Beloved Children's Books That Are Worth A Ton Of Money

When we talk about investing for the future, rarely do books come into the conversation. Everyone is pretty aware of how the value of sports memorabilia can rise over time, less spoken about is the appreciative value of well-known, dare we say, beloved, children's books. For instance, a first-edition copy (1825) of one of the first major compilations of standard fairy tales, "Grimm's Fairy Tales" — the source for classic stories like "Hansel and Gretel" and "Snow White" — sold in 2022 for $138,600 in a Christie's auction.

The factors that lend appreciative value to books include the rarity of a book, either based on whether the book is a first print out of many or the availability of a book due to a smaller print run that makes them immediately rare and difficult to find. Age also matters; this having more to do with the date and location of the published book (i.e., its origin or provenance) than just the actual age of a book.

Of course, a title in good condition is going to be more valuable than one that looks its age, and the quality of the material used to print the book also affects its value. Ownership (like a book owned by a former president, for example) and the subject matter (specifically, if it's related to a bygone era) can also make a book valuable as a historic relic. With that said, let's take a look at a few more beloved children's books that meet the above.

J.R.R. Tolkien is perhaps best known by children for his most child-friendly book "The Hobbit," originally published in 1937. Tolkien's books, like "The Hobbit" and the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, were inspired by his experiences fighting in World War I — specifically, the themes of faith, the eternal battle between good and evil, and how the pursuit of immortality can corrupt. Thanks to his imaginative world building, including the creation of several languages spoken by different races (Elves, Dwarves, Ents, Orcs, and Hobbits), Tolkien is considered the father of fantasy to many.

The original 1937 printing of "The Hobbit" consisted of 1,500 copies published in the United Kingdom. A copy of one of these editions sold for $65,000 in 2003 on AbeBooks, an online marketplace of books, fine art, and collectibles. Calculating for inflation, that's the equivalent of $110,661 today. This may be a book for children, but that's far from child's play.

The record for "The Hobbit," however, was set in 2008 and then in 2015. In 2008, a first edition was sold for 60,000 pounds, or around $100,000, by auctioneers Bonhams (via Reuters), only to be broken seven years later in a Sotheby's auction. The book, which featured the "pictorial dust-jacket by the author," as well as an inscription by Tolkien, sold for 137,000 pounds, or $215,000 at the time.

When "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was first printed in June 1997, 300 of the original 500 copies were scooped up by libraries. The other 200 landed in the hands of some lucky readers, who, if they still have a copy kicking around in decent condition, could be in possession of both a literary and financial windfall.

The original copies' value comes not just from their age and provenance, but from a printing error. As reported by The Independent in 2016, on page 53 of this original printing, the Hogwarts school supplies list contains the words "1 wand" twice (making it two wands for Harry). In 2019, one of these rare copies sold at Bonhams for 68,800 pounds, equivalent to $88,893 today (also per The Independent).

AbeBooks, meanwhile, says it sold a copy in 2023 for $85,620. And in the summer of 2024, a copy of the original "Philosopher's Stone" — bought for $1.27 in 1997 — went on sale at Heritage Auctions with a starting bid of $12,500. It was sold on July 25 for $37,500. (Find out if your "Harry Potter" book set could be worth a ton today, too.)