The Genius of the Little Golden Books
The series has added books on Star Wars and Dolly Parton, and it’s still a terrific value
If you’ve bought books for a young child recently, you could be forgiven for wondering: Is the day coming when I’ll have to borrow against my 401(k) plan to afford these?
High-quality children’s books are expensive — and getting more so.
Last year School Library Journal reported that the average children’s hardcover book costs $18. That’s a steep price for a lot of families in any season. It’s steeper in a pandemic that’s involved a double whammy for some households: Job losses and other hardships have turned new hardcovers into a luxury as school and library closings have put free books out of reach.
The cost of books may give you pause even if you’re a well-off aunt, uncle, or grandparent who can fund vacations or contribute to a college savings plan. What if three of a child’s friends also decide that the perfect birthday gift is that $17.99 Pinkalicious hardcover you’ve wrapped up?
Fortunately, one children’s series has always held prices down: the Little Golden Books that generations of adults have grown up with. Each book cost 25 cents when Simon & Schuster launched the series in 1942. Then — astonishingly by today’s standards — the cost stayed the same for 20 years, or until it went…
