Thursday, November 15, 2012

Blue Manatee Boxes :: Give the Gift of Children's Books {#GreenChristmas Grand Prize Sponsor Review}

Blue Manatee Boxes are an amazing gift for young children and babies this holiday season. Inside each box is a selection of hand-picked, age-appropriate books that will inspire, delight, and encourage a love of reading from the very start. Buddy loves books so I was eager to have the opportunity to check out Blue Manatee Boxes and see for myself!

Blue Manatee Boxes are easy to order, and easy to create. Choose from eight themed boxes such as the UnpluggedBox, ArtBox or EcoBox, or if you'd like a little more control of what books are in the box and you know the child well, you can build your own box. From there you can select 3, 6, or 9 books for your box, and extra "ManaGear" if you choose. These are optional add-ons such as a onesie or t-shirt, books for older children and siblings, branded toys from companies like Green Toys, and even a donation to give back to awesome organizations. A great ManaGear option, for example, would be one of the "new big sibling" books they carry to add in for an older sibling to keep them involved and excited about the new addition to the family. Or if there is a specific classic title in the ManaGear section that catches your eye for your child, you can add it! 
We received a custom 3-book box, with an additional ManaGear add-on of the Baby Unplugged book, Boxes. The other three books are Otis by Loren Long, Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, and My Book About Me by Dr. Suess and Roy McKie. I love that these are classics, and well-loved titles and not just any book at all. Buddy is thoroughly enjoying Otis, and has been requesting it every night at bed time! Harold and the Purple Crayon is one that I've never actually had the chance to read, but knew was a timeless classic. It's so imaginative and fun for kids of various ages, and Buddy was intrigued throughout when we first read it. My Book About Me is just a tad bit too old for Buddy to go through by himself since it requires you to actually write in the book, but in a year or so we'll begin to actually write in it. It will be a beautiful treasure to keep and remember how he is at this age.

Inside each box is also a sponge and crayon to help your child get their "creative toolkit" started. With the shipping box, sponge and crayon together, the Boxes book is very appropriate and so very fun! Although Boxes is a little more of a baby book, Buddy enjoyed looking through to get ideas of how to reuse our shipping box. He settled on just coloring it and making a complete mess of the peanuts, but hey, he's only a kid once, right? I also found him sitting in the box a few times so I've been pushing him around in the box too. Since shipping boxes are really a common sight around here, Buddy knew what to do. :) Reusing the shipping box is highly encouraged by Blue Manatee Boxes which I love to see. In an age of electronics at every turn, it's great to see a company trying to encourage learning from good ol' creativity and imaginative play.

 Simple: Easy to order new baby gift, or for any occasion
Box: 100% play-friendly packaging inspires imagination
Books: build a child's library and love of reading
Meaningful: hand-picked books, personalized gift enclosures
Mission: designed by a pediatrician and art educator

Blue Manatee Boxes is not only a great choice for holiday gifts, but also for birthdays, baby showers, and other special occasions. I like that there is the option of just ordering a themed box too. This takes the guesswork out of what kind of books the child recipient will like since the themed boxes are full of age-appropriate books that are selected by educators and doctors. You can even customize your box with a personal note to the lucky child that will be opening their special box. We've had a wonderful experience with Blue Manatee Boxes and I'm sure you will too!

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Price: 3-book boxes start at $30
 
Buy It: Check out the Box Shop at BlueManateeBoxes.com!

Win It: During the Green Christmas Gift Giveaway Hop (Nov. 28 - Dec. 7), one lucky Grand Prize winner will receive a 3-book Unplugged Box and an organic "I play with Boxes" onesie ($48 RV) from Blue Manatee Boxes! This box features the award-winning Baby Unplugged series written by pediatrician Dr. John Hutton, and other "old school" favorites. Start you baby's book library off on the right foot with this amazing selection of engaging baby books!
 
Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product(s) to facilitate this review for free. No other compensation was received. This is my completely honest opinion above and may be different from yours. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

5 comments:

Sage Adderley-Knox said...

I love the idea of book boxes, so cool!

Mrs. Martinet said...

This is such a wonderful idea. I hope it takes off. As a children's librarian I am delighted to see books delivered in such an adorable way.

judi said...

Hand picked books in the mail in an awesome box? What's not to like? I am a book addict and we homeschool so books are almost as essential as food at our house, lol! This would be an awesome alternative to another obnoxious electronic toy.

Unknown said...

This is great! What a wonderful gift giving idea!

Sarah Hayes said...

Such a great way to get your kids excited about reading! This would be a great gift to get every year with diff books for them to enjoy