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OwlCrate Jr Book Box Review + Coupon – October 2019

Brandi D.
ByBrandi D.Oct 27, 2019 | 2 comments

OwlCrate JR
4 overall rating
4 Ratings | 1 Reviews

OwlCrate Jr is a monthly book subscription box for kids aged 8-12. They send books as well as interesting and educational book-related items.

This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

About OwlCrate Jr

The Subscription Box: OwlCrate Jr

The Cost: $27.99 a month + shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.

ACTIVE DEAL: Save 10% off your first order
CODE: JRMSA2021

The Products: You will receive (1) hardcover middle-grade book plus assorted, gender-neutral, book-related items.

Ships to: The US for $7.99, Canada for $9.99, and International for $19.99

OwlCrate Jr October 2019 "Robots!" Review

 

This month's theme is "Robots!" and our box includes so many robots in different forms. This card details some of the items we received in our box. 

 

Each month they send a little magazine that features an interview with the author. This month they also included a crossword puzzle and an interview with one of this month's vendors. The last page offers information about their photo challenge contest. I love all of the fantastic robot illustrations on the outside!

 

Cog by Greg Van Eekhout - Retail Value $16.99 (found here for $11.79)

This story is told from the point of view of a humanoid robot named Cog (short for Cognitive Development). The author gives Cog a unique voice that objectively describes his world and everything in it. He knows a lot of facts, but he also seems to have some pretty personal feelings and ideas for a robot. For example, pizza is his favorite biofuel, he is not very good at sleeping, and he enjoys making Gina, his human caretaker proud. It is such a fun and fresh perspective and I think that younger kids would definitely enjoy it! While Cog seems to have a mind of his own, he is still learning and adding to his database and after some confusion over something Gina said, he finds himself injured in an accident and wakes up in an unknown lab. While the engineers and technicians are working to repair him, he is unable to find Gina and so he sets out on a mission to find her with some other robots he has met. This is such a unique and fun concept and the way it is written makes it so interesting!

 

In each box, there is a letter from the author which I always find to be such a unique and personal inclusion. We also received a signed bookplate to add to our book and this one is even illustrated!

 

Roz the Robot Bookmark

To keep track of our reading, we received this large robot bookmark. The arms clip over the pages so that the top half of the robot sticks out and makes it easy to find your place. The robot featured here is Roz the Robot from Peter Brown's The Wild Robot.

 

Robot Universe by Lynn Huggins-Cooper - Retail Value $4.99

This month we received a second book! This one is a great non-fiction book all about robots and how they have developed over time. There are pages featuring different types of robots and how they work, move, and learn. My kids loved reading excerpts from this one! It is such a fitting and educational choice for our theme that I think most readers will enjoy.

 

The OffBits Animal Kit in Pingubit - Retail Value $9.95

This kit features all of the pieces we need to build our own animal robot. Ours is the elusive Pingubit! Inside the package were an instruction sheet, a booklet showing some of their other robots, and a guide to unlocking your kit.

 

This was fairly simple to put together and consisted of a set of nuts, bolts, screws and other parts. They even provided this handy little tool that features wrenches for tightening our bolts and some mini screwdrivers.

 

My five-year-old daughter put this together mostly by herself with minimal assistance from me. It really was very simple and there weren't too many pieces to make it confusing.

 

Here is our cute little Pingubit. This was such a fun kit!

 

OwlCrate Jr Exclusive Robot Puzzle

This box contains a 100 piece robot puzzle that matches the cover on the front of the box. This was designed by freelance illustrator Vanessa Port, also known as Veepdoodles who has some adorable illustrations and works with OwlCrate Jr a lot. I'm sure that once completed, this robot puzzle would also make a nice art piece, too!

 

Robotics Lab Activity Roll by Mudpuppy - Retail Value $9.99

This robot activity roll is perfect for our theme! We have had drawing rolls before from this brand, but this activity roll is even more fun. It comes with five colored pencils and 6 feet of activities all of which feature some great robots.

 

I love that the sheets are perforated so that you can tear them off as you complete them. There are coloring activities, mazes, and spot the difference pages, among others. We will definitely enjoy working on these together!

 

OwlCrate Jr Exclusive Enamel Pin

This month we received this adorable enamel pin inspired by Wall-E and designed by Anoosha Syed. I love the gold, black and white together. It really is just so cute!

Robot Button

Each box includes a button that fits with the monthly theme, and of course, this month's had to feature a robot!

Verdict: This was another fantastically curated OwlCrate Jr box! I loved the robot theme and so did my kids. We had a lot of fun putting our Offbits animal together and learning facts about Robots from our extra book. The activity roll and beautifully illustrated puzzle are more fun items that we will certainly get a lot of entertainment from. I also really loved the cute and unique story this month. I think this box should be a hit with subscribers! As for value, the retail value of the two books, the Pingubit, and the activity roll comes to $41.92 which already puts us well over the $35.98 ($27.99 + $7.99 shipping) cost of this box. Since this doesn't even take into account the pin, button, puzzle, or bookmark, I think we received quite an amazing value this month!

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you will receive the November box. But boxes do sell out quickly!

ACTIVE DEAL: Save 10% off your first order
CODE: JRMSA2021

Value Breakdown: This box costs $27.99$7.99 shipping. We received 8 items, meaning each item has an average value of about $4.50.

Check out all of our OwlCrate Reviews and the best subscription boxes for kids!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

What did you think of OwlCrate Jr?

Starting at $29.99
Active Deal
Save 10% off your first order
Use Coupon Code JRMSA2021
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OwlCrate Jr is a monthly subscription box for young readers, brought to you by the team behind OwlCrate! This box of fun goodies and great books is perfect for kids aged 8-12
Brandi D.
Brandi D.

I am a homeschooling mom to 4 kids; 1 girl and 3 boys. While I have been reviewing boxes since 2018 and I love the luxury of trying new products, I'm also balancing it out by dabbling in a little bit of homesteading, too. We now have 4 chickens and a rabbit and my sourdough starter is going strong! I love learning about new brands and sharing the great things I find with others in hopes that they find something new to love or to fit their needs!


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2 comments

Lore

I decided to order owl cate jr because my son HATES reading. Every night it is such a struggle that we went all summer without reading. Well now I can’t keep him from reading. At bedtime he announces – time to read Cog! It’s wonderful to see him so engaged with a book.

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Brandi D.

Aww that’s so awesome! I’m glad he’s enjoying it! 🙂

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