Lillypost Book Subscription Box Review – Favorite Things
This post is my Lillypost Subscription Box Review. I ordered the 3 month, board book plan and have put together my thoughts on all three months below.
Why Get a Subscription Box for a Toddler?
I had been considering getting my daughter a subscription box for awhile.
I liked the idea of a book subscription because our bedtime routine involved reading stories and truth be told I was getting bored with our current selection.
I thought it would be fun to get some new books each month and make it a little “event” when we got them to keep her love for books strong.
Although I have a library card, I find at this age my daughter loves putting books (and everything) in her mouth and don’t want to risk damaging the books from there, but buying books at retail gets expensive.
So I tried Lillypost, a subscription box that sends age-appropriate books each month up to 50% off retail.
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About the Lillypost Subscription Box:
Lillypost ships across North America and offers three plans:
- Board Box – 4 Board Boxes for ages 0-3 – plus stickers
- Mixed Book Box – 2 Picture Books & 1 Board Book – For all ages, plus stickers
- Picture Book Box – 3 Picture Books for Ages 4-7, plus name plate stickers
Websites:
Lillypost.com (US)
Lillypost.ca (Canada)
What I ordered from Lillypost
A 3 month subscription of the Board Book Box. For ages 0-3. 4 Board books each month for:
United States: $17.95+$4.95 s&h plus tax (where applicable).
Canada: $22.46 + $7.95 s&h plus tax.
First month’s books:
My Book of Animal Babies by Kasia Nowowicjaka – $7.99
Toes, Ears, & Nose by Marion Dane Bauer – $7.99
Bedtime Bear by Veronica Vasylenko – $7.99
Animal Opposites by Alphaprints – $12.99
Total Value – $36.96 + $7.95 s&h + tax = $50.75
What I paid: $22.45 + 7.95 s&h + tax = $34.36
Savings – $16.59 ““ 32%
I couldn’t find two of the four books in Canada, so the $7.99 is actually US$ which would make it more expensive for me here. I also assumed that I would pay some sort of shipping to get the books online so used the same $7.95 as Lillypost did. Without shipping – I would have saved about $8.64 – still good!
(It was easier in Month 2 to calculate the savings – see below)
The two animal books were timely, as we are learning our animals right now. Same goes for the lift the flap book, Toes, Ears and Nose. We have a few books by this author already and this is the best by far. The Teddy Bear Book isn’t a favorite yet, but her tastes change all the time so by next week she will love it as much I’m sure. (update: we read the Teddy Bear book ALL the time!)
Month 2:
Hippo Says Excuse Me by Michael Dahl – $8.95
What does baby say by Inc. Sterling Publishing Co. – $10.95
Alice in Wonderland by Colonel Moutarde – $11.25
All of Baby Nose to Toes by Victoria Adler – $8.42
Total Value – $39.57 + $7.95 s&h + tax = $53.70
What I paid: $22.45 + 7.95 s&h + tax = $34.36
Savings – $19.34 or 36%
This month was easier to calculate as they were all available on Amazon.ca
This selection of books are all so different – in a good way! The Hippo Says Excuse Me teaches little ones manners, What Does Baby Say helps expand vocabulary, Alice in Wonderland is bright and colorful with pull and push tabs and All of Baby Nose to Toes is another great book for learning the names of body parts.
All around very satisfied with the quality and variety of the books.
Month 3:
Under the Bed by Paul Bright and Ben Cort – $8.28
Blue Boat by Kersten Hamilton – $10.88
Hello Mr. Moon by Lorna Gutierrez and Laura Watkins – $10 ?
Little Lamb Lost by David Bedford by Karen Sopp – $8.06
Total Value – $37.22 + $7.95 s&h + tax = $51.04
What I paid: $22.45 + 7.95 s&h + tax = $34.36
Savings – $16.68 or 33%
Another good savings month. I couldn’t find Hello Mr. Moon new so guessed it was $10. The favorite book this month was Little Lamb Lost. Very cute book with nice illustrations.
I found Under the Bed too old for my daughter. Its intended to help kids get over the fear of monsters under the bed, but as my daughter is under two it isn’t applicable yet – so in the closet if needed.
Gift Wrapping
I also paid an extra $5 each month to have the books individually gift wrapped. Which I thought would be really fun – like Christmas every month.
However the quality of the wrapping actually worked against me in this case. My daughter couldn’t open them! So I ended up unwrapping, which wasn’t the point – ha!
I do think older kids would like this option though, especially if you are buying it as a gift.
Other fun things to know
1. For every box purchased 1 book gets donated.
2. Each month they have a coloring contest with a theme. You use the box the books come in.
3. If you get a book that you already have you are encouraged to donate it (they won’t accept returns), which I love! You are getting a deal, so if one month you end up paying equal to retail I think the charity aspect of it makes up for it. Include your child in the donation and it’s a great teaching moment. I doubt this would happen often (it didn’t happen to me), but I like the company’s approach.
What I didn’t Like
Your credit card will continue to get charged if you don’t go into your account and stop an automatic renewal.
Their customer service was great and reversed the charge and stopped the renewal, but I found any personal admin annoying (ha!) and if I hadn’t of paid attention to my credit card statement I would have kept receiving them.
As I was getting these before Christmas I thought I would pause the subscription.
Conclusion:
I would recommend Lillypost’s subscription box (at least the board book plan which I did). My daughter enjoyed getting new books each month. And I did too – as I mentioned before I was getting bored with our current selection.
In the end I will have 12 new books, we got to unwrap them together and she genuinely enjoys the books that we received. I also saved some money!
I think these subscription boxes are such a great Baby Shower, Birthday or Christmas gift. Your gift can be spread out over months which is unique.
Order Online Here:
Lillypost.com (US)
Lillypost.ca (Canada)
Check out my gift guides where Lillypost is one of the recommended gifts:
Toy and Gift Ideas for 1 Year Old Boys
Toy and Gift Ideas for 1 Year Old Girls
I hope you found my Lillypost review helpful – let me know if you subscribe and what you think!
