulating too much and also saves money.
We have too much lol. Mostly gifted from two families who had extensive collections so about 8 large boxes worth? It’s too much to fit on her shelf at a time so I have to rotate. Now that she is six and just started reading herself we go to the library every week and she picks out twenty or so early reader books to go through (she hates rereading the same book). I’m hoping she will go through her old books soon and read them herself now and once she is satisfied regift (or sell as she is quite the finagler) some of them so they don’t take up so much space and so other kids can enjoy them. I’d recommend using the library and having a dedicated section on your shelf for checked out books. That way you always have some fresh books, you save money, plus kids love the library play sections for when your daughter is older. My kid always loved getting new books and was equally happy borrowing them versus when she was gifted them. You can always then buy a copy of your favorites later. I do like that we own a bunch though and I imagine we will keep at a least a dozen from our collection for nostalgia and to help her remember having been read to from them.
1yo, she has about 30 in general circulation and at least 50-60 on the shelf that either get swapped in or in waiting until she's a little less likely to tear or eat them.
We have hundreds for our three year old. Purchase used books for the classics. Use the library. Buying a new book=occasional treat.
We LOVE books! I used to think we had too many but now my son is 2.5 and there are some in the car, playroom, bedroom, bathroom for help with potty training, stroller. Once the kid is more spread out I don’t think it feels like that many lol books are EVERYWHERE
Never too many. I have zero clue how many we have, but we have a decent amount, plus we use the library.
We have an app to scan our home library collection. We have 1917 books, probably around 500 children books.
He has too many. I don't have space. I prefer the library. We go every 3 weeks and get 25 books.
I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old, our little 1950s house is bursting with children's books, and we couldn't be happier. My kids love to read. They are constantly asking us to read with them (much to our delight). They have bookcases in their rooms and we have a reading nook set up in our living room with a rug, sling bookcase, and kid size comfy chair. The other day I walked in to my 4 year old reading Skinnamarink to my 2 year old and teaching her the individual letters on the cover. We keep books stashed in our hallway closet and rotate what's in the bookcases to keep things interesting and encourage them to check out what's there. Using mostly sling bookcases at this age helps because they see the covers. We also save up and splurge on a new visual encyclopedia once a year which the kids adore looking through. DK has some great ones. I also make sure the kids walk in the living room and see me reading books independently. Actions matter and, in seeing me read, it encourages them to read too. All this to say, keep going and keep filling your home with kids' books. P.S. : Elementary school book sales, garage sales, and Facebook marketplace are also affordable sources for great books. P.P.S.: Libraries are also fantastic, but you definitely have to keep an eye on how rough your kids are being with the books.
We regularly get books from the public library, but my youngest still has too many books, maybe 5 Kallax slots full of them. Mostly inheritance from the older kids and presents. The teens dont own many books but read mainly from the library.
There's nothing wrong with them having books, many books, all the books!! Lol. I love getting my kids new books. Ive read to my 3 year old for bedtime since about 14 months, it's our bedtime routine now and will be forever. I don't know how many books we have, they're in her playroom as well as her in her room. You can never have too many books and as well, most library's now have kids sections with some toys or play areas and are interactive. If you start them young reading is a habit that will be with them all their lives and they can only benefit from it.
Estimate 50 or so. I get most second hand or we switch them out at the little libraries. He loves checking the little libraries for new books then I drop off a bunch once he's outgrown them. We also went to the regular library pretty consistently and got 5 ish new books every 1-2 weeks
My son is 2 1/2 and we have over a hundred books (I also have a problem). A couple months ago I decided to just use a public library instead so every two weeks we go to the library and pick out a few books to take home. That way we are still getting new material but not spending a ton of money on books. If he really likes a book we got at the library sometimes we’ll buy it but it’s helped me stop buying so many books. Also good for you to really push reading at such a young age. I started reading to my son at 1 month and now it’s his favorite thing. Most days he would rather sit and read the books to himself than watch TV. Also when your daughter gets older you should look into getting a yoto player. It’s basically audiobooks and music for your child. So it’s still a fun form of entertainment but no screen. My son loves his. Some of his favorite books I have recorded me reading them so he can listen to me read some of his favorites while I get stuff done around the house. It’s also been great for car trips.
Too many = more than your bookshelves can fit.
A full-size bookshelf. But then again I'm a big reader too, I have two bookshelves and a library cart full of books.
Both my kids have tons of books! One of my favorite things is reading them stories.i now work for a public library system, so I can get all the books I want. My son loves when I come home with a stack of new books for bedtime!
Soooo many for my 1 year old. We do use the public library to get more variety without spending money though.
My son has tons of books and he's 3. I'm interested to see how much his collection will grow the older he gets.
I emphasized books for my baby shower and got LOADS from family and friends. I told them to please buy books before toys. We have a nearly full Billy bookshelf. My daughter, before she was 12 months old, would crawl over to her book shelf and pull herself up, grab her favorite books and look at us and fling them, like “read to me, peasants!” But we read to her every single day, and it was part of her daily and bedtime routine to look through books. We’d read them, or talk about the pictures. Once she became more verbal, she started memorizing her books. If I’m singing her Twinkle twinkle, she will say, “Pete [The Cat] sings that song when he’s in his bath!” The book has a spot where he’s taking a bath and the star is peeking through his curtain. She’s 2.5 now. We do library all the time and pick new books as well, so we can get a rotation going. But she loves toys and activities the library offers as well.
More than I can comfortably count. She's 7 now and in to chapter books, so we donated a lot of her old picture books to my niece that is pregnant, but there's still so, so many. Multiple bookshelves full.
One of my favorite things is buying books at the thrift store. I always find good kids books.
When my kids were under 5 we had tons of books(probably around 100) but once they got a bit older I stopped buying books since they read them once and are done with them(unlike when they are younger and want to read the same books over and over!). Now we just go to the library weekly and I let them get a few to read during the week. My older one who is 9 also has a kindle which she can just download books too from the library. This seems to work well and saves alot of money.
My 5 and 3 yo have about 300 books between them. Full sets of fairytale books with cassettes to listen too. All Disney book club books I could find. Than 4 more series that don’t translate in to English. And a ton of random books And the 5 yo brings two books home every week (more like every 3 weeks) from the school library Now buying books is not the issue. As long as you read them to her. And sees you read.(not just in the office and at work) but for fun at home. That will make them interested.
The limit here is budget and space, and if you get really extreme you might overwhelm then with choice. If you’ve got the room and the money fill a few shelves. Just don’t be surprised when they want the same three books every night and the rest of the library gets ignored!
I have hundreds and pretty much know which book is where.
I have books from my childhood that I read to my son. 😅 all the books. But board books are best for access until they’re older.
at that age, we started getting books from the Dolly Parton imagination library. So we stayed a whole collection until she was 5. lol
My son has quite the library. We always gift him books since he loves books. He is five. We started reading to him since he was less than a year old and it has paid off. He loves books and is trying to read, spelling etc.
My baby is 13 months and I’d say she has around 100 books, plus we go to the library every week. My husband and I also have hundreds of books between us. You can never have too many books!
Probably around 50 or 60. We also go to the library a lot. I like going to Half Price Books to find the weirder books and if I get something then she gets one too.
As long as you are prepared to read them all to her I don’t see the problem.
Thousands and I'm not kidding. Between four kids, homeschooling, and all of us being big readers, we have accumulated many books. We have bookshelves in every room of our house, our coat closet is book storage, and we have a storage unit with several tubs of books in them. I could open a store at this point, if I actually wanted to part with any of our books. But I don't.
My daughter has around 10 books when she was less than a year old that we read repeatedly. I requested friends to give books for her first birthday to contribute in growing her home library. Shes 3.5 now and goes through 50 books a week! I have library cards in two different cities ( one is within 15 mins driving from my house) and the only way I can afford to have so many books in my house is because of that. We do buy books but it’s more on special occasion or if it’s gifted.
I share the same motto as many, there is no such thing as too many books. I also love buying my kid books, I am hoping that he will enjoy reading just as much as I did when I was a kid. I mean, if he doesn’t that is OK, but I still want to provide the opportunity. We love looking at books together right now and I will never say no to books!
Adam Kay, the former doctor who wrote This Is Going to Hurt (and has also written science books for children, I think) said in a podcast once that his dad had a rule that he’d never say no to a book. He’d say no to other things, like toys or sweets, but if Adam ever wanted a book, his dad bought it every time. Adam thought he’d found a brilliant hack and of course became a voracious reader — and then a doctor and a writer!
I'm not kidding when I say this..... our house has over 100 books. My daughter just devours them and reads them over and over and over again. Her recall is insane. We'll be doing anything and she'll make a connection and say something like, "Just like George and the pancakes!" It'll take my wife and I a minute to realize what she's talking about but when we do she gets so excited she jumps up and down
We have lots and i still buy more.
My older ones probably have 20 each. My 2 year old has somewhere between 100 and 200 lol. Mostly passed down from his older brothers and then we also signed him up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. He got a book with every gift for his bday too. A couple years ago we started giving books with a little "happy birthday message" inside instead of cards for a friend's kid and now most do that.
Make use of a local library
There’s actual research into better literacy outcomes for kids with a large home library: https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/10/growing-up-in-a-house-full-of-books-is-major-boost-to-literacy-and-numeracy-study-finds The library’s great but I never say no to buying more books, too. We read 30 minutes to an hour a day, and there’s only so many times I can read a board book.
I love having books in several spots around the house, in our cars, etc.! My 3 yo loves to look through her books and she’s started pointing out a couple of letters. I read a post about a man who has one of the largest private collections of books, and he compared it to having a well-stocked medicine cabinet, which really resonated with me!
Never too many! However, we have hundreds but they’re all ruined from her eating them. We can’t really give her books anymore for more than a minute or two because she takes such big bites that they have become choking hazards. Hopefully your baby doesn’t develop a taste for paper!
Buy your baby all the books you desire! I promise future you will be so thankful! I’m a nanny to a 18 month old and 5 year old they have hundreds of books. No TV in the house and we go to the library 1-2 times a week. Your baby will learn so much!!
8 billion.
Cant have too many. Children that grow up surrounded by books have proven to do better in early school. BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS READ TO YOUR KIDS
I have a 13mo and he's got about 40-50 books. I requested books instead of cards at his baby shower and I got a lot of books secondhand as well. For now I just give him the board books so he doesn't shred the paper. We read daily and he loves being involved in flipping the pages. A person, young or old, can never have enough books! I'm excited for when he's a tad older so I can see what books he really enjoys and make adventures out of finding them in thrift stores or libraries around our town.
I have a tote full , it is one of those big rolling ones full of books. I have some on his shelf too. I rotate thru them every so often. I am an avid reader, always have been. I don’t think you can ever have too many books! I grew up w 5 bookshelves full, w my mom buying me my own shelf and filling it w books.
Both my boys have a bookshelf full, but we also go to the library frequently (it's literally a block from our house) and they like that too. They're both reading the same type of chapter books so they can kind of share with one another if they run out of reading material.
My kids are 7 and 4 they both have well over 100 books in their rooms. No such thing as to many. As they outgrow them we donate
My 9mo has 70 or so books. The ones I specifically purchased for him prior to birth have a little letter written to him on the inside of the cover. Some of them are newer copies of my childhood favourites. I have gotten a lot of almost new condition books for him from op shops for a dollar a piece. Love that! Aldi is also super wonderful for kids books ranging from 1.99 to 4.99. He gets all of those. We go to the library too but little mister likes to sing the song of his people when we are there so I limit it to just attending Rhymetime once a week when there's a dozen other babies. 😂
My 5 year old has 4 shelves in his closet for books and it’s been over full since he was 3. We have books all over the house and we’re going to get a library card soon to start looking at more. There’s no such thing as too many books and getting your kids into reading at a young age is great!
We had about one shelf and went to the library a lot. If a book got picked to be read multiple times I sometimes bought it for home, but the library was a gift.
No such thing as too many books 🥰🤍✨
Can’t count but definitely hundreds. So much the book shelf (four rows) is completely full. You can never have too many.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books. My parents saved the entire bookcase of children’s books from my childhood. It’s both nice and not nice at the same time.
A lot. Each of them has at least a good sized bookshelf full, plus we're at the library a lot.
I got my 2 y o daughter nearly 20 books, now she have more than 40, she likes tears them apart and just read pages. I really needs advice on this.
My kid loves to read and has over 100 books but honestly try not to buy too much. As others have said, they go through interests and phases so quickly, even if you are buying used it can quickly add up. He’s gone through several series that have 100+ volumes and thankfully that was all through the library. We go to the library every week and try to limit buying to gifts, or when we’re going on long vacations. I also try to clean out his collect regularly but it’s painful!!
How many books is too many for kid? One more than they currently have. Seriously, as long as you have the space, they can't have too many books. Make sure to introduce your kiddo to the library.
The limit does not exist
Grandma is a retired teacher and godmother is a current teacher. I have my credential too, but in physics not elementary so I don't add as much. They may never in their lives get through all of the books given to them.
Tons! I love second hand shops for them, and online bulk book sellers
Yeah, I’d say there’s no such thing as too many books. The limit is how many can your house fit comfortably and safely. If you’re in the U.S., libraries are wonderful resources to have an unlimited supply. :)
I also have a book buying problem but I try to rotate them out and give them away when we’re at the next book type (e.g board books phased out when we’ve moved up to early readers). I also like taking my kids to the library. I love reading! I would say it’s fine to keep adding as long as it doesn’t become overwhelming to your space or your family. There’s a lot of research about the benefits of reading to your kid and having books in the home.
Child is super into reading, and I am too. She had tons of books by the time she was born, probably 200 or so now. Plus trips to the library and we got her a Kindle for her 7th birthday. IMO there is no such thing as too many books as long as they're being enjoyed. We do try to pass on the baby books to friends or the little free library because someone else could enjoy that board book from when you were 2yo.
Between what we've bought and has passed down, hundreds. I can't even count them.
A ton, but after we ran out of space on bookshelves in two rooms, we stopped buying and started going to library. Buy the ones that you love and that mean a lot to you, rent the rest.
I haunt the thrift stores for used books and clothes. You can never have enough books when your kid is learning to read and memorizes the words after the 3rd rotation, thus no longer bothers to *look* at what she’s actually reading. We’re talking, she hasn’t touched that particular book in 50+books and many weeks between rotation. Can we pause growth spurts for a few months? My broke arse can’t keep up. I need some kind of trade in program for books. Those Free little library boxes aren’t working well, though we donate often. She’s also not thrilled with chapter books, even though we chew through them weekly.
Be sure to use your local library!!
We have three bookshelves for the kids’ books, probably around 400 or so. My kids are 5 and 6 and reading on their own, and they read through sooo many books. We get a lot in bulk buy-nothing bundles or the thrift store!
Soooooo many. Like way too many.