StoryCaptain is a children's book subscription that focuses on fostering empathy, understanding, and connection through literacy. Each box comes with 2-3 books, an activity guide, and a fun little freebie. The book selection is under the care of children's literature experts to ensure that every book in your box is both developmentally appropriate and will spark joy. There are two subscription options: one for kids ages 0-3 (board books), and one for ages 4-7 (picture books).
The Cost: $24.95 per month + $4.95 shipping to the US. Save with longer subscriptions.
ACTIVE DEAL: Get 50% off your first box with code MSA50!CODE: MSA50
This review is of the subscription for ages 4-7.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)
Opening The Box
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Subscribers can look forward to a colorful unboxing experience, with their easy-to-spot bright red shipping materials and neatly tissue-paper-wrapped contents.
Here's What's Inside
Welcome Note & Activity
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StoryCaptain has us up and moving for February. Living in a region where it's been terribly cold for quite some time now, I love this prompt to dance through literature! We were sent two picture books: a nonfiction hardback about Bojangles, and a silly paperback about a monster who dances. On the back are 3 ideas for dance-related activities. And our sticker sheet of the month is a build-a-monster page with lots of options for eyes, mouths, arms, and legs.
Rap a Tap Tap: Here's Bojangles—Think of That! by Leo & Jane Dillon — Retail Value $17.99
Found on sale here for $11.53
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The first book we received is a child's introduction to the tap dancer and performers Bill Robinson, known as Bojangles, who was famous in the '30s and '40s. Though I know the name, I didn't know much of his story—and while admittedly this book doesn't offer more than a small, vague glimpse into his legacy, it was a good prompt to go look into him on the Internet! I found that Bojangles celebrated his 61st birthday in 1939 by dancing down Broadway, one block for each year. How thrilling!
As for the book itself, I found it to be a bit lacking in action—many of the illustrations are similar to one another, and the repeated-on-every-page phrase "Rap a tap tap—think of that!" got cumbersome to read. My kids completely disagreed! They were excited by this tall, dancing man and had so much fun joining in with me on the repeated line. It's theirs whose experience matters most, so the book is officially a win in our house.
Frank was a Monster who wanted to Dance by Keith Graves — Retail Value $7.59
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My 5-year-old has a gigantic imagination that can sometimes overwhelm her, so input like monsters and guts are generally not her style. But she agreed to give this book a try because the guy on the front cover looked pretty funny. The storyline is clever: there's some good rhyming, and it's filled with unexpected things like pouring ants in his pants to make himself dance, his head unzipping, his arm falling off. The brains spilling out were a step too far for my kid, so she declared she'd like to gift this book to a Halloween-loving friend. That solved that!
Value - Was This Box Worth It?
The Cost: $24.95 per month + $4.95 shipping to the US. Save with longer subscriptions.
ACTIVE DEAL: Get 50% off your first box with code MSA50!CODE: MSA50
Value Breakdown: This subscription costs $29.90, with shipping included. For February, we received 2 picture books (a hardback and a paperback) that add up to a total of $25.58 when calculated using their full retail value. The hardback can be found for cheaper ($11.53 on Amazon), which pulls us further down from breaking even. That said, we are subscribed to multiple kids' book clubs, and rarely does the retail value surpass the cost; subscribers reap value from the book selection, activity ideas, stickers, and excitement of the delivery.
Key Takeaways
We love a dancing theme, and the two books we received had lots of movement within! The Bojangles book caught my kids' fancy with its fun repetition, and while the monster book was a little too graphic for their tastes, it's always great to have a book to gift to a friend.
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To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, as of this review's publication, this box is still available. After placing your order, your first box will be shipped within 3 business days. For subsequent boxes, they will be shipped either at the beginning or the middle of each future month.
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