MyFamilyClub - Money Saving Made Easy

We all want our kids to be able to read well and enjoy books. And the best bit? We don't have to pay through the nose for them. We’ve come up with some great ways to get your hands on cheap books for children! Read on...

1. Supermarkets

Most supermarkets that are big enough to stock non-food items now have a book section. Run your eye over it when you’re doing your regular shop and you’ll usually be able to pick up some cheap books for children. Supermarkets have some of the best prices, albeit within a very limited range. It certainly beats making a separate trip to the shops in your precious windows of time!

2. Book distributors

If you’re after a boxed collection or range of reference books for under a tenner, distributors like The Book People offer some incredible prices saving you up to 75% off high street prices. It’s ideal if you’re pushed for shopping time too, as you can choose online or from their magazine catalogues.

3. High street sales

Make the most of the recession-busting offers around and buy cheap books for children in the sales. Waterstones often has school holiday offers, like 10% off when you spend £15 on children's books. Blackwells claims to have the most generous reward scheme of its kind in the UK, whereby each customer who registers for their reward card gets 10 free points. You then earn a point for every £1 you spend, meaning you get a £5 reward for every 100 points you collect. Keep your eye on your local book shops too for offers they have on, to avoid ever paying full price!

4. Library freebies

Aside from being great for borrowing books, libraries also give children a free book pack at certain ages. Register your child when they’re still under one, and you should receive a pack on joining, and again when they reach pre-school milestone ages. Libraries also hand out book vouchers on events like World Book Day which you can use towards books in shops like WHSmiths.

5. Fetes and fairs

There’s always a book section at any church or school fair, and you don’t have to be a member to buy. Arrive early to pick the best, or rock up at the end for a real bargain of what’s left.

6. Go online

If you want to search for a specific book, get on to bargain sites like Amazon and eBay. As well as having a comprehensive search facility, you can also create a ‘wish list’ of books so the site emails you if they get what you’re looking for. It certainly avoids trawling through the shops for something that turns out to be out of stock!

7. Books as presents

Most of us have managed to fill our house with neglected plastic toys that were thoughtfully bought as kids’ presents by now! So next time it’s your child’s birthday or Christmas looms on the horizon, ask friends and family to get books for your brood instead. Particularly if they have a real interest in something specific like dinosaurs or how the human body works, this can be a great way to hook your child on reading.

8. Book swap

Finally, if you’ve got a decent network of mums with children of a similar age to yours, swap or loan books between your children. It’s a fun way to encourage a shared interest in reading – and of course this one doesn’t cost a penny! Alternatively, have a look at the website Readitswapit - it allows you to swap books with hundreds of other people online for free!