Children's Hospital Book Market - Children's Books

Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba Book Market

I had the pleasure of volunteering for the Children's Hospital Book Market this past weekend.  Over the past 3 years my station has always been in the adult fiction section.  For the first time I had my shift in the "Children's Books" section. 

I was eager to help (my job was "bagger" which is to read off the price of the book for the cash-person and bag the books for the customer) and I soon realized how different the shoppers were in the Children's section versus the adult fiction section. I'd like to give you a little snapshot of some of the shoppers I encountered during my four-hour shift.

The big spenders by far were teachers.  Teachers need books to help their students learn how to read.  Some teachers spent over $100 on books!  Some were educational books, some were for pleasure reading.  One teacher was excited to show her friend she was getting a "Magic Eye" book for her students.

The most popular shoppers were parents with children.  A young boy and his mom came by, with a stack of vintage "Archie" comic books for his sister.  She was apparently a fan of Archie, and he was proud to say that he was giving his sister these comics for a Christmas present.  He was happy to know that he had "done" his shopping for her.  He also bought a couple of books for himself.

A mother and her young son came by and purchased about 12 books her son could read.  These were small paperback novel-types.  She said he likes to read, and because she doesn't let her kids watch TV this was a good activity for him.

Another mother and her two young children came by to purchase a couple of books each.  It was a lesson in how to budget, and how to "purchase" something.  The mother instructed first her daughter, then her son to give the books to us, and once the total was given, she instructed them to get out their money and hand it to us.  It was so sweet to see these young children "learn" how to buy something.

A few grandparents were out with their grandchildren.  I mentioned to a young boy as his grandpa is paying for his books, "Grandpa's spoiling you today!".  The older man replied, "Oh, it's not spoiling when it comes to books".  I guess I should have said, "Grandpa's treating you today!".  Another teenaged girl was out with her grandmother, and I told her, "Get whatever you want, Grandma's buying!".  I looked over to the older woman and she was smiling, and it made the young girl smile.  She ended up getting about 5 books.

Some of the more popular books sold were Harry Potter, Dear Dumb Diary, Captain Underpants, and Goosebumps.  Most books were priced between around $1.00-$1.50.  Some were as low as 25 cents!

It was a great, fun-filled time and I look forward to the next sale in February.  I enjoy my volunteer work.  All proceeds go towards the Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba. You can "Like" them on facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/#!/childrenshospitalfoundation

Have an awesome day!

Angela G. Gentile