Just Like Me! Book Box is a monthly subscription box containing children’s books featuring characters of color plus fun book swag! They provide 2-3 hand-picked books for kids 12 and under and offers boxes for different age groups: baby-3, ages 4-8, and ages 9-12.
This review is of the $28.00 a month Just Like Me! Book Box for ages 4-8.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About this Book Subscription Box for Kids
The Subscription Box: Just Like Me! Book Box
The Cost: $28.00 per month
The Products: 2-3 age-appropriate and fun books featuring characters of color, educational tools, and a fun gift to encourage positive child development.
Ships to: The US for $5
Just Like Me! Book Box October 2019 Review
My daughter is in 3rd grade and my son in preschool. They both love to read! As an African American family, we eagerly seek out age-appropriate books for our children that feature diverse stories and characters and particularly those that feature children of color. We are excited to get to review this month's Just Like Me! Book Box.
This month’s theme is “Melanin Magic.” Little black girls and little black boys need to see positive examples of people that look like them in media and our shared history. Just Like Me! Box has this poem by Brandi A. Banks on the back of this month’s info card.
Brown boy… brown girl
Can’t you see?
The magic that flows through your family tree
Mathematicians…astronomers
Kings and queens
Capable of conquering anything!Brown girl… brown boy
Can’t you tell?
The magic the whole universe recognizes so well
Potent power pushing not ego trippin’…
Never slippin’
Melanin drippin’
African-American Women Who Made History Educational Activities Book – Retail Value $0.85
This educational activity book features ten magical African-American women who, now and in the past, have worked hard to overcome challenges and make history. It highlights their talent, strength, and character – all the things that make these women great role models for everyone.
The workbook includes a brief history of the women followed by a fun and educational activity. These women include Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, and Michelle Obama. My daughter started with the story of Katherine Johnson and was so impressed because like Johnson, my daughter is a mathematician. Next, she discovered Althea Gibson's story. My daughter was impressed by her skills in tennis and enjoyed reading about how she received a trophy from the Queen of England. The back of the book offers 15 additional African-American women to continue the learning once the workbook is complete.
I Am a Super Girl! by Kelly Greenawalt and Illustrated by Amariah Rauscher – Retail Value $4.99
Book Summary:
“Meet Princess Truly! With the help of her rocket boots and her magical, sparkly curls, she becomes a super girl and uses her smarts and strength to save the day. But when her friend Lizzie has a rescue mission of her own, Lizzie doesn't feel so super. Can Truly help her friend believe in herself and find her confidence? These rhyming, funny, and empowering stories with full-color artwork and easy-to-read text throughout are perfect for new readers!”
I Am a Super Girl! is written by Kelly Greenawalt. Kelly is a wife, adoptive mom, and author who started writing the Princess Truly books for her daughters when she noticed a critical shortage in books featuring smart and capable princesses, especially black princess with naturally coily hair. Her business partner, Amariah Rauscher, is a mom of two girls and the passionate illustrator of the Princess Truly books.
Truly has rainbow powers that make things grow, a flying cape, and magical curls. Her pug Noodles is her trusty sidekick. When her best friend's cat gets caught in birthday balloons and floats off into the sky with her pug attached, Truly saves the day. This is my favorite quote from the book:
You can do it!
You are strong and smart.
Just believe in yourself.
Brave comes from the heart.
The book ends with two activities. The first is an art activity that teaches you how to draw Princess Truly. The next is a writing activity. In the activity, you get to become the superhero, describe what your superpowers would be, and how you would save the day.
We enjoyed this book so much! A princess with magical curls?! What's not to love? Although it was far below my daughter's reading level, the rhyming text was fun to read and we enjoyed the drawing and writing activities.
Where’s Rodney? By Carmen Bogan and Illustrated by Floyd Cooper – Retail Value $16.99 (found here for $11.89)
Book Summary:
“Rodney is that kid who just can’t sit still. He's inside, but he wants to be outside. Outside is where Rodney always wants to be. Between school and home, there is a park. He knows all about that park. It’s that triangle-shaped place with the yellow grass and two benches where grown-ups sit around all day. Besides, his momma said to stay away from that park. When Rodney finally gets a chance to go to a real park, with plenty of room to run and climb and shout, and to just be himself, he will never be the same.”
Where’s Rodney? is written by Carmen Bogan who is the mother of two daughters and an award-winning author of numerous children's books. She's also a writing coach for children and youth. This book is illustrated by Floyd Cooper who is an award-winning illustrator of over one hundred children's books!
"This is a story of the transformative
power of nature and how important
it is for every child to learn and
discover outside. – Phillip Kilbridge
This is a perfect summation. My son is very much like Rodney. He's constantly moving, antsy even, and loves to get outdoors and burn off his boundless energy. When he doesn't have that opportunity, his behavior can sometimes appear to be disruptive, inattentive, or "bad". It's important to feature young black boys like Rodney and stress the importance of outdoor play.
At the end of the book, tips are provided for visiting your local county, state or national parks. Suggestions for what to pack and how to plan your visit is also provided. I love these extra tidbits of information.
Verdict: The Just Like Me! Book Box comes in its own specially designed box featuring children of color. It’s very cute and the kids can easily identify it as a box just for them.
This month’s selections were full of melanin magic. We loved learning all about the history-making African-American women. We got to come along with Truly and her magic curls on an adventure in friendship and bravery. We also got to experience the black boy joy that comes with being able to explore and play in the outdoors.
This box provided an excellent selection of books and activities. There were a lot of activities in this month's box. All were age-appropriate, fun, and educational. The workbook was my daughter's favorite and Where's Rodney was my son's favorite. I love I Am a Super Girl because sometimes even adults have to remember that they are strong, brave and capable.
The cost of this Just Like Me! Book Box is $33.00 and has a retail value of $22.83. The retail value is low, but the educational value is high. My children loved the books and workbook and spent hours with these materials learning and having fun. Although this box doesn’t offer huge cost-savings, Just Like Me has access to thousands of hand-selected African American themed books. The books are picked based on the book’s educational value, merit, and awards. They do all the research and conveniently deliver great books which makes this box more than worth the cost.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Sign up today to receive November’s box.
Value Breakdown: This box costs $28.00 + $5.00 shipping, which means you're paying approximately $11.00 per item.
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