Working in the Real World

I’ve spent the past two weeks as librarian in residence for a curriculum writing team. I t has been great fun but very intense. I ’m not used to sitting and thinking from 7-4:30 every day!

And it’s given me a taste for what work is like for the rest of the world. I’ve spent all my working life in either public libraries or schools in one public service position or another.
I arrive at work at 6:50 and the kids hit the library doors at 7am. They are in and out all day and once they leave we still have teachers popping in and out for one thing or another. The day is pretty much spent being at the beck and call of someone else. It doesn’t bother me, it’s the nature of the beast when one works in a library.

This summer project has been totally the opposite. There is time for a cup of coffee upon arrival, I can take a break whenever I want and we have many opportunities to toss ideas back and forth. We can actually go out for lunch like grownups – no 20 minute meal snatched in between a bathroom break, a quick phone call and an unsuccessful battle with the copy machine.

The teachers I’m working with are a hand picked group, the best of the best. They teach because they love it, it’s all they have ever wanted to do and they are masters of their craft.

Teaching is a funny biz. Many women (and it’s almost always women) go into the profession for all the wrong reasons. Despite all the advances of the past quarter century you still hear “teaching is a good job for a woman”. Women become teachers because they think it will dovetail with plans for a family. They teach till the baby comes and then drop out, with plans to go back when the youngest starts school. They teach because they “love children”. Actually, the best teachers are those who like children and can inspire them to do better than they ever thought they could. Others become teachers because they can't phantom what to do with a degree in English or Art or General Studies.

Those who really do excell have the inborn passion to teach – and you can’t “teach” that – it’s apparent from day one who is gifted and who is not. Classroom management can be learned, as can pedagogy skills but only someone who is born to the profession can make learning come alive and their classroom a welcome and nurturing place.

This is the caliber of the teachers I’ve been working with. Somehow they manage to look beyond the endless forms and paperwork, the ever increasing mandatory state testing and the salaries, hours and working conditions that would incite rebellion in any other profession.

It’s been a pleasure and a joy to work with these teachers. I’ve learned so much and I’m in awe at what they accomplish in their classrooms. The United States needs to attract and more importantly keep these kind of people in the classrooms. Otherwise we’ll never keep our place in the sun.

It didn't rain!

The garage sale was advertised to start at 8 and fby 6:30 folks were cruising up and down the street. I arrived at 7 and started divesting my car of load number three . The boxes hit the driveway and the bargain hunters attacked.

The top sellers? All those wretched mugs! Granted they were only 25 cents each, but I can't imagine anyone needing any more mugs! Crap sells!

I'd advertised that we had many boxes of books and kitchenware and that attracted a diverse crowd indeed. We had the usual groups of Hispanic families in vans, all of whom snapped up the skillets and baking dishes. We didn't have nearly as many children as I have seen at other sales, but then we hadn't any toys nor children's clothes.

We also attracted a group I always dub "the aging hippies". Men, who are on the other side of 50 with gray hair, beards, sandals and baggy shorts. They went directly to the books and bought them by the armload. Two dealers showed up, one is a friend and once she realized whose books they were, she didn't give them a second glance. The other dealer Scoutpaled a couple of titles and left in disgust.

We also had a visit from one of the traveling Tamale vendors. A couple pulled up with a cooler full of homemade tamales which they peddled to us (I declined, My Beloved is having tummy trouble) and our other customers. They had several takers and then shopped our sale and bought a few items themselves. Then it was off to the next sale. They are a Houston institution and they certainly have come up with a way to make going to garage sales profitable!
After it was all over I was left with 1 box of Harley Davidson clothes and 4 Pampered Chef items I decided to E-bay , plus 2 boxes of leftover stuff and 7 boxes of books & videos . Not bad considering I took 3 car loads of junk over to my friendÂ’s house.

I loaded up the leftovers, abandoned the STUFF at the nearest thrift shop and took the books to Half Price. I'd thought about taking the books in a box or two at a time, since the more books you bring in, the less they give you. It was hot so I figured the hell with it and took it all in , just to get rid of it. They gave me $30 for the bunch.

After subtracting the cost of the ad and adding in the $30 that HPB gave me I made $226.25. Not bad for a mornings work , or given the heat, a mornings baking.

The best benefit? Empty spaces in the cabinets!

Garage Sailing From the Opposite Side of the Fence

Friend of mine and I are having a garage sale tomorrow. At her house, since she has a big front lawn and nice long driveway. I love my house but we have no front lawn at all – and the street is so very narrow. It means I have to haul my stuff so I’ve been lifting that barge and toting that bale.

It’s been all about cleaning out cupboards and loading up the car. I filled it twice and it is full again, waiting for tomorrow morning. 6 boxes of kitchen stuff is outta here. I am downsizing – there are just 2 of us, I don’t need 6 skillets and 5 pie pans. The clothes closet got a pass through and the Amazon inventory a drastic culling.

I’ve an ad in the paper and a posting on Craigslist. Heaven would be an aspiring bookseller who offers to buy all the books. I could tell them that I used to be a bookseller but decided to get out of the business. Do you think I’d be struck dead for lying?

So the house is 3 carloads lighter when it comes to STUFF. I love purging stuff, we have to much of it as it is.

And it better not rain!!!!

Meme of Five

I found this meme over on Chalkdust’s blog – and since it’s been a long day I’m letting myself get tagged!

5 items in my fridge
1. Raspberries
2. Blueberries
3. 1 lb of Starbucks Espresso Freshly ground
4. Yogurt – to go with the raspberries and blueberries
5. Leftover mushroom pizza.

5 items in my closet
1. Golf shirts
2. Jeans
3. Shoes I won’t ever wear and should get rid of
4. Kitty fur dust bunnies
5. Suitcases

5 items in my car
1. An umbrella
2. Boxes of books heading toward a garage sale or Half Price Books
3. CDs to listen too when Morning Edition / All Things Considered isn’t on
4. Couple of boxes of kitchen stuff- I downsized and they are headed for a garage sale I’m having this weekend
5. Key map – for finding garage sales I want to check out.

5 items in my purse, don’t have a purse, have a backpack
1. Cell Phone
2. PDA
3. Keys
4. Pens
5. Wallet

And like Chalkdust, I’m not going to tag anyone – take and run with it if you come down with a case of writers block! That’s what I like about meme’s – they are perfect for the days you are to tired to write a coherent post! I shifted books all day today at work and I'm beat!

Puppets

I seem to quite a varied collection these days! One of my "schools out" chores to gather up all my puppets and stuffed animals and pack them away for summer. I buy them throughout the year so one of the things I do is cull the duplicates - which are recycled at our carnival in the Spring. I now seem to have a puppet for almost every story imaginable - except a pigeon puppet. And I really need one -Don't Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus is one of my favorite stories!

Guilty Guilty Guilty

Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

The verdict is on the Enron Trial and for once the rich white guys got what they deserved – A Guilty Verdict.  The general feeling in Houston is a resounding “Yes”.
When the news broke that, the jury was in the office drones fled their cubicles and flocked to the Federal Courthouse.  The peasants came could barely restrain from dancing in the streets as they watched their masters head off to jail (though of course there will be expensive and lengthy appeals).

Even those of us who didn’t work for Enron were affected by the company’s fall from grace.  The most visible is that the Astros no longer play in Enron Field; the name was` changed to Minute Maid Park.   I’ve had most of our feral cat colony spayed and neutered thanks to S.N.A.P who took a tremendous financial hit when Enron collaspaed, and they only one of the many local charities and social groups who suffered.  

Be interesting to see what their sentences will be.  Let’s hope they aren’t sent to “Club Fed” but get to do some real hard time.

The news even pushed the real news – that TODAY WAS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL…onto the back burner!

Something Completely

I’ve been incorporating puppets into my story times and library lessons for quite some time. Not only do the students respond to them, they are also perfect when working with ESL children since they provide a visual prop to reinforce the spoken word. The children help me out the stories, which gives them an opportunity to practice their English.

The folks in charge of the Gifted and Talented department decided to hold a special event for the GT students on the “north side”. Interstate 10 bisects our school district and it’s just as effective as a railroad track for dividing the haves and the have nots. The have nots live north of the freeway, and that’s where I teach.

They wanted someone who could work with the kids on using puppets and somehow my name came up (the fact that I work for the district and wouldn’t have to be “paid” helped too!). I have done many a lesson with puppets but they only last 20 – 30 minutes. This was the first time I’d ever had to plan an hour long program and present it 3x to children whom I didn’t know.

I gathered up some of my favorite stories and puppets and in my uncertainty I brought more than I could use. That turned out to be a good thing since someone an extra 15-20 minutes tacked themselves on to the 2nd and the 3rd programs.

I did Cook-A-Doodle-Doo, complete with all the props – ESL children don’t get the puns without a visual.
My wombat puppet debuted in Diary of a Wombat, we all went on a Bear Hunt and the Spider shared his Diary. Little Bunny Foo-Foo bopped the field mice on the head and the old lady swallowed a fly and many other assorted other creatures.


I had a good time, the kids had a good time – they helped and I hope I’m asked to do it again. This is something I wouldn’t mind doing on a regular basis.

Up All Night

Last Friday was the 5th Annual Library Lock-In. It takes 300 AR (Accelerated Reader) points to earn an invite and that is a lot of reading for an elementary school student. It’s the equivalent of reading 15 Harry Potters, or 300 Junie B. Jones books. 5 students earned the Golden Ticket this year – 6 were veterans who’d been previous years and 3 were newbies.


It is an eagerly anticapted even - the kids who come are bright and motivated and I know them well since they spend lots of time in the library.
This year the guests hailed from Albania, Mexico, Viet-Nam, Pakistan and Shri-Lanka - we had our own Mini -United Nations. We took a poll and discovered every one of us spoke at least 2 languages!

We always have a lunch together to plan the event and settle the menu- not sure why I bother with the latter since pizza is always the hands down favorite. One boy me told this year that he planned to:

“Run around like a manic for an hour, play on the playground for an hour, eat for an hour, use the laptops for an hour and I haven’t planned the rest yet”. He proceeded to do just that!

For some reason the high point is a flashlight tour of the school and running & shouting in the halls (normally a serious no-no). That and unlimited use of the laptops and running amuck with my puppet collection. For some of the kids it’s their first sleepover.

Our new Assistant Principal stopped by to check out the fun and brought his dogs - I hope he realizes he'll have to come by again next year! Those dogs were the hight point of the evening.

The girls always fall sleep, the boys fight it to the very end and a couple never do. I spend the next day in a sleepy haze but it is worth it. Anything to get them to read!

Reading Madness

Today was our Third Annual AR (Accelerated Reader) T-Shirt Day. It is all great fun- total chaos with kids running to and fro – a total school wide celebration of reading. It is the reading equivalent of winning the state championship in football.

It takes either 50 or 100 points to earn the shirt – which means reading at least 100 books. Those books are really read, since the AR test has to be passed to earn the points.


This year 95 children reached that particular milestone – about 1/5 of our student body.

We started the day by slapping stickers on every T-shirt we saw. Every hour a faculty member got on the intercom and invited everyone wearing a shirt to come to their office for a treat or trinket. The kids “power walked “ – running was frowned on- from one end of the school to the other. Random pieces of candy dropped into their hands, not mention pencils, bookmarks and Hot Cheetoes. The kids giggled, laughed and thoroughly celebrated their accomplishment.

AR is not without controversy, but when it comes to motivating the low SES / ESL student, it is one of the best programs out there. Those sorts of children need the immediate positive reinforcement that AR provides. Our reading scores are rock solid – we always score in the 90% or better and our book circulation has soared.

One second grader summed it up “Today was the best day of school ever.”

The Welcome Mat is Worn Out

It’s been 9 months since Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans and the levies gushed forth and floated a goodly portion of the population toward Houston.

The city prides itself on being friendly and hospitable and Houston tossed out a Texas size welcome mat. The families got housing assistance, medical care; help with schools, jobs, clothes and food. The private charities did their best to circumvent the mismanagement of FEMA.

Turns out New Orleans had some very ugly little secrets, which the floodwaters also swept west to Texas. The school system didn’t seem to put much emphasis on reading, writn’ and arithmetic. Nor on school routines, discipline, manners or even regular attendance. Given that many of our new residents had never been traveled beyond the city limits many of the adults are products of the same school system. To call them barely literate is being generous.

Most of the children flunked the stated mandated TAKS test. This year their scores don’t count, next year they will. Principals and teachers are already shivering in their shoes.

All teachers are fagged out by this time of year, but many look down right beaten down.
The children are a challenge; they come complete with a great deal of emotional baggage massive chips on their shoulders. Bullying and intimidation are the standard mode of operation. As far as they are, concerned fists are the first and last solution to all problems. Considering how our crime rate has risen the adults take the same approach, only they use guns and knives.

A couple of teachers are giving serious thoughts to retiring.

As one said “I just can’t face the thought of another class like this one next year”.

Many of the New Orleans children are being retained so the teachers she will indeed, face a class “just like this one” again next year.

Working with the parents is difficult – they are quick to call the race card, and blame it for everything and anything that their children might do or do not do. Doesn’t really hold water in a school that is 85% Hispanic, with both Hispanic and African American administrators but they call it anyway.

One bit of fallout that nobody anticipated is that some of our better families, those who are hard working and who care about their kids and education are moving our of our neighborhood apartment complexs. .

One Mom told me “It was a decent apartment complex till the owner decided he wanted all that FEMA money. We’re moving as soon as school is out”.

We’ve worked so hard to improve the climate and the education at our school, it hurts to see us going backward through no fault of our own.

2020 Day

"Hey, I want glasses too!"

How’s that for an unusual complaint from an elementary school child? Those plaintive wails were heard all over the halls of my school this past week.
Why? Because only students who had prescription glasses could come to 20/20 Day.

Our school is Title I, and when it comes to glasses, it is not like it is in middle glass schools. Parents do not have vision insurance and a charity fund supplies most of the eyewear. The students do not have their own room, many don’t have their own bed and the glasses are constantly getting broken or lost. It is a constant struggle to get the children to wear them. In these days of high stake testing you cannot afford to leave a child behind because they cannot see the board.

The school nurse and I dreamed up 20/20 Day. It was a day we all celebrated the fact that thanks to glasses we could see! We invited all the students who were wearing their glasses to bring their lunch to the library. We also supplied some special desserts and new glasses cases to decorate. 105 kids streamed into the library to eat and the place rang with excited chatter and laughter. Glasses that had been broken all year were magically fixed, lost glasses suddenly reappeared and children who hadn’t worn glasses all year turned up with them firmly on their nose.

We papered the halls with signs and I spent a week reading stories about glasses – thank goodness for Junie B. Jones and Arthur! Of course, being a teacher- librarian I couldn’t resist incorporating the books into a reading lesson on making connections! The nurse found herself doing some extra vision tests and some teachers who normally wore contact lenses got into the spirit of the day and wore their own glasses in honor of the occasion.

School Nurse and Librarian Collaboration – Who’d Thunk It?

Oscar the Grouch Would Love It Here

Just where does all this trash come from?

Tomorrow is 20/20 at school and I am doing the baking. I made:
A double batch of brownies
1 Chocolate Coconut Macaroon Brownie Pizza
1 Pina Coda Cake
1 Strawberry Trifle.

The debris and the flotsam and the jetsam filled up a 13 gallon trash bag.
Granted I was cooking from Pampered Chef recipes, which meant I started out with prepared brownie and cake mixes, but it was still rather unbelievable to see how quickly that bag filled up. With the exception of the mix boxes nothing was recycleable so that wasn’t an option. Houston isn’t noted for being a forefront in being green.
Land Fills R Not Us.

I’m sure there is some profound commentary on our society and how much stuff we dispose off needlessly but I’m tired and it escapes me at moment.

And just what is 20/20 Day? Check in tomorrow!

Pink Eye

Pink Eye!

I had all these wonderful blog posts rolling around in my head. Then one of the oh so generous children at school shared their pinkeye with me.   It may be a minor irritant to kids, but to adults it’s pain to 10th power.  Luckily, the folks at the Smithville Texas Regional Medical Center were most helpful.  There is not any other place to go when one is staying in Bastrop, Texas, which is to small a town to have a hospital.

For 48 hours, I couldn’t read or use my computer.   Not a fun way to end what started out as a most enjoyable weekend.  

Given a choice between my eyes and my ears, I think I’d opt to keep the eyes and loose the ears.  Only I hope I’m never in a position where I have to make such a horrendous decision.

Better Living Through Chemistry!

Not only does it take control the mood swings...it also corrals the hot flashes. Good Stuff!

Happy Birthday Beverly Cleary (3 Days Late)

Beverly Cleary turned 90 on Wednesday.
Turning 90 is an accomplishment for anyone. Turing 90 and still being able to hold children enthrall is a major accomplishment.

Henry Huggins was published in 1950, her last book Ramona’s World appeared in 2001. Three generations of children have loved her books. Now there’s a legacy!

Subs Are Not Us

Subs Are Not Us

As the year wears on the substitute teachers become odder and odder.

Subs basically fall into 3 categories,, gold, silver and badly tarnished cheap tin. The gold subs are retired teachers, usually teachers who have taught at the school
for years and years. They know the children – often they are their prior students, the routines and the school culture. They are highly prized, have their choice of jobs and are often booked months in advance. These are the subs one calls for in-services, personal days and jury duty.

Then there are the silver subs. Often silver subs are working on their teaching certificates and subbing to get experience, job leads and to find a school they want to work in. They come expecting to work and while they haven’t quite got a handle on classroom management they do an acceptable job. Some move on to become permanent full time teachers. Most schools have a pool of silver subs who get the call when the gold subs are busy.

And then there are the badly tarnished, cheap tin subs. These are subs that are willing to take a call on a rainy Friday mornings, the subs that show up when you wake up at 5am with the stomach flu and the bi-lingual subs. And from these subs legendary stories emerge. As the year trudges on the tales get taller and taller.

One of our bi-lingual teachers suddenly resigned & we’ve had an revolving door of subs, each one stranger than the last. Since I’m the librarian I see more than my fair share of them and have ample opportunity to observe their modus operandi.

“Game Boy Man” came complete with Sony hand held. Whenever he thought the kids were occupied out came his gizmo and his thumbs pounded and pushed till he was reminded that it was time to take the kids back to class. He had a habit of “stepping out for a minute”. His idea of a minute and mine differed by 1,800 seconds.

“Chronicle Woman” brings the newspaper and book to work. She brings the children to the library and then while I am teaching pulls out her paper and proceeds to read it. The paper snaps, crumbles and rustles and it is difficult to teach the children attentive listening when their teaching is demonstrating the total opposite. Her idea of teaching is reading while the kids do seat work. She is physically but not mentally present.

“Attitude Woman” showed up 2 hours late for the job this past week. The principal had already split the class up among the other grade level teachers so she was sent to the library to help us out. One thing about a library, we always have work that needs to be done.

My assistant pointed to the shelving and asked “have you ever shelved before?”

Yes”, she replied” but I don’t like to do it.” We don’t either but it’s part of the job.

“You can straighten shelves instead,” I offered. “

I don’t like to do that either” she retorted. “

Well, it’s for thirty minutes, then you have lunch duty”.

“I have a headache. This is not what I came to do today, I need to call the sub office and talk to Betsy (the person who assigns subs their jobs)”.

“We don’t have a phone in the library (boldface lie on my part) Go to the principals office and use her phone”

Five minutes later sub is heading out the door and I’m filling out an evaluation. She will not be back.

And then there was TMI Sub.

TMI sub arrived wearing a tight, low cut, spaghetti strap top and was promptly advised to put on the matching jacket. She as assigned to a 5th grade class, when most of the boys are double retaines and busting with hormones. She dropped the class off for lunch and vanished. Into thin air, she was nowhere to be found. Lunch is 30 minutes and after 45 minutes, one of the counselors brought the class to me and asked if I’d watch them while they scoured the building. An assembly was on the docket and the cafeteria had to be cleaned up and set up.

Fifteen minutes later the sub appears in the library. One of the kids asks her – in Spanish where she’s been. She says something and then next thing I know a boy is blurting out in a shocked voice “You got your period? “ He didn’t say it to attract attention or get a laugh, he was totally appalled. The girls all look mortified and embarrassed and my jaw hits the floor.

I turn to her “You don’t tell kids that!”

“Why? It’s perfectly natural, I started my period, didn’t have anything and had to go buy some tampons – see”.

Not only is it TMI time it is Show and Tell time.

At this point the Assistant Principal comes in to tell me they cannot find her anywhere. I tell him she’s reappeared and it might have been better if she hadn’t. He blushes and sends me off to the Principals office to share the story.

5 minutes later that sub is heading out the door too.

And we still have 30 days of school to look forward too!

Old Friends

Old Friends

Last night we gathered with an group of old,old friends and revisited that venerable lesbian institution, The Pot Luck.

It had been so long since we had seen each other. It seems as one gets older life gets in the way and nesting at home seems more and more appealing.

So there we were, one long time couple who hold a Houston record for the number of years together, one friend recovering from a break up, another who was solo for the evening ( her partner was out of out of state caring for aging parents) and My Beloved and myself.

One wonderful thing about old friends (if we added up the years we had all known each other it would approach the century mark) is that it does not matter how long it’s been, the conversation picks up as if it were yesterday.

We all summed up the events of our past six months in just a few sentences. There was enough history between us the sketchy details were all that were necessary.

No longer did we talk of jobs and careers – retirement is imminent for some and the rest us are settled and content with where we are. Career advancement is no longer a priority any longer. Our children are sleeping through the night, done with the terrible twos and finished with their adolescent rebellions.

This time the talked turned to ageing parents, the state of their health ,and the state of ours. We are the baby boomers, not only are we muddling through our own upcoming old age we are also coping with our parents. The talk ranged from cholesterol medications and assisted living versus in home care.

Of course, being women we had to catch up with who was with whom, who left whom and whatever happened to so and so. Taking a tip from the L Word we created our own “chart”. When it comes to lesbian relationships it is not six degrees of separation, it’s only three. Either our community is too small or we are not adventurous enough to look outside our comfort zone.

The party broke up at 10pm. Because not only are we old friends, we are also getting old.

By Your Possessions Ye Shall Be Known

It’s amazing how much our possessions tell about ourselves. I can tell a great deal about a family from what’s put out at garage sales, but it’s at estate sales or major moving sales where the personalities really shines forth.

We went to a garage sale last week, given by a woman whose mother had just moved into an assisted living complex. She’d of course not had to leave everything behind, but it was possible to “picture her” based on what she’d not been able to take with her.

A twenty year span of exercise videos spoke to a life long struggle with weight. Her clothes – many suits of stylist stout variety showed that it was not a successful one.

She adored bridge and board games – there were piles and piles of playing cards and mugs adorned with the Ace of Spades or the Three of Clubs. Outburst, Pictionary, , Trivial Pursuit and multiple versions of Scrabble were piled high.

Old New Orleans cookbooks told of her early life in the Crescent City, however she did not appear to enjoy cooking since the only cookbooks dated back from the first days of her marriage. There was not a recent cookbook among the bunch. She also was not much of a reader, most of the books were of the Readers Digest variety.

She did however adore sewing. Bolts of fabric, trim and old patterns abounded.
Another shopper inquired about the sewing machine. Her daughter said she had taken it with her, she just couldn’t bare to part with it though she could no longer sew.

And among the books I found the reason why- the only book with a recent copyright date was entitled Parkinson’s Disease.

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

I'm still writing a monthly column for BookThink - it's great fun and it's helpling me be both a better writer and a bookseller. Craig is still publishing it on his free newsletter so I can repost it here:

Thanks to Freecycle.org I’ve made a new friend who is a budding bookseller. Lou has an eye for jewelry and china (did you know folks collect Starbucks mugs???) so we are swapping knowledge fields.

By the way, if you have not explored Freecycle.org I heartily recommend it- there are local chapters in many cities. Their goal is to keep items out of the landfills by giving them away. I have acquired many a free box of packing peanuts. I’ve also given away books I didn’t want to haul to the thrifts or to Half Price so it is also a potential source for books. That is how I meet Lou – she came by to pick up a stack of yearbooks I inherited and did not want to sell.

Lou introduced me to some of her favorite garage sale routes and in return, I introduced her to my favorite thrifts. I then knew how much of my book scouting occurs before I even lay my hands on the book.

Lou kept asking “How’d you know to pick that one up” ?

“It had a mylar jacket – I knew it was ex-library”.

“But I though ex library books were worthless”

“Sometimes, but not always. Especially when it comes to children’s books.” And besides, no matter what “commandant” you follow when it comes to bookselling there are always the one or two books that are the exception.”

Therefore, here are some “commandants” to help you while scouting thrift stores, garage and estate sales for children’s books. Remember, unlike those given to Moses these are not written in stone and they are exceptions to every one of them.

Always, always, always pick up any children’s book with a Mylar jacket. That means it is an ex-library book. Remember, as I stated in my first column when it comes to children’s books ex-library is often all there is. It is not the kiss of death as it is with so many adult books. Check the copyright date. If it is prior to 1964, you might have a winner, or at least a quick sale on your hands. Do flip through looking for crayon marks and ripped and torn pages – we are talking kids books after all.

What is the subject? Fairies, mice, cats, dragons, witches, horses and fantasy of any sort have a ready market. Think outside the box here – people who breed Collie Dogs often collect books about collie dogs. People who quilt collect picture books about quilting. Beverly Cleary, best know for her Ramona series (still in print and not worth reselling) also wrote Lucky Chuck, about a boy and his wish for Harley Davidson. I’ve sold copies to Harley- Davidson riders. Who did the illustrations? Are they especially charming?
Do you recognize the name? Do they have shabby chic appeal?

Grab any book rebound in buckram (often referred to in book descriptions as “stout library binding” and take a second look at it. The buckram binding means the book was popular enough to be read to death and yet important enough to the library that they were willing to spend the money to have it rebound. Do not be put off by the ugly binding – the 1960 & 1970s resulted in some truly lurid color combinations – often the inside pages are clean. This binding is practically indestructible so the pages will not be falling out. A grubby buckram binding cleans up fast and easy with any household spray cleaner.

Open it up, flip through it and ask yourself the same questions you would ask about a mylar jacketed book. At one store, I spotted a thin, little picture book bound in the most unattractive brown binding you could imagine. It turned out to be a copy of Alexander the Gander by Tasha Tudor. The book, with all the flaws clearly described still sold for $45 on E-bay.

Every year The American Librarian Association awards the Newbery and the Caldecott Medal to the best novel and picture book of the year. They are frequently given as gifts –they must be good books – they have won an award – right? Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

The award winners are books adults think a child should read, not one a child might want to read and often not one an adult would remember fondly. The print runs on these are enormous, all libraries own them and they remain in print forever. The thrifts are littered with like new copies of these titles. There are a small niche of collectors who gather up the award winners – but only in the first edition / first printing, which were released before the books won their award. If the book has the gold or silver award seal on it is not a first edition. If you can get them cheaply, they can be sold in lots on E-bay to homeschoolers or teachers building classroom libraries.

One exception is Chris Van Allsburg. The Polar Express won the Caldecott Award in 1985. It’s very popular, especially right around Christmas time. In fact, all his books are good for a quick sale – he won’t allow paperback editions of his books, so they are only available in hardback. The books are always strong sellers, even the ex-library copies. Van Allsburg’s first/ first are considerable collectible – a first edition of the Polar Express just sold for $142 on E-bay. .

Along with Van Allsburg several other children’s authors have attracted the interest of the hyper-modern collectors. Two are of course Philip Pullman and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) , the third is Lemony Snicket, author of The Series of Unfortunate Events. That’s another set that sells well in lots – there are currently 12 in the series. Pullman and Rowling’s books are consistently in Craig’s Top Ten E-bay sellers lists.

Another twist in the search for editions are the British Editions of J.R. Rowling and Philip Pullman books. I’ve yet to find the latter but I’ve had good luck with the former. I recently sold a British paperback set of the first 3 Harry Potter books for $38. Not bad for a $1.50 investment!


Every state has a state book award too – in Texas it’s the Bluebonnet Award. Normally 20 or so books are nominated for the annual award, children read a specified number and vote on their favorites. Once the award is over and done with the “losers” tend to show up in the thrifts. Again, with a few exceptions they are common as “The Bridges of Madison County and just about as valuable. It’s worth taking a look at your state award list – which can be found on line by accessing your State Library Association so you’ll know to leave those books where you find them.

Along with the award books you’ll also multiple editions of the “classics” – Little Women, Black Beauty, Treasure Island, The Secret Garden, Peter Rabbit etc. etc. These are now in the common domain which means anyone can print them. Just like the Newbery and Caldecott books, they are often given as gifts and just as often, they land unread in the thrift shops. Unless done by Easton Press they aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. Tasha Tudor did illustrate an edition of the Secret Garden and The Little Princess, but both are still in print, in fact these are two of the few Tasha Tudor books that aren’t good sellers.

When it comes to Book Club editions, there are plenty of children’s BCE too. The oldest and the biggest is The Weekly Reader Book Club (WRBC). It has been around since the 1950s – I was a member as a child. The books are easy to spot – the bindings are shoddy and the paper is cheap. It resembles newsprint and by now it is often cracked and brittle. The WRBC is still around so the books abound. There are several clubs – sorted out by age levels so you will encounter WRBC picture books and chapter books. There is also a Dr. Seuss Book Club - produces shiny covered copies, (no dust jackets) of “I Can Read Books”. Common as dirt and just about as valuable.

Another set of books with shoddy bindings and cheap paper are the Whitman books. Shiny picture covers, often with a TV tie- in and published in the 1950s and 1960s. Annette, Spin & Marty, The Lone Ranger and so on. Thrift stores often consider these “special” because they are old, price them accordingly and proudly display them in the glass case. I know Craig has discussed them in a previous issue of The Gold Edition and some are collectible. You need to know what you are doing before you pay the delusions of grandeur prices.

The paperbacks are everywhere – many are worth putting up in lots if the price is right. Magic Treehouse, Hank the Cowdog, Junie B. Jones, A-Z Mysteries, Goosebumps, Animorphs, Bailey School Kids – they all have E-bay potential if the store is having a 10 books for a dollar sale or you strike a hard bargain at a garage sale. Series books are ‘hot” right now so there are many, many of them and most children, once they settle on a series they like want to read every book ever written. They are the Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys of the new millennium. The old Scholastic Paperbacks, which date to the 1960s have nostalgia appeal for the baby boomers. Once again, lot them by topic or author. There are some paperbacks that top out at over $50 – an issue of 50/50 touched on those.

Board books, if in good condition (no teeth marks!) are also worth listing in lots. Try to group books by author if possible or by subject.

You will find multitudes of like new Disney books and current TV & movie tie- ins. Leave them. Ditto Clifford the Big Red Dog and Arthur the Badger books. Pop Up books are another leave behind – usually the pop-ups are damaged, but if you find one by Robert Sabuda do give it a second glance. I did find a mint first edition of one of his Christmas pop up books at a thrift store.

I live in a large, sprawling city so when it comes to garage sales, I scour the ads carefully and try to read between the lines – I haven’t the time or the gas to waste driving to a sale that’s worthless. I don’t bother with any sale that claims to have cribs, strollers and baby items. The only books I’ll find there are Disney books and other worthless pulp. My idea of garage sale nirvana is one given by a retired teacher. Teachers spend hundreds and hundreds dollars of their own money on their classroom libraries and they never throw anything away. They are frequently the recipients of school library discards that date back decades so the potential to mine some gold is high indeed.

While I don’t think you make living only searching out children’s books at Thrift Stores and Garage Sales you can definitely add to your income by keeping an eye out for them while you are trolling for othere treasures.

There is No Joy in Mudville

Texas lost to LSU in overtime.

At least the grocery store won't be as crowed next weekend.