The reference box
What makes StoryCaptain different
StoryCaptain is a monthly book club for kids from birth to age 7. Each box follows a theme about a place, a culture, or a time, such as Japan or outer space, and the books come with an activity guide full of craft and game ideas tied to the stories. Each pick below matches a piece of that.
- Ages
- Board Book Club for ages 0–3, Picture Book Club for 4–7, and Mixed Book Club for 0–7, for siblings or kids moving up to picture books.
- Books per box
- Three board books, two picture books, or two or three of both kinds in the Mixed club.
- Extras
- A themed activity guide with craft and game ideas, plus small freebies like stickers.
Compare the clubs
| Box | Best fit | Cost and commitment | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| StoryCaptain Reference box |
Themed board and picture books with an activity guide, ages 0–7 | Monthly subscription, one club per age band. | One themed box a month. |
| Bookroo’s Baby & Preschool Book Club | Board books for ages 0–3, picture books for 3–6, or a sibling box | $25 a box month to month. | First box within 3 days, then on the 10th. |
| Owl Post Books Imagination Box | Three books and a craft, ages 0–3 or 4–7 | $44 a month. The Mini, one book and a craft, is $20. | First box within 5 business days. Free shipping. |
| Story Boxes | One book plus a themed craft and activity, ages 1–4 or 4–8 | $35 a box month to month. | Ships the 10th to the 15th of each month. |
| Little Passports Early Explorers | A themed play kit each month, ages 3–5 | $32 a month. A matching book adds $10. | Monthly, free shipping. Sold direct, not on Cratejoy. |
| Sol Book Box | A Spanish or bilingual picture book, ages 4–8 | $20 a box month to month. | Ships around the 20th of each month. |
| Bradley’s Book Box Picture Books | Three hardcover picture books, ages 4–8 | $25 a box month to month. | First box within 5 business days, then on the 11th. Continental US only. |
Most of the Cratejoy clubs cost less per box on a 3-, 6-, or 12-box prepaid plan.
The alternatives
Closest to StoryCaptain’s clubs
Bookroo’s Baby & Preschool Book Club vs StoryCaptain
Best for: The family that liked StoryCaptain’s age clubs and wants the same setup: board books for the baby, picture books for the preschooler.
Bookroo splits its club by age the same way StoryCaptain does. Babies and toddlers get three board books a box, kids 3 to 6 get two hardcover picture books, and a sibling box alternates between the two. The books are custom editions printed for subscribers, with matching spines and a uniform height, so a year of boxes lines up neatly on the shelf. Bookroo has six years on Cratejoy.
What feels familiar
Three board books or two picture books a month, chosen for you, plus a sibling option that does the job of StoryCaptain’s Mixed Book Club.
What changes
Bookroo’s listing doesn’t mention a monthly theme or an activity guide. The picture-book box runs to age 6, a year short of StoryCaptain’s.
Three books and a craft
Owl Post Books Imagination Box vs StoryCaptain
Best for: A kid who wants something to make after story time, in StoryCaptain’s 0–3 and 4–7 age bands.
Each Imagination Box holds three new children’s books, a craft, and an interactive box, sorted by age: 0 to 3, 4 to 7, 8 to 10, and 11 to 13. The Mini version sends one book and a craft for less than half the price.
What feels familiar
Books plus something to do with your hands, in age bands that line up with StoryCaptain’s board and picture clubs.
What changes
The craft arrives in the box instead of as ideas on a guide, and it follows the season rather than a place or culture. The price per box stays the same on longer plans.
A craft built around the story
Story Boxes vs StoryCaptain
Best for: The parent who used StoryCaptain’s activity guide every month and would like the craft supplies to arrive too.
Story Boxes sends one children’s book a month with a craft project themed to the story, a hands-on activity for literacy, STEM, or pretend play, a movement and mindfulness card, and a parent guide. Boxes come for ages 1 to 4 and 4 to 8.
What feels familiar
The story comes first and the activity grows out of it, with a guide for the grown-up.
What changes
One book a month instead of two or three, so the home library grows more slowly. Story Boxes is also new to Cratejoy, so it has less of a track record than the others here.
A new theme every month, ages 3 to 5
Little Passports Early Explorers vs StoryCaptain
Best for: The preschooler who loved StoryCaptain’s trips to Australia and Japan as much as the books.
Little Passports Early Explorers builds every month around a theme. The first package brings a suitcase, a wall-sized world map, a 24-piece map puzzle, and a letter from the pen pals Max, Mia, and Toby. After that, each month’s package has an activity booklet, a puzzle, stickers, and a souvenir, and kids follow the journey on their map. The Premium upgrade adds a book picked to match each month’s theme.
What feels familiar
A monthly theme, activities that go with it, and, with Premium, a book on the same subject.
What changes
It’s a play kit first and a book club second, with one book at most, and it covers only ages 3 to 5. Little Passports suggests moving up to World Adventures after 24 months. Our Little Passports alternatives guide compares more boxes like it.
Spanish and bilingual books
Sol Book Box vs StoryCaptain
Best for: A bilingual family, or one starting Spanish, that liked how StoryCaptain brought other cultures into story time.
Sol Book Box sends one hardcover Spanish or bilingual picture book a month for ages 4 to 8, imported from Latin America, Spain, and the US. Each book comes with a collectible insert, and surveys let you steer the next picks. For babies and toddlers, Sol’s board book box sends two Spanish or bilingual board books a month for ages 0 to 4.
What feels familiar
Stories from other places and other voices, the part of StoryCaptain that goes past the usual bookstore shelf.
What changes
One book a month in the picture-book box against StoryCaptain’s two, and the stories come in Spanish or in both languages.
Three hardcover picture books a month
Bradley’s Book Box Picture Books vs StoryCaptain
Best for: The 4- to 8-year-old who goes through picture books fast.
Bradley’s Book Box sends three illustrated hardcover picture books a month for ages 4 to 8, with a different selection every month. Its board book box sends three board books a month for ages 0 to 5 at the same price.
What feels familiar
A stack of new picture books every month, picked for you.
What changes
Three picture books against StoryCaptain’s two, and no activity guide on the listing. It ships only within the continental US.
The gap
What none of these fully replaces
No box here puts all of StoryCaptain’s pieces together: a theme about a place, culture, or time each month, two or three books chosen for that theme, and an activity guide to go with them, on one ladder of clubs from birth to age 7.
Each pick covers part of it. Bookroo matches the club setup, Story Boxes the activities, and Little Passports the monthly themes. Pairing two of them gets closer, though you pay for two boxes.
How we chose these clubs
We started from what StoryCaptain families signed up for: board and picture books matched to age, a monthly theme, and something to do after reading. Then we went through Cratejoy’s kids’ book clubs, kept the ones with a working buy button, and chose one for each of those needs, plus a Spanish-language club and a three-book picture box for more specific readers. Little Passports is the one outside pick because it’s the closest match we found for StoryCaptain’s monthly themes. The photo at the top is StoryCaptain’s own product photo of its box.
Questions before you choose
Which book club is most like StoryCaptain?
Bookroo’s Baby & Preschool Book Club is closest on the books: three board books for ages 0 to 3, two hardcover picture books for ages 3 to 6, and a sibling box that alternates. For StoryCaptain’s monthly themes and activities, look at Story Boxes or Little Passports Early Explorers.
What should my child read after age 7?
Bookroo’s Tween Book Club sends two junior chapter books a month for ages 7 to 10, a natural step up from picture books. Owl Post Books’ Imagination Box also has bands for ages 8 to 10 and 11 to 13.
Is there a free book club for little kids?
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library mails a free book every month to children from birth to age five in the areas it serves. It runs in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Australia, and its website lets you check whether your address is covered.
Can I give one of these as a gift?
Yes. The five Cratejoy clubs each have a Give as a Gift option on their listing, and Little Passports sells gift subscriptions on its own site.
