Having a constant supply of books around that they can pick up and read does help, but if you’re anything like me in this busy mum life you will have a pile of old overdue library books which were meant to go back to the library months ago – and a pile of books which have been sat there for yonks do not the most exciting reading motivation maketh!
So when I heard about a new service called Reading Chest – a book rental service specialising in reading scheme books for children aged 4 to 9 years old – I thought….this is just what we need right now ….books delivered to our door for someone who is falling head over heals in love with reading….hurrah!
How it works
Reading Chest is a through-the-post book rental service for children. After an initial delivery of 4 or 6 reading books depending on your package, you simply return the books in the pre-paid envelope and wait for some more to arrive in the post. It’s as easy as that!
Choosing your child’s books
The books are sorted into reading levels known as book bands which you will probably be familiar with because they are used in school. When you sign up for a subscription for Reading Chest, you simply let them know the book band which supports their level on their school reading scheme, and they send you a selection of books in the relevant band.
This is the selection of books we received! As you can see they come with a bag to keep them in, a reading progress chart and stickers, bookmark and return addressed envelopes.
Our thoughts
First off, E loved the selection of books – they were a good mix of fiction and non fiction, and something about the fact that they are sent to you and then you return them to get some news ones in the post made it feel really exciting for her….which helped with any defiant reading struggles!
It was great having these books to supplement her school reading…often she would finish her school book and then we would continue her daily reading by filling in the gaps with the books from Reading Chest throughout the week or at the weekend which has worked really well.
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, she’s read all six books and I’ve really seen a difference in her reading – on her school reading scheme she has jumped up a whole colour band and is reading books I never thought I would hear or see here read including her favourite bedtime book – The Lion King. We’ve just put our books back in the post for the first of our four monthly book swaps and she’s super excited to receive her new ones soon!
Summing up
Reading Chest has been a great win for us in terms of improving reading skills – I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to supplement the reading they are given at school. It’s a great way of keeping up a fresh and relevant supply of books in the house to support your child’s reading and with subscriptions starting at £9.95 per month for a Bronze Package it’s really reasonable too. You can take a closer look at the different packages here.
She isn’t able to read yet. But she absolutely loves being read to, and can listen to the same story many times in a row.
Wonderful treat for my nephew who has started school this year – learning made fun
Ooohhh I’ve not seen this before. What a fab idea. If you have a speedy reader this would really help to keep their interest up. Happy mail! It’s a winner
This would be great for my cousins daughter Layla-Mai
Oh that looks fab! My kids love reading and this would be a great way to add to our collection!
Such a fab idea! My son loves to read x
I haven’t seen this service, what a great idea. It can be hard to squeeze reading in to a busy day!
Oh this sounds brilliant! I’m going to go over and enter now. I love encouraging my kids to read, thankfully they are both loving reading right now x
What a super duper giveaway. Reading is essential to a child’s development, when growing up, so this is a fab idea xx
I really hope that Jasmine will be a book worm when she’s older. This look like a really good way of developing their reading skills.
Sounds like a great idea! Perfect for anyone wanting to do extra reading with their child, or for home schoolers.
Amelia can’t read just yet but this sounds Amazing for when she can!
fab giveaway count me in
My daughter aged four has just started to read and is keen as mustard. My son is nearly nine and finds reading a drag so I’m always trying to find books that will captivate him!
My eldest daughter absolutely adores reading, she is 7 and is always looking for new books to read. MY youngest daughter is 4 and has just started to learn to read so this would be a great help for her
I have 9 grandchildren all of whom love being read to and with 3 of them now at school they are starting to read to nanny
My daughter loves to read 🙂
My cousin’s girls love to read and love to be read to
My grandsons are loving learning to read and the younger ones enjoy being read to