little bean baby

I have recently had the amazing opportunity to collaborate with Bookroo - a monthly book subscription service helping me to build Mason's library. I asked one of the founders of Bookroo, Jane Tanner, to write a guest post for little bean baby now that the holiday season is upon us and we are all looking for that perfect gift...

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Written by: Jane Tanner

With the holiday season just around the corner, the tingling anticipation of friends, family, parties, presents, and celebrations is becoming ever more tangible. Finding the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday list can be stressful and intimidating. (I know because I’m one of those very type A people who’s been agonizing what I should gift my family for three weeks already-- don’t worry, I’m almost done!) It can be a struggle to find something that’s heartfelt, and meaningful, and useful, and (in the case of gifting to kids) will be appreciated by parents and children alike. But it doesn’t have to be. Enter Bookroo.

I was lucky enough to connect with Megan about a month or so ago, and she’s been gracious enough to already give you a little preview of what Bookroo is, but in case you missed it, Bookroo helps foster a love of reading in children by making the experience of receiving children’s books an exciting one for children and an affordable and convenient one for parents. Win-win-win.

Bookroo creates excitement around reading by helping children to associate the thrill and anticipation of unwrapping surprise gifts with reading, and by exposing them to new and different books that they can be proud to have in their very own personal collections. Basically, each month a box containing either 3 board or 2 picture books (each individually wrapped!) arrives with a handwritten note.

My three-year-old nephew can often be found pushing a toy wheelbarrow filled with books around the house, but recently his mom noticed that in addition to the wheelbarrow, he was also clutching several books to his chest on his journey through the house. When she asked him what was so special about those books, he told her that those were the ones that had come all wrapped up in his Bookroo box. Weeks later, he had a special attachment to those books in particular because of the experience he’d had with them.

The holidays are often a time when presents abound, so it’s a particularly important time to send the signal to our children that reading is important, and books are fun and worthy of being gifted. They aren’t a boring or second rate gift, their magical stories are a gift that can be enjoyed again and again. Cliche perhaps, but true.

Give the gift of reading this holiday season. Give the children in your life access to the printed word, and the opportunity to fall in love with it. A Bookroo subscription is a gift that will remind them of you and your love every time they read the books that have come thus far, and every month a new box arrives. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

Ready to gift your first Bookroo box? Feel free to this link to get $4 off from Megan’s first post!

I will never forget Mason's one month appointment. The pediatrician stressed starting a bedtime routine that included a bath and a book before bedtime. I remember looking at my 8lb son that could barely hold up his head thinking how in the world could we possibly read a book to this tiny thing...but we did... every. single. night.

He barely noticed the book was even there at first, but as time went on his love for books grew and grew. He started to put his face real close up to the pictures and would study every detail. Then he started to turn the pages himself. And now with the peekaboo or touch and feel books, he knows exactly what part of the book to open, touch, turn, push, and scratch.

There are certain books that he snuggles up to me immediately when he sees the cover and and other books he sits up tall and straight so he can interact with every page. We have started to put books in his bed each night so he can read before falling asleep or when he wakes up in the morning. We read at the beach, during diaper changes, on airplanes, in the car, his stroller, wherever we go, we bring books. He doesn't just love books, he is enthralled by them.

I was thrilled to stumble upon Bookroo, a monthly children's book subscription that will help grow Mason's library. We have a TON of books already but not too many make it into the nightly rotation so I am always looking for more books Mason might love. Luckily Bookroo does the work for me, carefully selecting the books and sending them to us monthly to nurture his love of reading in the hopes of finding new books we will all love to read each night. You can choose between picture books and board books and if you receive a book you already have in your library, send them a picture of you gifting the book to someone else and they will take $5 off your next month...pretty awesome...

Beyond just being an amazing concept, the experience from the website to the hand wrapped books that arrive perfectly packaged is fantastic. And I am definitely going to be gifting a Bookroo subscription or two for birthdays and holidays because I know a lot of moms like me who might go crazy if their child receives one more toy...books are so much easier to clean up at the end of the day...

I hope Mason always loves to read the way he does today. I hope that even when he is older he still can't wait for the next book, the next page, the next word. And I kind of hope he always wants to snuggle while we read our books before bedtime...