After dropping off 10 bags of assorted children's wear, old toys and shoes at our local Cancer Research UK Charity Shop I spotted these two books nestling amongst the kid's book section. I'm a sucker for the superb illustrations and peerless presentation of Dorling Kindersley books and though The New Way Things Work is a bit "old" for Charlotte, the Animal Encyclopaedia was definitely appreciated and she loved looking through the superb diagrams and photos (even the icky bits).
Looking at Amazon it's fairly easy to pick these up cheap and used, but both books were in superb condition and cost me the grand total of £3.50 for the pair. We'd perviously also managed to pick up the entire Beatrix Potter works in one huge hardback volume for £2 so the moral of this story is that it's worth rifling through your local charity shops just on the offchance that you'll strike it lucky too.