Build your child's reading habit without spending a fortune — the smart parent's guide to buying used kids' books
Why Used Books Are Perfect for Kids
Here's a truth every parent discovers: kids outgrow books faster than clothes. A 5-year-old reads a picture book 10 times in a month, then never touches it again. A 3-year-old's activity book is completed in a week. School textbooks are used for just one academic year.
Buying brand new books every time is like buying a new car for a road trip — it gets you there, but it's not the smartest financial move.
Used children's books on BookBazaar give your child the same stories, the same learning, at 50-70% less.
Age-Wise Book Recommendations
Ages 0-3 (Baby & Toddler)
What to look for: Board books (thick pages), touch-and-feel books, first words books.
- First 100 Words (Roger Priddy) — New: ₹500 | Used: ₹150-250
- Dear Zoo (Rod Campbell) — New: ₹400 | Used: ₹120-200
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear (Eric Carle) — New: ₹350 | Used: ₹100-180
- My First Library (boxed set, 10 books) — New: ₹500 | Used: ₹200-300
- Touch and Feel Animals (DK) — New: ₹450 | Used: ₹150-250
Pro tip: Board books are extremely durable. Used ones are usually in great condition because they're designed to survive toddler abuse!
Ages 3-6 (Preschool & Kindergarten)
What to look for: Picture books, rhyming books, early readers, activity/coloring books.
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle) — New: ₹400 | Used: ₹120-200
- Peppa Pig Story Collection (10-book box) — New: ₹1,500 | Used: ₹500-750
- Disney Story Collections — New: ₹800-1,200 | Used: ₹300-500
- Panchatantra Stories (Amar Chitra Katha) — New: ₹350 | Used: ₹120-180
- Akbar Birbal / Tenali Raman stories — New: ₹250-350 | Used: ₹80-150
- Brain Quest Workbooks (age 4-6) — New: ₹600 | Used: ₹200-350 (check if unused pages remain)
Savings per year: A child reads 15-20 picture books per year. New: ₹6,000-8,000 → Used: ₹2,000-3,000 = ₹4,000-5,000 saved
Ages 6-9 (Early Readers)
What to look for: Chapter books, early novels, comic books, non-fiction for kids.
- Geronimo Stilton series — New: ₹350 each | Used: ₹100-180
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney) — New: ₹350 | Used: ₹120-200
- Magic Tree House series — New: ₹300 | Used: ₹100-150
- Horrible Histories series — New: ₹400 | Used: ₹130-200
- Tinkle Comics / Amar Chitra Katha — New: ₹50-100 each | Used: ₹20-50 (buy in bulk)
- Encyclopedia for Kids (DK) — New: ₹1,500-2,500 | Used: ₹500-900
Pro tip: Series books (Geronimo Stilton, Wimpy Kid) are perfect for used buying — kids read them once and move to the next. Buy the whole series used and save ₹2,000+.
Ages 9-12 (Tweens)
What to look for: Middle-grade novels, adventure series, fantasy, science books.
- Harry Potter (7-book set) — New: ₹3,500 | Used: ₹1,200-1,800
- Percy Jackson (5-book set) — New: ₹2,500 | Used: ₹800-1,200
- Roald Dahl Collection (15 books) — New: ₹4,000 | Used: ₹1,500-2,200
- Wings of Fire (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam) — New: ₹250 | Used: ₹80-120
- The Secret Seven / Famous Five (Enid Blyton) — New: ₹200-300 | Used: ₹60-120
- Goosebumps series — New: ₹250 | Used: ₹80-130
- National Geographic Kids — New: ₹500-800 | Used: ₹200-350
Ages 12+ (Young Adult)
- The Hunger Games trilogy — New: ₹1,200 | Used: ₹400-600
- The Fault in Our Stars — New: ₹350 | Used: ₹100-180
- Sapiens (YA Edition) — New: ₹500 | Used: ₹180-280
- The Alchemist — New: ₹250 | Used: ₹80-130
Activity Books & Workbooks — A Special Note
Activity books and workbooks are tricky when buying used because previous owners may have written in them. Here's how to handle it:
- Check photos carefully — Ask the seller to photograph inside pages
- Pencil-written books can be erased — If answers are in pencil, you can erase them
- Crayon/marker = skip — Colored pages can't be reused
- Buy blank-page activity books — Coloring books, drawing books are fine if clean pages remain
- Math workbooks — Even completed ones can be useful as practice answer keys
Building a Home Library on a Budget
Every child development expert recommends having books at home. Here's how to build a 50-book home library for under ₹5,000:
- Buy 30 used books on BookBazaar — Mix of picture books, chapter books, and non-fiction — budget ₹3,000
- Get 10 books from book exchanges — Swap with friends and family — free
- Pick up 5 books from school book fairs — Discounted prices — budget ₹1,000
- Accept 5 donated books — Ask relatives clearing out their kids' shelves — free
Total: 50 books for ₹4,000. New price for the same: ₹15,000-20,000!
Indian Authors & Books Every Kid Should Read
- Ruskin Bond — The Room on the Roof, Angry River, The Blue Umbrella (₹150-250 new | ₹50-100 used)
- R.K. Narayan — Swami and Friends, Malgudi Days (₹200-300 | ₹70-120 used)
- Sudha Murty — How I Taught My Grandmother to Read, Grandma's Bag of Stories (₹200-300 | ₹70-120 used)
- Premchand — Nirmala, Godan (Hindi classics, ₹150-250 | ₹50-100 used)
- Amar Chitra Katha — Indian mythology and history in comic format (₹50-100 each | ₹20-50 used)
When to Buy — Seasonal Guide
- March-April: School year ending — parents sell textbooks and outgrown story books
- June: Book fair season — compare with used prices on BookBazaar
- October-November: Diwali cleanout — families declutter bookshelves
- December: Holiday reading lists — buy used for vacation reading