We are using the Build Your Library curriculum for our geography and reading. We follow it very loosely, but I really love the book suggestions and activities. This year they started a Family Reading Crate, where they ship 3-5 books all sharing a theme. Each crate has something for the whole family. Books included are generally a picture book for younger kids, a family read aloud, a book for older kids, and a book for adults. It also comes with a little something extra related to the months theme and bookmarks.

I was really excited about this since my son is starting to read on his own, and I want to introduce as many different topics and styles as I can to peak his interest. We missed the first two months because they sold out so quickly, so when I saw the theme for March was “Goblins, Magic and Fantasy, Oh My!” I jumped on it immediately.

 

Books included in the March box:

We’ve read The Goblin and the Empty Chair a few times already, but haven’t started the others yet. I was really excited about the book for adults, but honestly I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately, so this one is (literally) shelved for now.

Extras: The discussion questions are a nice addition. The bookmarks are also appreciated because even though we have a million bookmarks floating around, it seems like we can never find one when we need it. Honestly, I could do without the little plastic dragons because I’m trying to reduce the amount of *stuff* we have, but my 5-year-old likes them so…

Value: The box costs $34.99 (shipping included) and the value of the books in this month’s box per Amazon is $37.18. As with any subscription-style box, there is a chance you might already have something in it or might not care for the selection, but I trust Build Your Library to send quality books.

Overall: For future boxes, I will definitely buy boxes with themes that interest us. I probably won’t buy every month since we have a great library and I’d rather borrow them first rather than buy.

April Crate: The theme for April is “Bookception: Books Within Books“. If it interests you, jump on it quick because they sell out super fast!