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 selected 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 review is of the Book Club for ages 4-7 years.
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.)
About Little Feminist Book Club Box
The Subscription Box: Little Feminist Book Club
The Cost: $22.95 per month + $2.95 flat rate 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 and worldwide for varying rates.
Little Feminist Book Club Box May 2021 Review
I received this welcome card introducing this month's book. They go over a few details about the book and how you can share your thoughts with them after reading the book with your little ones!
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Max and the Talent Show by Kyle Lukoff - Retail Value $8.95
We are always trying to teach and show my son Fox that boys and girls can do whatever they want. If a boy wants to paint his nails and wear a dress that is totally cool! Girls can play baseball and be bosses. Once Fox started in preschool, he started to hear these stereotypes from other kids in his class, he had long hair and kids always asked if he was a girl or called him a girl. This is why we started to really push that there are no boundaries with gender. My husband even painted his nails and wore lipstick that my daughter put on him to show my son that boys can do things that girls do too. This book was a great way to see a little boy that just loves wearing dresses, capes, tiaras, heels, and more.
The main character, Max, doesn't like to wear dresses but he loves playing with his friend Stephen and hearing his enchanting stories. My son stopped me while we were reading this to say that Stephen wears dresses and that's ok and Max doesn't and that is ok too! I loved that! Stephen uses his talent of storytelling to explain to other people certain situations to hopefully change their impressions. In the story we follow as Max and Stephen prepare for a talent show, only for Stephen to forget to prepare a performance for the show, he was so busy preparing his outfit. Max comes to his friend's rescue by reminding him that he can dazzle with his ability to tell stories. This was a great end to the story, showing that even two totally different people can be the best of friends, showing endless support and encouragement between the two boys. I loved the kindness and inclusion that this book showed!
From Amazon:
Max's friend Stephen is great at many things. But more than anything else, Stephen can tell a story. His stories have the ability to change listeners initial impressions of people and situations. When Stephen signs up for the schools talent show, Max signs up to be his assistant. After selecting that just-right dress and those just-right shoes for the show, the moment arrives. Stephen steps onto the stage. The lights shine brightly in his face. He looks out into the crowd knowing he has prepared everything, except the one thing that matters his performance. What will Max, standing in the wings, do to help his friend?
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What Do You Think Card
Each book comes with a 'What Do You Think' card that provides questions that you can ask your little reader about the book. Each side is broken out by age, which I find so helpful. When Stephen is at the mall shopping with his Mom and Max, all of the salespeople are first not letting him try on dresses and heels. Stephen tells them these amazing stories to make them see that they need to be accepting of Stephen and let him try on all of the things that he wants to. This was a really hard part for me to read to my son because it really broke my heart. I actually started crying when they wouldn't let him try on a dress, it just broke my heart knowing that this happens in real life every day for people. My son noticed that I was sad so we used this card to really talk through this part of the book. I was able to ask him what he likes to do that maybe other people have a different opinion on than you. Another question that I loved was what he likes to do that makes him feel his best similar to how Stephen wears dresses to make himself feel his best. This book brought up a lot of questions and thoughts, but I am always so grateful for these cards to help get the conversation moving in a thoughtful direction.
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Don't Touch My Hair by Sharee Miller - Retail Value $7.99
I wish I had this book when I was little. I have very thick curly hair, but when I was little it was Shirley Temple ringlets. It got a lot of attention, which was always well-intentioned. However, growing up, so many people would just touch my hair without saying anything, even when I was really little! I remember being at the mall and feeling someone touching the back of my head. I turned around almost swinging to see a woman just saying that she just had to touch my hair. It really bothered me and always made me wonder why people would think that was ok, sometimes it didn't bother me, and other times I felt like a freak show (I was very tall with big curly hair so I was always slightly awkward). Our main character, Aria goes through all of the places that people would touch her hair and how it made her feel. How it made her want to hide but no matter what she did people would touch her hair. Until one day she just screamed and set boundaries! No one ever touched her hair again without asking, and when they asked sometimes she would say yes but sometimes no and that was all ok!
I really loved that this book showed beautiful Aria with her gorgeous curls! I have noticed with little kids that sometimes they are drawn to other kid's hair that might not look like theirs, and will even sometimes try to touch it. I always have explained to my kids that we don't touch anyone without asking first and that everyone looks different, that is what makes us each special. I find books like this to be a great lesson and visual to show kids that we are all special and unique, but being unique doesn't mean that you can step over boundaries.
From Amazon:
It seems that wherever Aria goes, someone wants to touch her hair. In the street, strangers reach for her fluffy curls; and even under the sea, in the jungle, and in space, she's chased by a mermaid, monkeys, and poked by aliens . . . until, finally, Aria has had enough!
Author-illustrator Sharee Miller takes the tradition of appreciation of black hair to a new, fresh, level as she doesn't seek to convince or remind young readers that their curls are beautiful -- she simply acknowledges black beauty while telling a fun, imaginative story.
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What Do You Think Card
These cards were super helpful because they allowed us to go over "consent" and certain situations. The one question that I found really useful was, "Why do we need to ask for consent before giving a friendly hug or friendly touch." This is such an important lesson for how someone interacts with another person and for a child to understand their own personal space. Another question that I loved was asking what he loved about himself like Aria loved her hair. My son actually cut his hair off because of the rude things that kids in his school said to him so we were able to talk through that and how it relates to how Aria felt about wanting to hide her hair at first. I always say this, but I really love how these cards give me a moment to really talk with my son which allows me a chance to see how he is feeling and how his brain works.
Little Feminist In Action: Learn About An Activist
This month's Little Feminist In Action page is all about activist and athlete, Sarah Rose Huckman. Sara is a Cambodian American trans athlete. She grew up in New Hampshire where she was not able to play female sports without undergoing surgery to change her body parts into a female. She was born a male but has identified as female very early on. She advocated having this law changed in New Hampshire and was pivotal in creating the change that now allows trans kids to play sports. This is such a hot topic right now that I feel very passionate about allowing all children to play sports with the gender they identify with. My son is only 5 so I don't think he truly understood the details that surround this amazing advocate. However, even without fully understanding he said how unfair it was to not let her play girl sports. He didn't understand why people try to make rules that only hurt people. That is the purity of a child's mind, he only knows love and equality.
Verdict: This month's Little Feminist Book Club brought us two paperback books instead of the typical one hardcover. My son was really excited to see two books. They both were longer which I really appreciate since Fox is moving up a level in the types of books he is interested in. Both books really taught us about love, equality, understanding, acceptance, and so much more. I love that each month brings us books that my son truly enjoys while creating wonderful conversations and opportunities to learn. The thinking cards really help me as a Mom to talk through the topics in the book in an easy way to help build a dialogue with Fox that allows us to work out what we just read. I loved that this month's activity page featured an activist that I was able to teach Fox about. This month really brought so many important books right to my door. I know a lot of people ask me why I would get a book subscription when I can just order books on Amazon. For me, I don't think that I would ever search these books or topics out or even know that a book like the ones that I get each month exists. I love that this box is curated around a specific book that focuses on how we can teach our little ones how to treat everyone equally.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Your first book will be for June. 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!
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