Most people are aware of the "Book of the Month" clubs that are out there. Basically, you sign up for a type of book you are interested in, and they automatically send you a selection (or two) every single month, which you can send back if you don't like.
When our daughter was born, my wife signed her up for the baby book of the month club. I'm amazed at what a waste of money this is - we have a daughter who is probably two years away from having even the slightest semblance of reading ability (realistically, probably longer), and yet every 3 weeks like clockwork we get a little box in the mail, with somewhere between one and three books in it, ranging from a $17 to $20 bill each time. These are supposedly geared to the child's age level - which of course makes me laugh - what infant can read?
My wife has a great time showing the books to our daughter, exclaiming "how cute!", etc. I can't help but roll my eyes everytime - coupled with the periodic retail purchases of baby books, we have a pile of books for a 6-month old. The entirety of her desire for the books is something to chew on as she teethes. (Most of these books, for the record, are thick cloth covered pages and covers, not a typical book as you would envision it.)
These clubs aren't being marketed to/for kids at all - but to/for their parents. I have come to the conclusion that it makes my wife happy, so I keep (happily?) paying the bill each time they come. What else can you do?
Posted by Mark at July 1, 2003 05:06 PM | TrackBack