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Summer is here and kids are now spending more time at home, away from school. But learning shouldn't stop. There are plenty of opportunities to engage young learners while they're away from school and reading is one of the most essential skills children need to develop. We encourage our kids to  as a way to occupy themselves for times when a friend isn't around or a screen isn't allowed.
Of course, for all of the benefits provides a young mind -- stimulating the brain and imagination, building empathy, increasing vocabulary, yada yada. As someone who has worked from home since well before the pandemic, sometimes I just need the house to be quiet without the guilt associated with .

Now, your first destination for "free" books should be your local library, where you can get them in physical and (check out ,  and  for more of the latter). But if your library or local bookstore isn't cutting it, a book subscription box could help your kids to keep the pages turning. To that end, here are nine of the best children's book subscriptions available, from board books to young adult novels. Each has new book selections with every shipment and there are clubs for every age group. We update this list periodically.









Amazon























Let's start with Amazon. If you're a , you can subscribe to Prime Book Box, which delivers curated hardcover books for kids up to age 12. It costs $20 per box, and you can sign up to receive a box every one, two or three months. There are boxes for ages 0-2 years, ages 3-5, ages 6-8 and ages 9-12. The up-to-2-years-old box includes four board books, and the rest contain two hardcover books. You put in your preferences and Amazon will send you a preview of its selections, which you can revise before the box ships. Or you can skip the edit step and be surprised when the box arrives.




















Bookroo























Bookroo has three age brackets for its book clubs: ages 0-3, ages 3-6 and ages 7-10. You'll get three board books for the youngest group, two picture books for the middle group and two chapter books for the oldest group. You can sign up to receive an alternating subscription of board books and picture books if you have toddlers of differing ages. Or if you sign up for two separate subscriptions, you can get a 15% discount on the second subscription. You can't preview the books before Bookroo sends them out, but it aims to find hidden gems you haven't heard of before. And should you receive a book you already own, you can get a $5 credit if you send Bookroo a picture of you giving the duplicate to a friend. And the books Bookroo sends come individually wrapped -- because what kid doesn't love tearing open a gift?




















Literati























With Literati Kids, you're basically leasing books with an option to own. For $10 a month, you get five books per month but need to return them after the first week unless you want to buy them for what Amazon is currently charging for them. It's a fun way to expose your kids to a bunch of different books without needing to buy each and every one. Literati provides a prepaid return label to make sending back the books you don't want to keep free and fairly painless. Literati chooses a different theme each month for the books it sends and has five age brackets: Classic Litrature Neo (0-3 years), Sprout (3-5 years), Nova (5-7 years), Sage (7-9 years) and Phoenix (9-12 years). And if moms and dads get jealous of their kid's Literati books arriving each month, there's also a Literati book club for adults.




















The Book Drop























This book club is run by Bethany Beach Books, an independent bookstore in Bethany Beach, Delaware. It has clubs for adults and three for kids: The Book Droplet (ages 3-7), Middle Grade (ages 8-12) and Young Adult (13 and up). You'll get one book per month, chosen by the staff at the bookstore. The two older clubs feature paperback books, and the Book Droplet club features hardcover picture books. The Middle Grade club costs $8 or $9 a month, the YA club costs $10 or $11 a month and the Book Droplet club costs $17 or $18 a month. You'll also be billed $4 a month for shipping for any of the clubs. You'll need to put your trust in the bookstore staff because you aren't able to offer any input about the types of books your kid likes to read, and you can't return a book you receive if you happen to already own it.




















Once Upon a Book























This book club feels a bit over the top, which makes it a great gift for parents or -- better yet -- grandparents of young adults. For $50 a month, Once Upon a Book Club sends a new young-adult title geared toward 14-year-olds and up -- along with three to five individually wrapped gifts, each of which corresponds to a page number in the books. Your YA reader will need to employ some self-discipline because the gifts will act as spoilers if opened before they reach the given page in the book. Also included is a 5x7-inch print of a quote from the book and discussion questions and read-along dates for live discussions online. You can also send a one-time gift box instead of buying a subscription, which makes a great holiday present for the young readers on your list.




















BookCase Club























BookCase.Club is one of the less expensive book subscriptions at only $13 a month. It has age brackets of ages 0-2, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8 and preteen, and you can select a box for boys or girls. You get three books per month that are a mixture of activity books and picture or chapter books. There's also a Teenage Dream club that features two YA novels each month. 




















Equal Opportunity Book Box























This book subscription service is just getting started and does two admirable things: it features books with diverse characters -- each book it selects includes at least one character of color -- and donates one book for every book it sells. It sends three picture books to you per month for kids between the ages of one and six. And it donates books to Bernie's Book Bank, an organization that gets free books into the hands of underprivileged kids in Chicago. Each box from Equal Opportunity Book Box includes an info sheet about the month's books and an educational drawing activity. It costs more per month than most book clubs, but each box you receive means three books are being donated to kids in need.




















OurShelves




















Similar to Equal Opportunity Book Box, OurShelves features books with diverse and inclusive characters from under-represented identities. Instead of sending out books monthly, however, this club operates on a quarterly schedule. It offers three clubs for kids: Sunshine Box (0-2 years), Rainbow Box (2-5 years) and Treehouse Box (5-8 years). For each subscription, you can choose to receive three or five books each quarter. Pricing for the three-book boxes is $36 for the Sunshine Box and $51 for either the Rainbow Box or Treehouse Box. Shipping is included. Discounts are available if you purchase an annual subscription, and you can save 10% if you buy a second subscription. 




















Cratejoy























There are many book subscriptions on Cratejoy for and . Book boxes for kids range in price from $10 to $31 a month and feature everything from board and picture books to science- and art-themed activity books. For YA, there's a mix of new and used book clubs that cost as little as $6 a month.











Paper books not your thing? Here are some resources for e-readers











The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.