Honestly, who reads these?

I get a number of books across my desk that, for some arcane reason beyond the wot of man, are still going out. After seeing this morning's gem, I had to share a few of these with you. In many cases, these are extremely old and well-loved items that just refuse to fall apart, so I can't get rid of them. A little bit like some of your relatives.

Believe it or not, this book has been out four times in the past year. Oh yeah.

If that seems incredible, here's one I got last week...that's been out three times in the past year.

Here's a tip: you don't need seven weeks. You just need a trip to Labtests.

And here's one I thought was in particularly bad taste, but will no doubt prove popular:

And how about this for aspirational parents? A series of classics for babies, in board book format.

Hairy Maclary? The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Nope. Try Romeo and Juliet, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice (complete with punch-out cardboard figures to macerate), and The Hound of the Baskervilles, with a sound button you can press to make the hound howl, provided your fine motor skills have kicked in. Oh, and there's Anna Karenina, to give them a giggle.

Educating your kids about nineteenth-century Russian social mores before they've even learned to control their bowel motions? Potty.

Finally, here's my pick for weirdest forthcoming title:

I won't even mention Star Wars Shakespeare. The world is a crazy place.