Resources and Products We Recommend
Below you'll find resources that we recommend to further your education about books and products that we recommend for book repair.
Locating Book Sales
Book Sale Finder
Book Sale Finder is a website that most libraries in the United States and some in Canada use to post about their upcoming library sales. You can search by state or province. Consider looking not just for library sales happening in your local area but sales that may be occurring near you when you are traveling.
Further Education
We've curated a list of some of our favorite resources to assist families with furthering their education about which authors, books, and resources are worth considering for their personal home libraries.
Ambleside Online
AmblesideOnline is a free homeschool curriculum based on Charlotte Mason's principles of education. The books used in the AmblesideOnline curriculum are of excellent quality, and most are readily available for sale or free online. Even if you aren't homeschooling or looking for a curriculum, it's worth the time to become familiar with the books they recommend. A Google doc with a complete list of all the books used in their curriculum is available on their main curriculum page.
A Delectable Education Podcast
A Delectable Education podcast aims to spread the feast of a Charlotte Mason education. They offer many resources to learn more about the Charlotte Mason method. Since quality living books are a central part of a Charlotte Mason education there are several excellent episodes that would be valuable for anyone interested in learning more about how to identify and find living books. Our favorites include Living Books Library, Why Living Books are Essential, How to Recognize 'Living Books', and History Books.
The Good and The Beautiful Book List
The Good and The Beautiful book list is an affordable, 117-page PDF document that includes reviews of, and information on, 546 books recommended by Jenny Phillips. This list is updated yearly, and updates are free if you have purchased the list in the past. Jenny only included books that she found to have clean language and content and are of the highest literary and moral value, so many commonly recommended books did not make her list. This is an incredible resource, and we love that Jenny shared her thoughts and feelings for why certain books didn't make the cut. We believe that every family should have as much information as possible as they work to determine which books will be the best fit for their own personal libraries. While we don't agree with why certain books didn't make the cut, we really loved being able to take the opportunity to consider a different perspective.
Jan Bloom's Books
Jan Bloom has published two excellent books, Who Should We Then Read? and Who Should We Then Read? Volume 2. These books include biographies of hundreds of authors of good books for children and young adults and lists of the books that they've written. Jan included authors who are excellent story-tellers and who wrote books that were true to a Christian worldview - authors who acknowledge both the glory of man and his fallen nature. Gaining familiarity with the authors listed in Jan's books is one of our top recommendations for educating yourself about the kinds of authors and books that are likely a great choice for your home library.
Living Books Library
Living Books Library is a private lending library for Christian homeschool families in southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee. They have over 17,000 books and specialize in out-of-print children’s literature primarily published prior to 1970. Their website is an excellent resource that includes their top book picks, a list of private lending libraries around the United States, and a video tour of their library.
Read Aloud Revival Podcast
The Read Aloud Revival podcast includes many wonderful interviews with living authors and speakers who talk about different aspects of reading aloud.
Sage Parnassus
Sage Parnassus is the blog of Nancy Kelly. Nancy mentors moms and helps them implement a living education in their home. Her blog has excellent book recommendations and homeschooling tips. She is also a regular conference speaker and also hosts a podcast.
Valerie's Living Library
Valerie's Living Library has compiled lists and reviews of many of the best books published during The Golden Age of Children's Literature. The website is no longer available but can be viewed via Internet Archive.
Well Read Kid
Well Read Kid cross-references many book lists including award winners, homeschool curriculum lists, and other top book lists.
Book Repair Products
Sometimes we find books—often older, well-loved books or ex-library books—that need some repairs to bring them to a condition that we are comfortable handing them to our children to read. These are products that we use and love.
Neschen Filmoplast P Archival Mending Tape
Use this tape to repair page or dust jacket tears. This tape won't turn brown and brittle over time. View on Amazon
Brodart Acid-Free Bind-Art Flexible Adhesive Glue
This acid free glue is great for repairing bindings and pages that are loose or have come out. View on Amazon
Dust jacket mylar covers
There are many great options for dust jacket covers from Demco and Brodart. We use the Brodart Just-a-Fold III Rolls. View a starter pack on Amazon or view on shopbrodart.com. You'll want the size listed that matches the height of the books you want to cover.
Brodart Tyvek® Hinge Tape
You can use this tape to add support to bindings that are too damaged to fix with glue alone. This tape is white so it will cover up some of the inside of the book where you make the repair. View on shopbrodart.com.
BookGuard™ Clear Vinyl Repair and Protection Tape
This clear tape is great for covering the spines of books that are fraying, tearing, or need extra protection. View on shopbrodart.com.
