Parrot Street Book Club Review

Disclosure:

Parrot Street gifted me this product so that I could review it. I only recommend products and services that I trust and believe in. All opinions are my own and given honestly. The included links in this review do not pay me any commission. Do read my full disclosure on advertising.

 

Product summary:

Parrot Street’s book club helps you discover new children’s books with monthly subscriptions. They carefully curate age-appropriate books you won’t easily find yourself from a wide range of authors and genres. They offer three reading levels; Parakeets (5 to 8 years), Cockatoos (8 to 12 years) and Macaws (12 to 14 years). Each monthly title comes with book club-style questions and activity ideas.

1, 3, 6, and 12-month rolling subscriptions start from £14 a month (postage is included). Longer subs. lower the price, so a 12-month subscription works out at £12 a month.  

 

Parrot Street have kindly created a discount code for our home ed community. You can get 15% off your first subscription term. Please note the discount code only applies to subscription packages, and renewals will be charged at full price. You can cancel at any time before being charged. Here is the link; it should apply the discount automatically. If not, simply enter HOMEED15 at checkout: Parrot Street Home Ed Discount

 

Sasha’s thoughts:

At first glance, this seems like an expensive way to purchase books. What Parrot Street is offering, though, is more than a book.

My problem? I don’t have the time to research new books for my son to read (we’ve exhausted our bookshelves, his older brothers’ books, and our charity shop finds). Amazon’s ‘recommendations’ are very limited. If your child loves to read, it’s easy to run out of ideas for engaging titles to give them. Parrot Street solves this problem by finding new books for you every month, often introducing authors you would not have heard of. With so much being online and digital in our modern times, receiving a package through the letterbox and holding an actual ‘book-book’ (no scrolling to turn the pages!) is always a joy.

The included resources initially look sparse, but when you read them, they are well thought out, helping your child connect deeply with the featured book. In addition to a bookmark and ‘about the author’ card, there were stickers, an activity page and a ‘give your review’ postcard. One side of the activity card included a QR code leading to an onigiri recipe. We liked this because my son recently discovered sushi! A list of ‘things to think about’ presented some engaging questions in a book club style; these help extend beyond just reading the book – a few prompted some very philosophical conversations in our house. And we now are totally into Yokai (supernatural creatures and phenomena from Japanese folklore).

We subsequently discovered this excellent Yokai website if you’re interested in reading about them too: Yokai

 

 

 

O’s thoughts:

I enjoy the idea of getting a new book in the post every month, one that I might not have heard of otherwise. The book I just finished was a great read. After browsing the website, the books for the previous months look equally cool, and like titles I’d want to read. I liked the activities, especially the Yokai word search, the recipe link, and the stickers.

 

Handy for home ed?

Yes, if you can budget it in. If we could afford it, we would 100% subscribe all year.

A book arriving personally addressed to your child feels exciting to them rather than a chore or the dreaded ‘learning’; hopefully it encourages a love of reading. If your child is already an avid reader, then this is perfect for them. If they are not – maybe this could tempt them into it! As a busy home ed parent, it saves me searching for appropriate books and introduces us to new authors and genres. The book and the provided activities gave us ideas for further learning opportunities. A few for us were Yokai, Japanese culture, art, sushi making, literacy with review writing, and some philosophical thinking.

⭐ Our ‘handy for home-ed’ rating of Parrot Street is 4/5 ⭐

 

Sasha’s summary:

I was impressed by the Parrot Street book club; so much is aimed at those under 10; I was pleased to find young teens catered for with the ‘Macaws’ 12 to 14 reading age. Fewer activities are included with the Macaws option, but you can choose between two books each month to compensate. The price of this subscription may put it out of budget for many of us, but if you can afford it, I definitely recommend it. If you have a relative looking for an idea of a gift to give you, this could be an ideal suggestion.

 

Parrot Street have kindly created a discount code for our home ed community. You can get 15% off your first subscription term. Please note the discount code only applies to subscription packages, and renewals will be charged at full price. You can cancel at any time before being charged.

Here is the link; it should apply the discount automatically. If not, simply enter HOMEED15 at checkout: Parrot Street Home Ed Discount

 

Disclosure:
Parrot Street gifted me this product so that I could review it. I only recommend products and services that I trust and believe in. All opinions are my own and given honestly. The included links in this review do not pay me any commission.
Do read my full disclosure on advertising.