This is a collaborative post
Book subscriptions are a great way to encourage your children to read for pleasure, expanding their vocabulary and widening the range of titles that they’re exposed to as they grow up. Here’s everything you need to know about the *NEW* Box2Door Subscriptions and why make a great gift for your child.
Does your child enjoy reading? Do you struggle to find suitable titles that are pitched at the right level for their age and reading ability? As a book lover myself with two mini bookworms who absolutely love to read, I am often asked by other parents for recommendations of the best books to read with their children. Whether it’s fun picture books, early reader chapter books or even non-fiction titles, we’ve been lucky enough to have had access to a wide range of literary treats for our girls.
For children, book subscriptions can be a great way to improve a child’s willingness to read for fun, going far beyond what they are asked to do as part of the school curriculum. Whilst phonics is essential, the storylines often leave a little to be desired. Book subscriptions can introduce children to books with far more exciting themes, whisking them off to another world, heading off on an adventure or simply learning more about the world around them.
There’s also something really exciting about receiving your own parcel of goodies through the mail, ripping open the box and discovering the books and treats hidden inside.
This Summer, Books2Door launched their own children’s book subscriptions and we’ve been putting them through their paces. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Box2Door?
If you haven’t heard of Books2Door yet – then seriously, where have you been? Home of brand new books at bargain prices since 2004, You can easily bag discounts of up to 80% of a huge range of books and boxsets – everything from the Mr Men and Wimpy Kid to The Treehouse Collection and Roald Dahl.
This Summer, Books2Door have released Box2Door – their brand new monthly book subscription box specifically for children, filled with hand-selected titles to encourage a love of reading for children of all ages.
Each month, these letter box-sized subscription boxes come with a selection of three to four hand-chosen titles based on your child’s age, along with some little surprises.
Not only can they help bring your children a wide range of titles – but they make a beautiful gift that can keep on giving every single month.
What age groups are the book subscriptions suitable for?
The Box2Door subscriptions are grouped by age, making it really straightforward to find the right subscription for your child.
0-3 years
These book subscriptions are a great introduction to reading with children and lots of fun to read aloud from birth. Not only can reading to your baby and toddler be a great bonding experience, but it can also help develop their listening skills, stimulate their imagination and introduce them to new vocabulary and concepts such as colours and numbers.
From chunky board books ideal for small hands to sticker books and sensory books featuring unique textures and flaps, textures, the youngest group for Box2Door also includes activity and colouring sheets and mystery merchandise.
4-6 years
As your child gets bigger, their curiosity will know no bounds – a great time therefore to develop their imagination, introduce the concept of nonfiction and fiction titles and really help them expand their vocabulary – learning new words, heading on adventures and learning more about facts, figures and real life concepts. These boxes can encourage a dialogue between you and your child, helping them answer inquisitive questions. In addition to reading their selected titles, children can enjoy some creative colouring in, puzzles or activity sheets, along with mystery merchandise such as bookmarks and posters.
7-10 years
By the age of seven, chances are your child will be a fairly confident reader, so finding titles that can tear them away from their screens and that’ll have them keen to read is key. The oldest group for Box2Door comes with a combination of fiction and non-fiction titles; helping create well-rounded readers whilst introducing them to new authors and characters who they may not have met before.
When do the boxes arrive?
The book subscriptions arrive on the 30th of each month and are small enough to fit through the letterbox, you don’t need to wait in to receive it.
How much are the Box2Door book subscriptions?
As you may expect from the bargain bookseller, the Box2Door subscriptions are very reasonably priced, costing just £9.99 a month. With three to four books inside (and extras!) they offer a great discount on the RRP of the contents. The best part? You’re not tied into any length of contract and can cancel at any time, with a rolling renewal that will continue to deliver until you cancel.
Our Box2Door Subscription Box
So most importantly, what did we think?
We signed up for a 7-10 box for my youngest daughter Neve who is seven in September and absolutely loves to read. I was keen to have a subscription that stretched her and help her progress with her reading.
She was super excited when the box arrived through our door and was very keen to crack open the box and discover what was inside.
We received three different books in our subscription – two fiction titles and one non-fiction book along with a large poster and puzzle sheet and high-quality cardboard bookmark – something which Neve absolutely loved.
The first book was Maggie Sparks – a fun and engaging character who goes on lots of adventures, with laugh-out-loud text and short manageable chapters ideal for reading alone. Neve has read other Maggie Sparks titles before, so she was really chuffed to see this one, and the poster of the giant monster baby with puzzles and sections to colour in.
The second title was one we’d not heard of before Mr Pattacake – a fun kitty-loving chef who finds himself in disastrous scenarios – which definitely raised lots of laughs. This also had a link to Buckingham Palace and given the recent coronation – Neve found this really topical and fun.
The last title was a non-fiction book – the Usborne Science Scribble Book – and if I am honest, it’s not a title that I would have previously chosen for Neve. I tend to automatically reach for fiction titles, but I was blown away by just how much Neve enjoyed this. With pages to fill in, experiments to complete and lots of fun facts about everything from the human body to space and robots – Neve reached for this book over and over again. It’s definitely opened my eyes a bit!
Our verdict
We are really impressed with our Box2Door subscription box. The titles were a big hit with Neve and she read each one with real enthusiasm. Looking at the RRPN on each book, the books individually would have cost over £20, so when compared to the subscription cost of £9.99, they also offer excellent value for money.
If you’re looking for a fun alternative gift for your children or extended family, Box2Door makes an excellent choice – getting a big thumbs up from us all.
You can learn more about Box2Door on the Books2Door website here
