Woman Orders Children's Book as Gift, Finds Very Unsuitable Surprise Inside

A woman who bought a children's book from Amazon ended up with more than she bargained for.

On a daily basis, the retail behemoth handles an extraordinary number of orders, with research by the credit card company Capital One putting the number at 11.95 million orders per day. That's equivalent to 497,884 orders per hour or 8,298 per minute.

Given that volume, it is perhaps understandable that the occasional order may go awry, and customers sometimes take to social media to describe various weird and wonderful stories related to their Amazon orders.

Recent stories include a couple who wound up trapped inside their apartment, a woman who discovered a live snake in one package, and a mom whose Bluey-themed birthday party decorations ended up turning heads for unexpected reasons.

Now, Kirsty Jones, from London, has joined the list. Posting under the handle @kirstyann_20, Jones took to TikTok on October 30 to share her own shopping mishap after she ordered a bilingual version of the enduring fairy-tale The Three Little Pigs.

"I ordered it because my brother-in-law, who is currently visiting from South America, is wanting to learn English, so I thought it would be a sweet present just to get his foot in the door," Jones told Newsweek. "I also have three children myself so thought it would be a fun way for both him and my children to learn from each other."

As soon as the book arrived, Jones suspected something was not right. "It was a bit thicker than I had expected it to be, but then I thought it might be one of those books that had activities at the end," she said.

Later, when flicking through the pages of the book, she realized the problem. "The activities were a little different to what I thought they would be," she said.

A few pages into the book, Jones discovered that a series of cocktail recipes had been inexplicably included. "I don't remember all the ingredients to any particular cocktail, but one that stood out to me was called 'The Chapman,' which I thought was a bit of a funny coincidence because that's my maiden name," Jones said. "It felt like it was reaching out to me."

Though the recipes were not suitable for children nor particularly helpful in teaching her brother-in-law English, their sudden appearance had Jones laughing.

"As a parent, I thought it was hilarious," she said. "I'm sure others can relate that when you read a story to your children or if your children want the same story read to them each day, you change things around to get a reaction out of them, and here was this handed to me on a plate."

Newsweek has contacted Amazon for comment. Jones stressed that she was not upset about what could be the result of a simple printing error. She also singled out Leanne, an Amazon customer service representative who helped her deal with the issue, as being "absolutely amazing."

"She really made the experience quite memorable," said Jones, who is set to receive a new copy of the book. She hoped her experience reminded others to "always see the funny side of every situation."