beTWEEN the Bookends is the first monthly book and lifestyle box created for kids by a teen herself! Boxes follow a monthly theme and contain age-appropriate books and lifestyle items that have been read and hand tested by Jillian, the 16-year-old creator. Full-sized boxes contain 2-3 books and 6-8 lifestyle items, while mini boxes include 1 book and 3-5 lifestyle items. The new gender-neutral boxes will contain the same 2-3 books as the full-sized boxes but will have only 3-5 gender neutral lifestyle items.
The Cost: $45.00 per month for the gender-neutral box + free US shipping (on a 12-month subscription). Save with longer subscriptions.
This review is of the beTWEEN the Bookends Early Reader gender-neutral box.
These boxes were sent to us at no cost to review. (Check out our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)
December is here and life as I know it has been chaos! Between work, basketball, volleyball, and Christmas prep, I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off! Typically I don't enjoy the extra darkness of December, but it does help me get a little relaxation and reading time in, so I'm actually thankful for it this week! Last year our school participated in the AR reading program. This year we are all about the reading minutes, and Charlie has to get busy! We received this month's beTWEEN the Bookends box right in time! Packed with exciting new books and fun lifestyle items, this box was just what he needed to hit his reading goal and become a more fluent reader. Keep reading to see what we discovered!
First Impressions
The contents of this box are packaged neatly in turquoise tissue paper and sealed with a sticker featuring clip art of a boy and girl. The anticipation of seeing what's underneath this tissue paper always has us on the edge of our seats. We just can't wait to check it out!
Here's What's Inside
Welcome Pamphlet
To start off the box, we go through the included pamphlet. Describing the month's theme and the contents of every Between the Bookends version, this little book lets us know exactly what the box contains, along with a bookish quote, social media info, and a hint about next month's theme. "To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold." - Aristotle
Good Dogs in Bad Sweaters by Rachel Wenitsky and David Sidorov - Retail Value $7.99
All of the doggy day care friends are excited about the holidays! King, Cleo, and Napoleon can’t wait for their eight nights of Hanukkah prezzies, and Hugo, Waffles, and Lulu are ready for cozy Christmases at home. But then surprise visitors interrupt Lulu’s shooting schedule, Cleo struggles at an agility contest, and Hugo learns that Waffles, his new puppy sister, is expecting someone called Santadoodle to bring them all presents on Christmas morning. Hugo has never even heard of Santadoodle! Of course, Hugo doesn’t want Waffles to be disappointed, so there’s only one thing to do—rally his friends for their biggest mission yet! Luckily, these Good Dogs are always up for an adventure!
Charlie enjoys reading, but is a little bit picky. He enjoys dogs, so this was a pretty easy book for him to get into, especially because it is Christmas themed! Geared towards kids age 7-10, this is good choice for a 4th grader, but it is pretty long, so Charlie hasn't quite finished it yet. A fun adventure, this was a great pick for December and fit the "Winter Wonderland" theme perfectly.
Oh, Sal by Kevin Henkes - Retail Value $8.99
The Miller family is celebrating its first holiday with the new baby. Billy is excited that Uncle Jake is visiting, but nothing about this holiday season is making Billy’s little sister Sal happy. The baby is a noisy nuisance and hogging all of Mama’s attention. Plus, the baby doesn’t even have a name yet. To make matters worse, Sal lost the very best gift that Santa gave her. Will Sal find her present? Will the Millers find a name for the baby? Will Billy always be an annoying big brother? The holiday season (and life with the Millers) is full of surprises—and warmth, kindness, family, celebration, and love—in the hands of award-winning author Kevin Henkes. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white art by the author, Oh, Sal is an excellent choice for early elementary grades, as well as a terrific family and classroom read-aloud for any time of the year.
Charlie started this book but just couldn't get into it. It was about a girl named Sal and underwear. Yep, you read that right? I had a set of the Monday - Sunday underwear as a kid, but my son thought this was insane and asked if he could go back to the Good Dogs in Bad Sweaters book, and I was okay with that.
Gingerbread Houses: A Show-How Guide - Retail Value $6.99
A few months ago, we received a book similar to this that had different varieties of handwriting techniques, tips, and tricks. This particular version is a how-to guide on making gingerbread houses. With recipes for the gingerbread dough and frosting, this gives you 6 different versions of houses to try and is really cute. While I typically buy a kit to put together, maybe one day I will try a real version and see if it sticks together better than the boxed versions.
Monthly Sticker Pack
Charlie loves stickers, and appreciated the variety this month. He loved the Christmas-themed decorations. Charlie decided these would be suited well on a few of our Christmas cards so our family can have a bit of extra cheer too. How thoughtful!
Santa Pen
Charlie likes fun writing utensils, and this one takes the cake! Featuring a Santa head on the top, this glittery handled pen adds some festive flare to Christmas list writing and is just plain fun to use! A really cool inclusion, Charlie did mention he wished this was a pencil so he could utilize it more at school.
Scarf Bookmark
Bookmarks are utilized a lot in our house and we appreciate ones that aren't made of paper. This cloth version is designed to look like a scarf and even has pom-poms on the ends! Perfect for any sized book, this marks your page well, but also fits our elf "Sven" perfectly. Versatile and cute, I like that this is such a multi-purpose item!
Snowglobe Bath Bomb
Bath bombs are one of Charlies favorite items in whole entire world, so he was thrilled to receive this snow globe shaped one. Creating luxurious, fizzy water, this creates a very relaxing soak before bedtime. With a pretty design, the addition of the blue coloring really adds to this bath fizzy, and Charlie loved utilizing this inclusion after a long day of school and basketball practice.
Grow Snow Packets
Like you've seen above, this month's theme is winter wonderland, so packets of snow are extremely fitting for this box. We actually just received 3 inches of snow on top of the few inches we already had, so Charlie wanted to save these for summer. To make this instant snow, all you have to do is add water, and you have snow! Fun in concept, this isn't needed right now, but when June/July rolls around, we will be ready for a snow day!
Wall Climbing Sticky Snowman
The last item we received was this wall climbing sticky snowman. This guy has some extremely sticky hands and feel and really doesn't climb the wall as he's so sticky. Charlie used to have some little blue guys like this and they all ended up getting lost, so he was happy to have another version.
Verdict
beTWEEN the Bookends is a fantastic way to keep kids engaged in reading, and this month Charlie was pretty pleased. While Charlie didn't care for one of the book choices, we did find a good home with it with our neighbor girl. One of the books might not have been up his alley of interest, but the lifestyle items sure were! Not only did he love the bath bomb, but the snow packets and holiday pen also felt like an early Christmas present! We already can't wait to see what's in store for January!
The beTWEEN the Bookends Gender Neutral box costs $45.00 per month (on a 12-month subscription track), including shipping. Because the books alone are valued at around $25, I find the $45.00/month cost extremely reasonable, as the lifestyle items help shape this box into an entire experience.
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Other Things You Should Know
Can I still get this box if I sign up today? beTWEEN the Bookends tends to ship the first week of each month. Order now to receive the January box.
What did you think of the beTWEEN the Bookends gender-neutral box?
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