I find them at thrift stores, library sales, used book stores, or online; sometimes I even score great vintage from family and friends who know how much of a hoarder I am. I think my love of a great deal has something to do with it but mostly I just love love, love, love old books. They smell good, some of them are familiar and almost always I end up finding something out of print that I never knew existed.
Early on I started collecting books that I thought my daughter might like. I had no idea what to even start buying. I casually would look in the children’s section of the thrift shops my husband and I frequented and one day, BAM!!!! I was smacked in the face with a Sesame Street15 volume Treasury, the very same set I had when I was 5, the set that I drew in and colored up all the pages. I was about 7 months prego with my now 5 year old and was so excited I was squealing like a mad-woman.
The Treasury started my ever growing collection. Now, almost 5 years later, my book shelves runneth over and I don’t seem to be showing signs of slowing. I opened my shop thinking I’d sell most of what my daughter grew out of, along with some of the books she didn’t really like all that much. Then I decided to share my entire collection, the one’s I can’t bear to part with, on my blog. Whenever I find doubles of something or a book that isn’t in circulation too often, I forward it to GooGooGalleryKids in hopes it will find a new home, where it will be cherished and re=loved. I guess I have the Sesame Street Treasury to thank for my obsession!