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Little Feminist Book Club Ages 2-4 Review + Coupon – December 2020

Christen Russo
ByChristen RussoJan 6, 2021 | 0 comments

Little Feminist Book Club ages 2-4

Little Feminist
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Little Feminist Book Club is a monthly book subscription box for kids ages newborn to nine years old. Each month you will receive one to two books to help diversify your bookshelf. Plus, you will also receive hands-on activities and tools to help your book come to life. Subscriptions are offered for ages 0-2, 2-4, 4-7, and 7-9. From Little Feminist:

Only 31% of children's books feature a female character, and only 13% feature a person of color.

This children's book subscription sends books that highlight lesser-represented characters and teaches important life lessons with beauty and nuance.

This review is of the Book Club for ages 2-4 years.

opening Little Feminist ages 2-4

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

I Really Want to See You, Grandma children's book shown with shipping box

About Little Feminist Book Club

The Subscription Box: Little Feminist Book Club

The Cost: $22.95 per month + $2.95 shipping. Save with longer subscriptions. 

The Products: At least one book (sometimes more) and hands-on activities and tools to help bring your book to life. 

Ships to: The U.S. for $2.95. Shipping costs may vary for international orders.

Little Feminist Book Club Ages 2-4 December 2020 Review

Little Feminist recently made a change to their age range offerings, which included the addition of a new club for children ages 2-4. On their website it says that some months they'll send a single picture book; others, they'll send two board books. I've long admired the Little Feminist subscription from afar and am so thrilled to now have the opportunity to explore it with my two-year-old daughter.

note to subscribers

This month's book arrived in a slim cardboard box, with this welcome card. On the front is a note from the Little Feminist team explaining why they chose this title. They love that the grandmother in this story is energetic and determined, which is a change from many narratives in which grandparents are often depicted as being, in their words, "crotchety or clueless." They also point out that the repetitive phrases in the book are great for helping toddlers "read" along. I read the book before reading this intro card, and thought it was cute without recognizing these call-outs on my own—now I wish every children's book we own came with a card pointing out its virtues!

activity idea from Little Feminist book club

On the reverse is an activity suggestion that's on-theme with the month's book. They recommend neighborhood walks wherein an adult points out different features they see, or for an indoor activity, creating play roadways on the floor out of tape, and encouraging your child to use their toys to follow the paths. Neighborhood walks are part of our family's regular rhythm, but I welcome the idea of the indoor activity during this wet winter with greatly reduced interaction.

 

I Really Want to See You, Grandma by Taro Gomi - Retail value $16.99 (found on sale here for $11.39)

The book included this month is about a young girl and her grandmother who have the idea to visit one another at the very same time. They make their way across town to each other's houses, only to find they've crossed paths unknowingly. Then they head back to their respective homes to find that the same thing happened again. In their determination, they both make a third trip, and finally, their paths collide. Though a simple story, this book is filled with details that were fun to point out as I read it aloud, and which delighted my daughter. Some examples are the various methods of transportation the duo uses, the build-up of energy as the two learn they keep missing each other (and the funny illustrated reactions of the bearers of the news), and funny incidentals that occur in transit (like Yumi shrinking down in her seat as a cow licks her face, pictured above).

And, Little Feminist is right about what they wrote in their intro card—it's rare that we have the chance to follow along as a grandma takes a train, a taxi, and a motorcycle in a kids' book. When I think about the grandparents who show up in children's books in our collection at home or that we've borrowed from the library, a lot of snuggling, baking, and reading together goes down (the exception being Last Stop on Market Street, wherein young CJ and his Nana take their routine bus ride from church to volunteer at the soup kitchen). To be clear I don't think there's anything wrong with the depiction of slow, gentle, tender afternoons between grandparents and grandchildren in books, but it's nice to have various realities represented.

Little Feminist book club conversation cards

Discussion Question Cards

I know from other Little Feminist reviews by our team here at MSA that Little Feminist always includes discussion questions in their monthly shipments. The questions are meant to be asked to your child, to further explore lessons or learnings from the book sent that month. One question included is, "Grandma hops on a motorcycle to get to Yumi quickly. What are some other ways grandparents can move and go?" which proved to be a little abstract for my two-year-old—she answered with "umm, riding!" Not a bad answer! But to keep the conversation going I distilled this concept down to something more concrete like, "When Grandmum comes to visit you, how does she get here?" With the follow-up, "What color is her car?" Another question included on the card was, "How do you stay close with the people you love when they are far away?" Again here, that wording was a little confusing for my little one, and while she did come up with a response, I followed up by asking her "When Grannie is at home, how can we talk to her?" With these follow-up questions that were reframed, we were able to keep the conversation going a little longer.

Verdict: My family's first experience with Little Feminist Book Club was a satisfying one! The 2-4 age range is a wonderful offering—kids develop so much in such short periods of time, so as a parent I'm really pleased to have expert help with selecting thoughtfully written and illustrated books that nail what is appropriate for my daughter's stage. I'm also happy that this subscription sends along simple supplemental materials that offer ideas for educational play activities, as well as conversation topics that can start simple and gain in complexity as she grows. What's more, my family truly believes in the importance of diversity in literature, and we're really thrilled to be introduced to characters, authors, and illustrators who are typically underrepresented. 

Value-wise, this subscription costs $22.95 per month + $2.95 flat rate shipping ($25.90 total), with opportunities to save when you commit to longer subscriptions. The hardback picture book I was sent costs $16.99 from my local bookstore, or $11.39 from Amazon. If you were to purchase this book new for $16.99, you are in essence paying $8.91 for this subscription's welcome note, activity suggestion, and discussion questions; if you were to buy it new from Amazon, you're paying $14.51 for those supplemental materials. While I thoroughly enjoyed my first month of this subscription and found the supplemental materials to be clever and useful, I'm not sure they're enough to justify that cost difference—to me, they're more like perks than true value-adding items, and to be frank, I tossed them in the recycling after we used them. For a $8.91-$14.51 difference, I would've liked to have seen either an additional book included, or I would've been happy with more extensive educational offerings so that I could turn this box into an afternoon of learning with my kid.

To Wrap Up: 

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? If you order today, your first box will be the January box. From Little Feminist:

Once you purchase a book subscription your first box will be shipped within a week. From then on, your book box will be sent the first week of every month.

Check out all of our Little Feminist reviews and our list of the best book clubs for kids!

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

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Little Feminist is a children’s book and activity subscription that focuses on diversity and gender equality, teaching 0-9 year old girls and boys (yes, boys can be feminists too!) empathy and perseverance. Books-of-the-month are selected by a team of educators, librarians, and parents, who then cre... read more.
Christen Russo
Christen Russo

Hi there, I'm Christen. I am all sorts of things:

🌳 a writer who loves to convey feeling

🌲 a mother who wants to have just as much fun as my kids do

🌳 an outdoors-lover who's achieved #1000hoursoutside with my family

🌲 a low-maintenance self-carer

🌳 a general hungry person with an unstoppable sweet tooth

You'll find me collecting stationery and squirreling away stickers, riding bikes and swimming with my family, creating outfits in colors and silhouettes that make me feel amazing, wearing big earrings, drinking beer and asking my husband to feed me harmonies to sing, taking my vitamins, living for dancing to live music, roping everyone into a craft, being human and vulnerable, and celebrating the phenomenon of being alive.

...and doing it all with energy, delight, and jokes along the way.


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