How to Start Collecting Living Books
As the summer rolls around, everyone in the Philippines is either wrapping up on the previous school year’s lessons or starting to plan for the next school year. One of my new students for this year is a kindergarten boy whose mom is very excited to learn about Charlotte Mason, and who already hit the local Booksale to start building their collection. Over coffee, she let me go over her latest stash, to help her know which ones are living books and which ones aren’t.
And I thought to myself, I wish there was some guide for new parents to know how to choose living books! I mean, I could relate to all the hit-and-miss especially when we’re just starting off, but wouldn’t it be so much easier if we can know right off which books to buy and which to pass on?
How to Know Living Books
Here are some of my tips to help you save money on unnecessary purchases and maximizing your budget for truly golden steals:
Tip #1. If you are a total newbie, read, read, read book recommendations by more experienced CM homeschoolers.
Two of my favorite resources are AmblesideOnline and SimplyCharlotteMason. Or, you can also download the FREE SAMPLES of our Talino CM Curriculum (click the item and scroll down to the Description past the Paypal button) and find the list of recommended books for each form in the introduction pages.
Although our goal is really for each parent to be able to recognize living books, it’s kind of like how banks train their staff to recognize counterfeit money: they don’t let them study the counterfeit; instead, they give them maximum exposure to the real thing, so that as soon as they touch the counterfeit, they KNOW!
The same is true for living books. You won’t know unless you’ve experienced for yourself how engaging they are to read aloud and how much they awaken the imagination.
So my first advice is, start off with buying books that more experienced CM mommas have recommended. If it means coming out of Booksale without a single purchase, so be it!
Tip #2. Bring the booklists with you to the bookstore.
OK, so you’ve read the book recommendations. Surely you won’t be able to memorize them! What I did when I was starting off (and still do, actually!) was to bring a digital copy of the recommended books. Then, when I find something that looks like a living book to me, I consult the list. This helps to take a lot of guesswork out.
Of course, not ALL living books will be on your list, so if you have data when you’re in the bookstore, you can also Google it to see if it’s on any of the other CM websites.
Tip #3. Consider online sellers.
Although I personally still scour the local Booksale, the good news is that there are now so many booksellers online who offer many of the titles recommended by the experts.
For example, one of my friends who also homeschools in the CM way has her own Facebook shop, Living Pages PH, where she showcases lots of living picture books and chapter books. Our official preloved bookshop based here in the Philippines, Books and More For Less, run by yours truly, is another great place to search for the recommended titles!
Tip #4. When you have experienced living books for a few months, read a couple of pages of a book you’re considering.
When you’re finally feeling confident that you can identify a living book, check a book by reading a few pages. A living book is written by someone passionate about the subject, and this usually comes out in the way the book is written.
Collecting living books
For me, collecting living books is a rewarding hobby, because it gives my whole family a whole kingdom to enjoy. And, call me crazy, but I have this unbreakable habit of buying living book doubles (and triples and quadruples!) when I find them at a good price, because I can’t resist having excellent books available at home to share with friends and the families I coach! (The result is Books and More for Less, haha. I hope you benefit from my humble shop!)