Adios, allowance.

I've never approved of Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi's Spiderwick Chronicles. At $10.99 per (short and v. unsatisfying) book, the series has always seemed like a total money sink. But when I saw a collected version of the first five Spiderwick books I thought I might check it out... until I saw the price tag. It's still listed at thirty dollars! For a 569-page-long kids' book!

For the purposes of comparison, you could buy:

A) A boxed set of the first three books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan for $19.99,

B) The complete boxed set of the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins for $32.95, or

C) A boxed set of the first five Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer for $35.00...

...all three of which would be a much, much, much better value.

I'm just sayin'.