Disclosure: Beagles and Books was provided a complimentary product in exchange for its honest review.
For the last 3 months, I have shared my thoughts on Literati Kids Book Clubs. As a reading specialist, one of my favorite job responsibilities is to provide parents with book recommendations. Literati opened my eyes to the fact that my book lists always focused on fiction and neglected to suggest nonfiction options. Cultivating independent readers is not only about reading picture books, chapter books, and/or novels. Some kids may be more interested in reading an illustrated nonfiction book or an interactive book with puzzles and games. Interest is the most important factor in order to engage young readers.
Recently, I received a third Literati Kids box and wanted to share my final honest thoughts about the books curated for this month.
Which Literati Kid Book Club is Best for Your Child?
A friendly reminder that there are 6 options for book clubs.
- Neo-newborn to 3 years
- Sprout-ages 3 to 5
- Nova-ages 5 to 7
- Sage-ages 7 to 9
- Phoenix– ages 9 to 12
- Titan– 13 and up
Visiting the Literati website will provide you with more information about the types of books curated for each club. Since I mostly work with children transitioning to chapter book reading, Club Sage was the best choice for me.
What Was Inside My Literati Box?
Early Chapter Books
This month, my box contained 3 early chapter books. This month, the books were diverse in terms of the genre- realistic fiction, adventure, and mystery. Like last month, all books curated for this month are part of a series. Chapter book series are a great way to hook a reader because of familiar main characters, setting, plot structure, and writing style.
What I especially love about this month’s books is that they vary in length. In my teaching experiences, I have worked with children who struggle with chapter books because in their mind, the story is too long. As children transition to chapter books, I teach that a book may not be read in one sitting. I appreciate that books curated for this month range from 37 pages to 89 pages providing scaffolds for children to increase their stamina.
- The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake (A Wilcox and Griswold Mystery) by Robin Newman Illustrated by Deborah Zemke
Miss Rabbit’s carrot cake is missing! Missing Food Investigators (MFI) Captain Griswold and Detective Wilcox are on the case. Piecing together clues, the duo interview suspects such as an owl, a pig, and a dog. With fun characters and puns, the mystery is entertaining and will entice kids to read more in the series (37 pages).
- Ghost Island (Choose Your Own Adventure Dragonlarks)
When I was a young reader, I devoured Choose Your Own Adventure books! I did not know that the series was written in an early chapter book format. In Ghost Island, the reader is a main character taking on a family vacation in the Caribbean islands. During the adventure, decisions await. Do you go to visit a cemetery and pretend you went? When you meet a pirate ghost, you do help him or say no? I love how the reader is part of the story and that the book can be read multiple times with different endings (73 pages).
- Juana and Lucas by Juana Medina
Winner of the 2017 Pura Belpré, Award, Juana and Lucas is a delightful story about a young girl growing up in Colombia. Juana loves drawing, reading, Brussel sprouts, her city of Bogotá, and most especially, her dog Lucas. Juana does not love learning English and doesn’t understand why she has to learn the language. Her grandfather though gives her a good reason which motivates her. With short chapters, colorful illustrations on every page, and Juana’s charming personality, readers will love Juana and Lucas and enjoy the opportunity to learn Spanish words and phrases (89 pages).
Interactive/Informative Books
Along with the chapter books were interactive and informative texts that will engage young minds’ brains.
- Incredible Animals by Dunia Rahwan and Paola Formica
As soon as I looked at the table of contents, I knew kids would spend hours reading this text. The book is organized in categories such as Brainy Beasts, Special Snoozers, Strange Superpowers, and Small But Deadly. Young readers can choose a topic and go right to the page to learn more about animals with this common characteristic. Incredible Animals is a great text to teach kids that nonfiction has a different structure than fiction and does not have to be read from beginning to end. All the animals featured in the book are then categorized into their respective group such as mammals, invertebrates, reptiles, etc. - Color, Doodle, Draw!
For kids who love to color, doodle, and draw, this interactive book will keep them engaged for hours. Dinosaurs, pirates, dragons,, Russian nesting dolls, roller coasters, mythical creatures are just a few of the scenes that kids can color, doodle, and draw. With over 100 pages, this activity book is great for sparking imagination and creativity!
Other Goodies!
- A collectible poster featuring original art by illustrator Jennifer M. Potter
- Personalized bookplates
- A bookmark that can be planted in garden to grow wildflowers
How Does the Club Work?
As a subscriber, children receive 5 expertly curated age-appropriate books. I was greatly pleased to see the books were all recently published. The subscription runs at $9.95 a month. You only get charged for the ones you keep. There is a price breakdown of each book on the included packing list so you know how much each one will cost.
What I love is children can touch, open, skim, and read a portion of each book to decide which are a good fit for them. You only keep the books they want and return the rest for free with the included pre-paid return shipping label. Literati Kids books match or are less than Amazon pricing which I greatly appreciate.
If you’re interested in trying out Literati Kids a try, click here for 25% off your first box.
Bella and I sincerely grateful to Literati Kids for sharing this this final book box in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Beagles & Books 