The fabric costs what the fabric costs. The book costs what the book costs. They have just done the extra work and have already picked out the fabrics and have them cut for you saving you lots of time and frustration if choosing fabric might not be one of your strong suits. If the book was included in the kit the price is still going to be the same as having to buy book and fabric seperately. I love kits. Some I have had to pass because they just cost too much. That's the same with fabric, books, patterns, notions. Sometimes our wants are just too costly and we have to pass and have to find another way to approach it like used books and finding different fabrics.