Prime Book Box is a children’s subscription box exclusively for Amazon Prime members offering books tailored to your child’s age with the goal of helping families inspire a love for reading.
Prime Book Box provides hand-picked books for kids 12 and under and offers boxes for different age groups: baby-2, ages 3-5, ages 6-8, and ages 9-12.
This review is of the $19.99 a month Prime Book Box, for ages 6-8. Check out Haley's reviews for ages 3-5!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
Prime Book Box
The Subscription Box: Prime Book Box
The Cost: $19.99 every 1, 2, or 3 months + free prime 2-day shipping.
The Products: Babies to age 2 receive four boards books chosen from a curated selection of eight books. Kids ages 2-12 receive two hardcover books chosen from a curated selection of four books.
Ships to: The Contiguous US, APO/FPO, Alaska, and Hawaii
Prime Book Box May 2019 Review
My soon to be 3rd-grade daughter just turned eight years old and loves reading. We have a wide selection of age-appropriate books for her and we’re always looking to discover new favorites. We love seeking out children’s books with diverse stories and characters. We were excited to receive and review this month’s Prime Book Box. This is the first book box that we didn’t review in advance or swap any of the selections. Fingers-crossed that she loves them!
Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo by William Joyce – Listed Value $17.99 (found here for $9.98)
Book Summary from Amazon:
The Lazardo family has brought back a peculiar souvenir from their trip to Africa - a dinosaur! Ah, but Bob is the friendly sort of dinosaur. The kind who enjoys playing the trumpet and tossing around a baseball. Bob is an instant neighborhood hit - until his love of chasing cars with his dog pals stirs up trouble with the police for disturbing the peace. But it's the Pimlico Pirates' opening game and Bob's love of baseball might just be his get-out-of-jail-free card.
William Joyce is both the author and illustrator of Dinosaur Bob. He’s an Academy Award winner who has appeared on the cover of The New Yorker multiple times. He has a portfolio of work in children’s media including books, animated series, and movies. He’s been involved in well-known projects including Toy Story and a Bug’s Life and was the Writer and Executive Producer of Rise of the Guardians based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood book series.
My daughter enjoyed reading Dinosaur Bob. It’s appropriate for her age and reading level. We also discovered new words, like those describing the different parts of a ship. There are themes of family, positive and negative emotions, and fairness. In the end, Bob finds a place to call home and my daughter loved the happy ending.
I personally did not like this story and had I read it in advance, I would have swapped it for another book. As an adult reading this book, I can't look past the numerous isms intertwined in this story.
First, the rich Lazardos brought Dinosaur Bob back to the US and put him in an environment where there were no other animals like him (they consistently referred to Bob as a lizard instead of a dinosaur). Bob was unfairly thrown in jail for chasing cars like the dogs by a woman with a nasty attitude for reason. Then the great Dr. Lazardo comes to the rescue with a brilliant idea to help Bob break out of jail as if he couldn’t break out of jail himself (or did he even believe he could). And, finally, the town and the “evil Mayor’s wife” finally accepts Dinosaur Bob as a great athlete that helps them win their first baseball game. The Lazardos also have a servant. A servant who never speaks and only once smiled. This silence and lack of opinion are highlighted multiple times throughout the story. The servant’s name is Jumbu.
The Creature of the Pines (The Unicorn Rescue Society) by Adam Gidwitz and Illustrated by Hatem Aly – Listed Value $14.99 (found here for $13.49)
Book Summary from Amazon:
Elliot Eisner isn't exactly thrilled with the first day at his new school. His class is going on a field trip to a creepy forest called the Pine Barrens. The trip is being led by Professor Fauna, the weirdest teacher Elliot has ever met. And the only kid who will talk to Elliot, Uchenna Devereaux, isn’t afraid of danger. She likes danger.
Elliot and Uchenna are about to become part of a secret group of adventurers, The Unicorn Rescue Society, whose goal is to protect and defend the world’s mythical creatures. Together with Professor Fauna, Elliot and Uchenna must help rescue a Jersey Devil from a duo of conniving, greedy billionaires, the Schmoke Brothers.
Adam Gidwitz is a bestselling author and winner of a Newbery Honor and numerous Best Children’s Book awards. This book, The Creature of the Pines is the first book in the series, The Unicorn Rescue Society. Hatem Aly is an Egyptian-born award-winning illustrator whose work has been featured on television and in multiple publications worldwide.
We’ve read the first few chapters The Creature of the Pines and we’re already laughing along, enjoying the story and the fantastic illustrations. The characters are relatable to my daughter. When Uchenna puts her fist in her mouth to stifle her laughter, my daughter mimicked the gesture and laughed out loud. She also loves that Elliott is smart like she is and knows a lot about animals. I love that Uchenna is a female, diverse, and leading character who isn't afraid to express herself. From the beginning, when Elliot and Uchenna were on the school bus headed to the Pine Barrens, you could tell that they are a perfect match. We'll get through this book in no time and I already anticipate ordering the next book in the series.
Verdict: The Prime Book Box comes in its own specially designed book box featuring fun kid-friendly characters. It’s very cute and my daughter gets excited when this box is delivered because she knows it’s for her. This month’s selections were very different in many aspects. Dinosaur Bob was unacceptable. The Creature of the Pines is a super fun read, fanciful, has diverse characters and is totally relatable to my eight-year-old. We’re loving it!
Amazon says:
Prime Book Box saves you up to 40% off List Price, and is always an equal or better value than Amazon's everyday low prices. In the event that the books in your box are available from Amazon.com for less than $19.99 at the time your order is placed, you'll receive the lower price automatically.
The cost of this Prime Book Box is $19.99 and has a list value of $32.98. The retail value is $23.47 – the cost of purchasing the books directly from Amazon at this time of this review. This box represents a 39% savings off list price and is a slightly better value than Amazon’s prices at the time of this review.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Each month, Amazon offers a great selection of books to choose from. You are able to preview the available books prior to signing up.
Value Breakdown: This box costs $19.99 + free two-day prime shipping. Here’s what you are paying approximately for each book in this box:
- Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo – $10.90
- The Creature of the Pines (The Unicorn Rescue Society) – $9.09
Check out all of our Amazon Prime Book Box reviews and more kid’s subscription boxes for ages 3-5in the Kids Subscription Box List!
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