Along with great picture books to read to kids at bedtime, I also highlight book suggestions for your teen. Encouraging a love of reading throughout a child’s life is important right up through their teen years. Owlcrate is a fun way to tap into your teen’s love of literature, with a twist.
In case you’re not familiar with it, Owlcrate is a subscription box service for fans of young adult literature. That could be your teen or with the growing interest among adults in this book genre, that could be you. The service can be ordered as a monthly service (renewed automatically) or as a prepaid 3 or 6 month service. Shipping is extra and is calculated depending on the destination. They are based in the US but the have an extensive market list.
Each month has a theme which they reveal ahead of time on their site or through their social media channels. The January box, the one I ordered to review, had a Classic Remix theme. My own teen has been discovering some classics like the Narnia series and anything Jane Austin so I thought this would be perfect. The January box arrived at our Canadian office early February which was pretty good timing as I ordered late January.
The folks at Owlcrate did a great job following the theme and not with hooky, useless items. I especially loved that they partnered with other small businesses like First Edition Tea Company and Lexy Olivia. The connection back to literature was completely fun.
Take a peek at what’s inside the January box with my full unboxing video:
I love the idea of subscription boxes as a surprise for the recipient but many often feel like a random collection of ‘stuff’. Like our experience with the Food to Go box, a well thought out curated travel foodie collection, Owlcrate is expertly curated with the YA literature fan in mind. Not only do they come up with fun theme ideas, they make a great effort delivering on that theme with their book selection and related items. I loved the addition of custom tea and the calendar with literary illustrations, supporting an extended creative community.
Speaking of community, Owlcrate goes beyond just delivering their boxes but also engages their members by featuring their photos, encouraging interaction through themed social photo giveaways and even hosting online author twitter chats like the most recent one with Rose Blood author A.G. Howard.
Owlcrate not only taps into your teen’s (or maybe your own) fascination with young adult books, it cultivates a fun like-minded community in the process. That’s one great gift.
If you have younger readers, Owlcrate has just introduced Owlcrate Junior for tweens (age 8-12). I’m expecting one of their boxes end of March and can’t wait to share it her and on or YouTube channel so don’t forget to subscribe to our channel if you haven’t already.