Over the past few months we’ve been incredibly lucky to have found a number of new books that included diverse family units as their main characters; as well as talked about a number of topics from prejudice to gender. There was a time when the choice was very sparse or the stories weren’t so much ‘stories’ but more about educating the reader about different families.
These books are still needed of course, but when you’re sat down ready for the bedtime story, all you want to read to your child is a story where they’re included in the tale just like every other child or family.
There are a number of resources we’ve recently found where we can find books that do just this and we’ll be sharing these very soon, as well as an up-to-date list of our favourites titles, but for now I thought I’d tell you about a brand new book subscription service that we’ve recently found that celebrates diversity and families just like us!
Little Box of Books
Bringing the very best of inclusive Children’s Books together, A Little Box of Books delivers these books straight to your door as part of a monthly subscription service for 0-7 year olds (8-11 coming soon!). There’s also the choice to do a one month one-off gift.
Within each box you will receive up to 4 brand new books, beautifully wrapped, as well as the following:-
- A reading record and progress stickers.
- Themed Puzzles and activities related to your book.
- A free gift every month.
- Learning guides and lots more to help you make the most out of your reading experience and courage discussion.
On top of this, for every monthly box of books you buy, Little Box of Books will donate an additional book to their charity partner; Doorstep Library. How awesome is that?
We reviewed the September box and received the following:
- Errol’s Garden
- How to be a Lion
- Mixed: A Colourful Story
As well as the books, included inside were also seeds (related to Errol’s Garden) and a ‘Thinking Pad’ (related to How To Be A Lion) there was also a double sided activity card per book which encouraged the reader to think more about the book, by taking part in puzzles or games, as well as a reading record for older children.
Because Little Box of Books are so new still I assumed that perhaps we would receive the books in a thick envelope and the ‘activities’ would be on paper, however this is not the case. The books arrived in a thick cardboard box and each book was individually wrapped in thick coloured paper – which made it incredibly exciting for T to open. The activities were printed on good quality card, again in bright colours, and each additional item was themed or had a hand written note attached. Every thought has clearly been put into this package – the cards even match with their website’s theme. It’s a really impressive package.
Pricing
Pricing starts at £18 per month and you’re given the option to choose 2, 3, or 4 books a month. This can be paid per one month or three months – all of which auto-renew – or you can buy six months in advance or simply purchase a one-off one months box.
Working out how much value for money you get, if you were to divide the total cost of the six month prepay package across per book (and were going to purchase the four books per month option), that works out as just over £6 per book. Adding on the extra gifts, activities and free postage – I’d say that’s good value for money. Even more so when a lot of new books these days range from £6-£9 a book.
As a same sex family, having access to inclusive books is invaluable – we want our child to see himself in his stories. So having this resource, where we could potentially find new books we’ve never even heard of yet, is priceless. Of course with any subscription service you run the risk of potentially getting duplicates with books you already own, but then there’s your opportunity to donate the book to someone or somewhere else; which in turn spreads the message within the book.
If you’d like to give Little Box of Books a go, until the end of October you can use discount code EBOCT18 for 10% off any gift box or month by month subscription. Enjoy!
We received a one-off box in exchange for an honest review, however all thoughts, opinions, and images are our own.
