Friday Finds: Deal of the Day... or Decade

Today's Friday Finds is actually more like the Deal of the Day... or Decade.

I love it when I discover a treasure in the most unexpected place. Periodically I drop by antique stores and check out the books they have to offer. From time to time I find a good deal -- an old copy of a classic, a book I've been searching for some time, or even something I hadn't thought to buy, but for the condition and price I just can't pass it up.

The other day my daughter and I were walking around the older part of our town and we passed an antique shop. On a whim I decided to go in and see what books they had, but made my daughter promise to keep her hands to herself. What I found inside might very well be for me the deal of the decade.

I discovered a four volume hardcover box set of Richard Scarry's Look & Learn Library, circa 1971. The set contains: Things To Know, Fun With Words, Best Stories Ever, and Going Places.

Asking price for the set was $15, which I thought to be a fair considering it would put these vintage books at $3.75 per volume. Still, I quickly checked online (yay for smart phones!) to see what these books were listed for on Amazon and EBay. My initial search told me they could be purchased in fair to very good or collectible condition for anywhere from $38 to $250 for the set! The set I was looking at probably falls somewhere in the middle. The box is in fair condition, but the books are in good to very good condition. Perhaps my set would be priced somewhere in the $75 range? I don't know, but considering they were only $15 I snatched them up. Incredible!

I've noticed that Richard Scarry's books are starting to make a comeback. The book stores have begun to carry reprints of several of his works, but I've yet to see a collection like this. When I checked to see if they were available separately I found that they are, but generally priced $8+ more per book, again depending on condition and the seller.

As you can tell I am very excited. I lugged the heavy box set all the way home and selected Things to Know to read first to my daughter. The book is broken up into several stories relating to things we learn like the alphabet, manners, colors, shapes, sizes, etc. We only read the first four stories, but it was clear both of us enjoyed what we'd read and can't wait to read more.

This was definitely a score! If you are unable to find a set like this you can still enjoy the works of Richard Scarry. Check out his other titles here or read more about him at one of the links listed below.

Happy reading (and treasure hunting)!

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Related Links:
Richard Scarry - B&N Meet the Writers
Richard Scarry - Mini-Biography
Richard Scarry - Wikipedia