Reading Chest - The Book Rental Service Through your Letterbox!

 **AD - Review**

Learning to read is something Evelyn has really struggled with, a combination of her ongoing eye sight issues and frustration meant she really struggled to "want" to read. However over lockdown with lots of time, encouragement and bedtime stories Evelyn slowly found a love for reading and books in general. We shared so many lovely stories together and with a little help from one of her teachers via zoom too, Evelyn went back to school earlier this month happily reading, independently! 

I love sitting back and listening to her read and whilst we of course have a long way to go, just hearing her get excited about getting to change her book at school or reading a story to us is amazing. So with that in mind I have been looking at ways we can help her continue to love reading and ways to explore new ways together.

So when the lovely people over at Reading Chest reached out the timing couldn't have been better! Reading chest is a book rental service aimed at children aged between 4 and 9 years old. It was created by a fellow mum and teacher who was frustrated at the lack of books at home for her son to read without having to spend lots of money which is something I think many of us parents can relate to! 

So how does Reading Chest work? 

- The Reading Chest subscription service is available in 3 different packages.

The Bronze package which is priced at £9.95 per month offers an initial delivery of 4 books with 2 swaps per month.

The Silver package is £14.95 per month and offers an initial delivery of 4 books with 4 swaps per month.

The Gold package which is £19.95 per month offers 6 books initially with unlimited swaps per month. The Gold package is especially perfect for sharing between siblings. 

- Each month Reading Chest will deliver you a certain amount of books based of your subscription level. You can amend which books you would like to receive (or not receive) in your child's reading list. The list shows the huge amount of books available from reading schemes such as Oxford Reading Tree, Collins Big Cat, Floppy's Phonics, Phonics Bug and many more. If you spot any books you think your child would love to read you can add these to your favourites, this means Reading Chest will do their best to include these in your deliveries. Alternatively if you spot any books you already own or you don't think your child will like you can "bin" these on the list and you won't receive them. 

- Once your child has read the books they receive you can send those books back to Reading Chest in the pre-paid envelope you receive with every delivery. Once received back, Reading Chest will then replace however many books you sent back, with the same amount of new books. This means your child will always have lots of new books and titles to read and explore. When you think your child is ready to move up a band, just go into your account and change the band to see a whole new library of books to explore. 

We have been trying out Reading Chest for around a month now and Evelyn has absolutely loved it! In our initial delivery we received a funky red drawstring bag with our books inside. Alongside a fun reward chart, book mark and stickers all of which are great for encouraging kids to read, Evelyn loves adding a new sticker for each book she reads. We received a mixture of fiction and non fiction books which I really liked as it meant Evelyn was mixing up the content she was reading (and she was especially happy to see a book about gymnastics in our delivery, which we had selected as a favourite on her reading list). 

Reading Chest uses the national colour book banding system which many schools also use too. This means that if your child has been given a coloured reading band in school you can use this as a guide to which reading band you should be selecting on Reading Chest. But if you aren't sure, the website also gives a few example pages for each coloured band so you can check out the amount of words, word sizing etc and see how it compares to what your child is reading or can read. 

Over all we have really enjoyed the subscription and think that we will probably continue on for the foreseeable future. Evelyn has really enjoyed the whole experience including getting to post away her swaps and receive post of new books too! The books always arrive super quickly and the value for money is fantastic. Not only that but it allows me to see which books she is enjoying and any books she particularly loves I can then go on to purchase for her to enjoy time and time again. It means I am not wasting money on books she "might" like and we can build up a shelf of her absolute favourites. 

If you fancy trying out Reading Chest for yourself or you know someone who might love a subscription like this then you can find out more or sign up here - Reading Chest website. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any point so you are never tied into a long or lengthy contract, although we are sure you will love the service just as much as we do! 

Is a book rental service something you would consider for your children? 

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**This is a collaborative post. We were provided with a 3 month bronze subscription for the purpose of this review. However all words and opinions are my own and I retain full control of this content.**