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rayitodeluna

Mar 19, 2012, 9:50 AM

Post #1 of 11 (2043 views)

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Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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My inlaws have been telling me childrens books are 200 - 300 MXN pesos. In Spanish.

Anyone know if this is about correct, or have they only seen books in one place?

My children have a mountain of english books, but I would like to start collecting more in Spanish as they grow. They onlyhave about 10 in Spanish. I am going back to the States for a week soon, and there are plenty of places to buy books from 1US $ to 8 US $. And even cheaper used! Should I grab some while there, or is there a cheaper place to buy books here in Mexico City.

I also would like to buy some for the sobrinos of my cuñada, especially if they are very expensive here in MX.

Thank you for any thoughts on this!

~~~~~~ Enjoying life in northern D.F. with our family of Americans and chilangos.
Family and expat blog here : http://threecurlygirlys.blogspot.mx/ ~~~~~~

GringoCArlos

Mar 19, 2012, 10:57 AM

Post #2 of 11 (2020 views)

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Re: [rayitodeluna] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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Kids books in Spanish here normally run 80 to 350 pesos in bookstores. MX bookstores don't have many kids books in English in Queretaro, and I've been to 6 or 8 of them, usually finding a partial shelf of kids books in English.

Depending on the area, Spanish books for kids are usually harder to find in the US, but Amazon has a good collection at better prices. Load up there, and then get the kids to share.

rayitodeluna

Mar 19, 2012, 11:48 AM

Post #3 of 11 (2005 views)

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Re: [GringoCArlos] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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Thank you for the response. Gives me an idea on on prices here, Im thinking you are right - better to load up on books stateside.

Where we lived there are (on average) about 30 books to choose from in Spanish at the local bokstores. And we do enjoy the amazon selection - you can find ANYTHING there.

This visit I am flying back to our state, but in future visits it will be driving to McAllen TX. I can assume, being a border town, it would have an ok selection of Spanish books, correct?

Thans again for the quick response gringoCarlos! We travel thursday :)

~~~~~~ Enjoying life in northern D.F. with our family of Americans and chilangos.
Family and expat blog here : http://threecurlygirlys.blogspot.mx/ ~~~~~~

mazbook1

Mar 19, 2012, 5:45 PM

Post #4 of 11 (1962 views)

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Re: [rayitodeluna] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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Books in Spanish, whether for children or adults, are darn expensive in México…for many reasons, some of the strongest, though, are completely WRONG! One of my pet peeves.

There ARE children's books for even less than $80 MXN, but the physical quality is only slightly better than an NOB comic book. They don't last long in the hands of little kids!

If I could figure out some way of buying Spanish-language books at wholesale (some of which I can, but not all), then some method of transporting them hear less expensively than mail or common carrier, I would do so in a minute! There is an enormous market for correctly, i.e., low, priced books in Spanish here in México. But that's a whole different topic.

rayitodeluna

Mar 19, 2012, 9:59 PM

Post #5 of 11 (1935 views)

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Re: [mazbook1] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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Wow, I had no clue! Wish I knew where to buy some books at wholesale. Except, that would mean many copies of one book (generally) , correct?

A good idea for the future though.

~~~~~~ Enjoying life in northern D.F. with our family of Americans and chilangos.
Family and expat blog here : http://threecurlygirlys.blogspot.mx/ ~~~~~~

mazbook1

Mar 19, 2012, 11:18 PM

Post #6 of 11 (1925 views)

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Re: [rayitodeluna] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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Correct, rayitodeluna. To be an economically feasible project, someone knowledgeable about what books would be popular and what ones not, would have to do the choosing, then a large quantity of each title would have to be purchased and transported. It would take some capital, and the stamina for some darn hard work to get such a project off the ground. I know absolutely that the market is there, but my capital is tied up in my publishing company and at my age, the stamina is definitely getting weaker and weaker.

There is no duty or tax on books coming into México from the NAFTA countries, Canada and the U.S., but bringing in commercial quantities means LOTS or paperwork at the border, and usually means hiring a customs agent, which isn't cheap.

Maesonna

Mar 20, 2012, 4:07 PM

Post #7 of 11 (1877 views)

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Re: [GringoCArlos] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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Like everyone’s noted, good quality books are expensive.

There are often temporary or traveling book markets set up on the street where you can get cheaper books, and used books, but generally not the better books.

The FCE (a publisher) has a sort of “warehouse store” with discounts, including a large section of children’s books at their headquarters in south Mexico City, sadly far, far from you, rayitodeluna.

There is a huge children’s book fair called FILIJ annually at Churubusco, with many publishers offering fair discounts. November 9–18 this year. There is also the annual book fair downtown at the Palacio de Minería (near Bellas Artes) with a large representation of children’s books and, again, fair discounts. We just missed it for this year, it was end of February to beginning of March. In both cases, the discounts aren’t large, but they’re something.

Let me put a disinterested word in for a great children’s publisher, CIDCLI. (link in English) Disclosure: I had a relationship with them in the past, but that’s not why I recommend them. I recommend them because they produce great books for children: have a look at their website.

esperanza

Mar 20, 2012, 6:30 PM

Post #8 of 11 (1853 views)

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Re: [Maesonna] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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The FCE store is just half a block from my apartment. Plus, there is a book outlet store (I can't remember its name) around the corner from me that sells decent-quality children's books for what seem to me to be good prices. For example, we recently purchased a decent-quality paperback edition of The Diary of Anne Frank for our doorperson's 13-year-old daughter's birthday. She's a reader, god bless her.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Maesonna

Mar 29, 2012, 1:38 PM

Post #9 of 11 (1690 views)

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Re: [rayitodeluna] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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Big book sale at Auditorio Nacional April 1–8. I will post details in the DF forum.

La Isla

Mar 29, 2012, 2:02 PM

Post #10 of 11 (1683 views)

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Re: [Maesonna] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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I went to this book fair a couple of years ago and got a great deal on a big fat Larousse dictionary. There were lots of children's books for sale, along with the ever-popular self-help books (many translated from English). I didn't find that much of interest to me apart from the dictionary though I did find some nice classical music CDs at very reasonable prices.

tashby

Mar 29, 2012, 3:37 PM

Post #11 of 11 (1663 views)

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Re: [La Isla] Cost of childrens books in Mexico

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Book festivals are the way to go for sure if you have access to one. I went to FIL (in Guadalajara) this year on the last day of the festival and the discuentos were fantastic.