On Just A Couple Acres: ~Building A Twaddle-Free Library... For Free~

I can’t believe that I’m about to say this.

I mean I swore up and down that we would never have one in our house.

But here I am... planning our new school year and I found myself with an increasing desire to buy a Kindle to build our library.

And this from a book lover!!! I love everything about the experience of reading a book... it appeals to all of my senses. Well maybe not taste. Unless I’m eating while reading of course. CS Lewis said it best, "Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably."

Here's how it happened-

Not following any particular curriculum or using a text book package for our little homeschool, my first step in annual planning is to assess what I’d like to cover for the year and then I start list-making with a heavy emphasis on literature.

When I was through, my list was HUGE! (Remember, I love books) I certainly can’t afford to buy everything on the list- and even if I could, I wouldn’t because then I wouldn’t be a good steward of our resources when there is so much free material available out there... and because space on our bookshelf is at a premium.

So working my way through that list, I began by determining what selections our local library carries... not many, especially when so many books I'd like to share with my children this year will have Biblical themes worked throughout. Next, I searched our library's inter-loan program which gives me access to library books all over the state. I did much better here and whittled much of my list down.

With the remainder of the list, I choose 2 or 3 different online retailers to make purchases from- this year it will be Amazon, Christianbook, and Vision Forum- then I did some price shopping, trying to buy used from Amazon as much as possible.

But as I kept entering titles into the Amazon search, I found over and over again that many of them were available as Kindle books.... for free.

I had no idea! Perhaps I'm behind the times. Willingly, stubbornly in this case. But I never before realized that classical literature and titles without a copyright could be obtained free of charge!!

Not to mention that if you purchase the Kindle Touch 3G I'm looking at, you're able to "borrow" books from the library for free using the Kindle. This is doubly appealing for me because it means not having to return and pay for damaged books I don't even want. (It's a sore spot right now, I was just billed this week for a book that was left out in the rain.)

Now allow me to clarify, I still intend to build a beautiful family library and I envision my grandchildren visiting and taking books- real books, with crisp, crinkly pages and musty smells from our shelves. But funds for books come in slowly during this season of life and far be it from me to deny my children's voracious appetites for reading and knowledge!

Of course, I could also download a Kindle to my computer (and temporarily have) that wouldn't cost a dime, but if I ever hope to blog again, it wouldn't be wise for me to make that a permanent situation. With over a hundred books between Henty & Ballantye alone, my oldest boy would commandeer my laptop and I'd never see it again. And I'm not exaggerating. He would sit and read every moment of the day if I let him.

May I share with you some titles that I'm excited to add to our "library"? Some of them we've read before, most are new so I can't be responsible if there turns out to be objectionable content. The books we've read before, loved, and just never purchased for the home library yet will be in bold, maybe with some commentary.

(Amazon preview is showing a Kindle when you hover the title, but the links should click through to the book.)

{Aesop}
The Aesop for Children
(I've read Aesop, but not this particular version)

{Anonymous}

Famous Boys and How They Became Great Men

{Arthur Scott Bailey}
We've been reading one so far and the children love it! It's an engaging, lengthy story with chapters relating an adventure of the main character depicting behavior typical for the animal but told in a human way. I love that my little ones are learning about bears while using their imaginations instead of just having dry facts related to them! They are left begging for more each day.

The Tale of Major Monkey
The Tale of Tommy Fox
The Tale of Miss Kitty Cat
The Tale of Jimmy Rabbit
The Tale of Old Mr. Crow
The Tale of Ferdinand Frog
The Tale of Turkey Proudfoot
The Tale of Sandy Chipmunk
The Tale of Billy Woodchuck
The Tale of Bobby Bobolink
The Tale of Jasper Jay
The Tale of Peter Mink
The Tale of Daddy Longlegs
The Tale of Kiddie Katydid
The Tale of Frisky Squirrel
The Tale of Buster Bumblebee
The Tale of Grumpy Weasel
The Tale of Rusty Wren
The Tale of Betsy Butterfly
The Tale of the The Muley Cow
The Tale of Dickie Deer Mouse
The Tale of Nimble Deer
The Tale of Benny Badger
The Tale of Mrs. Ladybug
The Tale of Pony Twinkleheels
The Tale of Snowball Lamb
The Tale of Henrietta Hen
The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse
The Tale of Grandfather Mole
The Tale of Old Dog Spot
The Tale of Timothy Turtle
The Tale of Cuffy Bear
The Tale of Chirpy Cricket
The Tale of Fatty Coon
Tale of Brownie Beaver
The Tale of Jolly Robin
The Tale of Solomon Owl (One chapter is titled "Halloween,"- I skipped over it & they didn't notice)
The Tale of Freddie Firefly

{Beatrix Potter}
A Collection of Beatrix Potter Stories

{Charles Kingsley}
Madam How and Lady Why: First Lessons in Earth Lore for Children

{Charles Dickens}
A Child's History of England

{Clara Dillingham Pierson}
Among the Night People
Among the Forest People
Among the Meadow People
Among the Farmyard People
Among the Pond People

{Elbridge Streeter Brooks}

Historic Girls

{G.A. Henty}
My son is most excited that he will be able to get what probably amounts to the entire G.A. Henty collection at no cost... If you search, you can find over 80 listings for free. This year, The Cat of Bubastes fits into our school year. I've personally read The Young Carthaginian and loved it!
The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt
The Young Carthaginian: A Story of The Times of Hannibal

{H.A. Guerber}
The Story of the Greeks

{Howard Pyle}
Otto of the Silver Hand

{Johann David Wyss}
The Swiss Family Robinson
One of our favorite tales of a dominion taking Christian family!

{Johanna Spyri}
Heidi
Can you believe I never read Heidi until last year?? (An abridged version doesn't count!) I was so impressed with the lessons intertwined of finding joy in God's sovereignty and trusting His will for our lives.

{Jules Verne}
Michael Strogoff
Around the World in 80 Days

{Kenneth Grahame}
The Wind in the Willows

{Lamplighter}

The Wide, Wide World One of my all-time favorite books with a strong Christian perspective!