AZDana

I found a book on sale at Amazon, The Little Engine That Could (Oversize Gift Edition) by Watty Piper. It is currently on sale for $17, the original list price is $85.00. Yes indeed, you read that right, and further more, bn.com also has it listed for $85 too. To be fair, it is a giant sized hardcover edition and it comes packaged in a “lavish deluxe collector’s gift box.” According to Amazon, its dimensions are 17.8 x 15.2 x 1.4 inches.

Personally, I think seventeen bucks is a fair price to pay for the book, and it would probably be a great addition to a classroom or Sunday School room. But the eighty five dollars seems kind of crazy to me and I would never spend that much money on a book for a small child. I can understand spending money on a boxed book set for an older kid, but at that age, they’re still using peanut butter sandwiches as bookmarks. I would much rather buy the small version of the book for five dollars, a set of markers and a giant art pad, and ask the kid to make his own giant book. Or better yet, turn it into a family project and work on it side by side. I think the final result will be cherished a lot longer than anything you’ll find online and you’ll be able to create some terrific memories along the way too.