What are your thoughts on asking for books in lieu of cards for a baby shower?

[Hikergirl]

I think it is a great idea. It wasn't a thing when I was pregnant with my dd but she received some books with lovely inscriptions in them. She especially cherishes the one her grandmother gave her since she passed away years ago when dd was so young.

 

[Summer2018]

So, were the gifts requested to be books or was it a gift plus a book in place of a card?

It just seems a little odd to me as a nice book could be much more expensive than a card.

Just for example, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, by Eric Carle costs $21.99. You can buy many cards for the same price.

 

[Colleen27]

I love this idea, and have a couple of favorite books I like to give. I despise cards - $7 for a one-time-use item that will be thrown away or tucked into a box to molder after about 2 minutes of attention. A book is a much better use of money and paper.

 

[Colleen27]

So, were the gifts requested to be books or was it a gift plus a book in place of a card?

It just seems a little odd to me as a nice book could be much more expensive than a card.

Just for example, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, by Eric Carle costs $21.99. You can buy many cards for the same price.

But there's nothing that says you have to get a big hardcover picture book. For mothers-to-be that are not particularly close friends or family, I like to give Disney titles from the Little Golden Books series. They're usually $5... less than a lot of Disney-themed greeting cards. A lot of board books (including The Very Hungry Caterpillar) are in that same range. I think I paid $5.50 for it for a cousin's shower last month.

For expectant moms I'm closer with, I do spend more - A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends are personal favorites that I love to pass on to little ones in the family, and they're $15-20 hardcovers - but gifting a book in place of a card doesn't have to cost any more than picking up a cutesy card from CVS or Hallmark.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Just for example, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, by Eric Carle costs $21.99. You can buy many cards for the same price.

IMO card prices are quite high these days but regardless your price seems quite high for the book. Is that the List Price (which is often not the price stores sell them for)?

I know I can buy it cheaper through Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, Buy Buy Baby, etc.

There are also several versions of the book you can get--Hardcover, Board Book, Paperback, Sensory Soft version, heck even a Bilingual version

For a Board Book version I can get it for $5.60, Hardcover for $16.95, Paperback for $7.70, etc

People can for sure spend more on a book than a card but these days I'm lucky to get out of the store without buying a simple no frills card for less than $6 lol.

 

[ramee]

I like books as the gift. Don’t like the cutesy wording for the “request” that people are going to feel obligated to fulfill.

 

[luvsJack]

Just for example, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, by Eric Carle costs $21.99. You can buy many cards for the same price.

Three kids, three grandkids and a childcare center library and I have NEVER paid 21.99 for a single book.

There are second hand bookstores everywhere and online. I have ordered lots of second hand books for a couple of dollars and have yet to get one that looks used.

Most showers that ask for books include something saying the book need not be new. Anyone with kids is going to have books.

 

[PlainJane]

I think it could frustrate some party goers that are more cash strapped. I can get a card for $1.00, pretty easily. I could of course also go to the Dollar Tree and try to find a kid’s book (no idea what their toddler inventory looks like). Most of the board books I buy for my son are about $7.99, so definitely more than even an expensive card.

I like the idea of it being useful vs. a card, it just is more expensive than a card. I could have cared less about cards, write your name on the bag or the wrapping paper for all I care (or even use the included tiny card attached to the bag or make a card with the wrapping paper). Really, if someone handed me a gift in a Walmart bag I wouldn’t care. Presentation of gifts doesn’t matter at all to me, I have to make myself do it for other people.

 

[Colleen27]

I think it could frustrate some party goers that are more cash strapped. I can get a card for $1.00, pretty easily. I could of course also go to the Dollar Tree and try to find a kid’s book (no idea what their toddler inventory looks like). Most of the board books I buy for my son are about $7.99, so definitely more than even an expensive card.

Dollar Tree actually has a pretty decent selection of books for younger kids. And an expensive card gets into that $8 range easily enough - I reeeaaaallly wanted a particular Disney graduation card for Dd17's lifelong BFF, who is like another daughter to me and who joined us on a WDW trip when they were younger. And that darned card cost me $7.99 at our corner drugstore (and it was worth every penny).

 

[PlainJane]

Dollar Tree actually has a pretty decent selection of books for younger kids. And an expensive card gets into that $8 range easily enough - I reeeaaaallly wanted a particular Disney graduation card for Dd17's lifelong BFF, who is like another daughter to me and who joined us on a WDW trip when they were younger. And that darned card cost me $7.99 at our corner drugstore (and it was worth every penny).

That’s good to know about Dollar Tree!

I don’t even look at the expensive cards, so I guess they went up from $5.99 while I wasn’t looking

I hope she loved it! My husband really enjoys picking out cards, I just don’t get it, but I also still keep most of the cards that I receive.

 

[tcufrog]

Slightly O/T, but has anyone noticed a trend that woman are having baby showers for each baby these days? When did that start? A baby shower is meant to help the new mom and dad set up and have the necessities for a baby. Unless 10 years or more have passed, there should be no need for a baby shower after each kid.

My close friends wanted to host a shower for my second child and had my older son as honorary host. Instead of gifts for my baby, I asked for new gently used baby stuff that was donated to the local women's shelter. The guests got really into that and many moms were grateful for the chance to get rid of stuff they didn't need anymore. The shelter really appreciated it too. We chatted, snacked and decorated onesies while my son ran around with his friends. It was a lot of fun.

I'm a librarian and often give books as gifts to new moms. That being said, I do find the trend towards bigger and bigger asks for gift giving occasions to be concerning. Just because "everyone" is doing it on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook doesn't mean that it's a good or considerate idea.

 

[EveDallas]

Just for example, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, by Eric Carle costs $21.99. You can buy many cards for the same price.

Goggling this took .2 seconds. Less than $6 is a far cry from $21.99

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Very-Hun...XKYtQ4QAONulQhxykwHHdXpiblKbjLpgaArGZEALw_wcB

 

[MrJT]

This was done for my grandson, and I thought that it was great. He got so many books! At least three or four from my house alone. I found a really nice edition of a book that I had read to my son MANY times.

 

[mom2rtk]

Interesting that everyone has figured out that you can buy inexpensive books but assume everyone pays $7 for a card.

 

[luvsJack]

Interesting that everyone has figured out that you can buy inexpensive books but assumes everyone pays $7 for a card.

For me, the cost of a card depends on the person I am gifting. I don't always even get a card but if I do and if its someone that I am friends with but not real sentimental with or close to, I will get the $1 cards. If its a close family member or friend that I want to give a sentimental message to, the $1 cards rarely say the right words.

 

[mjkacmom]

Just for example, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, by Eric Carle costs $21.99. You can buy many cards for the same price.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Count me as one who pays $1 for a card. I also keep a stack of blank cards on hand and most times I write my own sentiment. I would give the book, but the cost would factor into how much I spent on the gift.

 

[luvsJack]

Count me as one who pays $1 for a card. I also keep a stack of blank cards on hand and most times I write my own sentiment. I would give the book, but the cost would factor into how much I spent on the gift.

Do you honestly keep a tally?

 

[dhardawa]

If I add a card, it’s one from the Dollar Tree that cost 50 cents, so this would be asking me to buy another gift. If the book is in lieu of a gift, fine.

 

[cabanafrau]

Do you honestly keep a tally?

Having a set budget for an occasion is a bad thing? I know we're personally having a very expensive spring, summer, fall filled with an extraordinary number of gift giving occasions of many varieties. Those kind of little extra gifting "suggestions" can add up in a real hurry if I just throw all sense of reason to the wind. It also makes a difference that we've currently got a daughter in college we're devoting a large portion of our budget to.