How to Find the Books You Loved as a Child

Introduction

New books get published every year, but the ones you loved as a child are like comfort food. It's natural to want the kids you love to have the books that were your childhood favorites.

Things You'll Need

• Children's Books

Steps

1 Step One

Remember as much about the books as you can. Titles and authors' names are, of course, exceedingly useful, but any tidbit, including the setting (Maine? San Francisco?), the main character's name (Betsy? Harriet? Tom?) or the theme (a magic garden? a swan that can play the trumpet?) can come in handy. Make notes as you mull it over.

2 Step Two

Ask the librarian at your child's school or at the children's desk in your public library for help, especially with books you don't remember well. Most children's librarians have not only a deep passion for children's literature, but also an encyclopedic memory for plots and characters.

3 Step Three

Frequent garage sales, especially in turnover neighborhoods (those suburban blocks that were once chock-full of children). People are having fewer kids and having them later, and would-be grandparents who are moving to Florida may decide it's more important that the books be read than that they be saved for a particular child.

4 Step Four

Find out if there's someone in your local used bookstore who specializes in children's books. It's a common passion, and these people tend to be knowledgeable. Some will even keep wish lists and notify you when they find the book you're seeking.

5 Step Five

Keep an eye out for library book sales. Many collectors look askance at 'ex libris' books (books that were once in a library) because they're less than pristine. Still, they're often in surprisingly good condition - well-loved, but not destroyed.

6 Step Six

Check out online services. Most of the larger online stores offer book-search services, while sites that specialize in used and out-of-print books (such as Bibliofind.com and Alibris.com) link networks of small book dealers all over the United States and even abroad.

Tips & Warnings

• Memory can play tricks on you, and even reference books can contain typographical errors. Whether you're searching in reference books or online, check a few different spellings if you can't find what you're looking for.
• Make this a family project. Ask your family and your same-aged friends to help you jog your memory.
• Most book search services provide painstaking detail about the condition of each book ("small tear in corner of page 3," "2-inch purple crayon mark on inside back cover"), but ask about the return policy just in case.