OurShelves
- The perfect gift to ignite imagination, wonder and the giggles too while affirming your values of inclusion, equity, social justice, love and fun!
- Books that proudly feature racially and ethnically diverse, LGBTQ+, feminist, and other traditionally under-represented identities in children's books
- Free shipping and increased discounts for annual prepay subscriptions.
- The pride in knowing you're exercising your consumer power to be counted in support of diverse children's books -- OurShelves advocates for the many diverse books needed in part by proving the significant, yet largely untapped, audience for such books
- Curation Team that chooses books includes experts from librarianship, teaching, early childhood development, psychology, racial and other identity bias, and parenting. All Curation Team members -- and their children -- share the experience of having aspects of their identities under-represented in children's books.
Sneak Peek
Winter 2020-21 Book Box Samples
Check out the fun and joy you'll have with OurShelves books, all the while affirming the beautiful diversity of the world around us. OurShelves books feature racially and ethnically diverse, LGBTQ+, and feminist characters and families, among other under-represented identities in children's books. Which books end up in your box depend on your child's age and available stock. Email info@OurShelve if you want to ensure one or more of these books come in your next box!
Order by February 13th to get this box!
Questions
Q: If you are sent a book that you already have do you replace it or give a credit toward the next box? Thanks Asked by Sara E., December 2020
Sara Elizabeth, thanks for your support of diverse children's books and OurShelves! Would you be willing to reach out to us via the contact form on our web site so we can speak to you directly via email or phone about for which books you may have concern about overlap and then we can let you know some options to avoid book duplication? Thanks so much again for reaching out!
Q: Can I change the age? For the first order I want to order the 0-2, but for the next order I was 2-5. If I buy a subscription will I be able to change the age? Asked by Chandler H., December 2020
Chandler, thanks for your support of diverse children's books and interest in OurShelves! Of course we can help with this! You can definitely sign up for a Sunshine (ages 0-2) subscription now, and whenever you're ready to move to Rainbow (ages 2-5) boxes, just reach out to us via the contact form on our web site, and we can upgrade your membership. Please note that Rainbow boxes are priced higher than Sunshine boxes because picture books cost more than board books. So when you upgrade, we would adjust the pricing at that time. Please let us know if you have any other questions at all! Thanks so much again for your wonderful support, Alli and the OurShelves Team
Q: I am interested in receiving this subscription, but I live in Europe. Will this be a possibility in the future?Asked by Erin S., June 2020
Yes, this will be an option in the future! We are working on it as we type here. Stay tuned Thank you so much for your interest!
Q: For the 5-8 year old box. Is it a one time fee of $50 for 3 books over 3 months? Or is it $50 per month for 3 months to get 3 books each month?Asked by Molly J., March 2020
Great question! The fee is for one box every three months that includes three books in each box if you choose the three-book box. Thanks for asking, and thanks for your interest in OurShelves.
OurShelves reviewsReviews
Write a Review5
Average Subscriber RatingDiverse Literature for All!
Dec 16, 2020
Amber B.
Hello fellow Reviewers...I read ALL the reviews I can before I make a purchase, even innocuous ones, so I must pay it forward. You must subscribe to Ourshelves if you want your children to be exposed to literature you may not find in mainstream stores! So far my family has received 3 boxes and we are very satisfied. My 8 month old daughter has now been exposed to LGBTQIA, Native American, and Spanish language books. In addition to that, she is able to see herself in the characters in books we have received. We are Black and we are not often represented in books that fly off the shelf. Ourshelves makes my family and I feel mainstream. Do your family a favor and subscribe to this affordable book subscription service!!!!
Verified Purchase
Our family loves Our Shelves!
Jan 13, 2021
Elizabeth J.
My family has subscribed to OurShelves book boxes for more than a year, and we recommend this subscription to other families regularly. My mom got a subscription for my nephew for Christmas, and she too was very impressed! You won't be disappointed!
As a parent who seeks out diverse children's books on my own, I am consistently impressed by the range and quality of the books in my Our Shelves box each quarter. They are much better than what I find on my own (both high quality printing, but even more importantly for me, wonderfully targeted at my son's age and understanding). Even during the shipping chaos of 2020, Our Shelves stayed in communication with subscribers and delivered books throughout the year like normal.
I also appreciate supporting a subscription that helps to make the case to publishers that there are lots of families who want to see greater diversity in children's picture books. We really do exist, and Our Shelves helps to make the case that there is a market for racial, gender, sexual orientation, cultural, disability, and other forms of diversity.
Verified Purchase
Elizabeth, wow! Thank you so much for these incredibly kind words and for so beautifully describing what we're trying to do with our OurShelves dual mission. We both curate high-quality diverse children's books as well as advocate to the publishing industry for the many more diverse books needed -- including by proving just how many of us there are who are seeking these books! Thank you also for your kind words about 2020. Our members like you have been such incredible supporters during a very challenging year for all of us. We are so grateful to have someone like you in our community! Thanks for being an incredible partner working to ensure all kids and all families have a place on OurShelves!
I’m so grateful for OurShelves!!
Jan 13, 2021
Jenny P.
Friends of ours subscribed and suggested we might like to as well. OurShelves has exactly the books we want to read our 10 month old child: books that reflect a diversity of ways of being in the world and highlight people and life choices less often reflected in mainstream literature. We are overjoyed to read a book that celebrates Pride, a book that shows kids of all backgrounds and abilities playing with toys (contrary to gendered stereotypes), and a book about Native joy. Finally, books I *want* to read to my baby. Easiest and best purchase I’ve made for my child all year.
Verified Purchase
Jenny, thank you so much for these kind words and your wonderful support! We're so glad you're loving your OurShelves books and that you feel they're helpful in affirming your family's values! Thanks for partnering with us to ensure all kids and all families have a place on OurShelves!
Love it
Jan 11, 2021
Alissa W.
What a great organization. I love that OurShelves makes books with diverse characters available to children and families while also demonstrating to publishers etc that there is demand for these stories! I have a subscription for my son and have also gifted OurShelves boxes to children of friends.
Beautiful stories. Would recommend without hesitation.
Verified Purchase
Alissa, thank you so much for your wonderful support of OurShelves and for so wonderfully capturing our dual mission! Thank you for proactively bringing OurShelves diverse books into your home and also sharing them with others as well! We are grateful to partner with you in this work!
Love it!
Dec 27, 2020
Salanna R.
We have received 3 boxes so far and loved all of them! We have the board book subscription and some of the books have become my daughter’s favorites. There have been some that we already own, so we have saved those for gifts for friends.
Verified Purchase
So much fun to receive!
Dec 09, 2020
Brady J.
We love OurShelves! We get a mixed box every quarter...one book for my 6 year old, one for my 4 year old, one for our baby. It's of course always fun for the kids to receive mail, and we almost always sit down and read all 3 right away. I also love how OurShelves are simply GOOD STORIES that happen to have underrepresented protagonists and side characters in them. I really think I see a difference in my kids' behavior after reading them. For example, we just got a book called *Clive and His Babies* (about a little boy who loves to push two baby dolls around). Since reading it, I see my 18 month old and my 4 year old have been seeking out baby dolls to play with. Highly, highly recommend this either for your own family, for a personal gift, or even for a gift to a local or school library.
Verified Purchase
Brady, we're so glad your 6 year old, 4 year old, and 18 month old are all loving your OurShelves books! Thanks for sharing that great example about CLIVE AND HIS BABIES, one of our favorite books! It shouldn't be so rare to find a book about a boy who takes good care of his dolls. We're thankful to know about this British publisher that creates these books that age-appropriately challenge traditional gender norms. Thanks for your wonderful support of diverse children's books! We're so glad you're part of our community and enjoying your OurShelves books!
Big Fan, for Myself & My Daughter!
Dec 02, 2020
Quincy E.
Only good things to say about OurShelves! There couldn't be a better mission, and I love that I learn new things from the books you send my daughter too. Your book subscription doesn't just make me a better mom for building a diverse bookshelf and teaching my daughter about how the world looks outside our family—it makes me a better person as well.
Verified Purchase
Quincy, thanks so much for these kind words! We, the grown-ups of OurShelves, completely agree with you -- our book selections are also impactful to us as grown-ups too! Thank you again for your wonderful support of diverse children's books and OurShelves!
Perfect gift for a school!
Nov 20, 2020
Sahra S.
This is an amazing service! I got an annual subscription for my child's preschool last year and they tell me all the time how amazing the books are. Just renewed for another year and honestly I can't imagine any better gift for a school!
Verified Purchase
Sahra, thank you so much for sharing OurShelves diverse children's books with your child's preschool! We love that they are loving your gift of OurShelves books! We're so glad that you and your child's preschool are part of the OurShelves community!
You need this subscription!
Nov 16, 2020
Katie K.
We now have beautiful, engaging books with diverse representation of all types of kids and families delivered every quarter. OurShelves is influencing the publishing industry, which is no mean feat, and they’re doing it in the most positive way possible. More books that are inclusive on every level now exist because of them.
My kids picked a book OurShelves sent one night when my folks were babysitting...they aren’t just opening conversations for kids; my kids taught their grandparents about gender identity. It’s a beautiful thing.
Verified Purchase
Katie, thank you for these incredibly kind and supportive words! We love hearing that your OurShelves books are being enjoyed by three generations in your home! Thank you also for sharing that we both deliver curated and high-quality diverse children's books and that we're also advocating for the many more diverse books still needed. That dual mission is very important to us. We are so grateful to have such incredible members like you in our community!
Social Change through Bedtime Stories!
Oct 26, 2020
Claire D.
OurShelves is changing the way publishers think about children's books with characters from diverse backgrounds and with diverse experiences by proving that the market exists, in plenty, for these books. By subscribing to OurShelves, we are sending a clear message to publishers that we want more stories that show (but don't problematize) the incredible diversity of this country's children and families. This is a brilliant, beautiful business, run by an amazing woman (Alli Harper) who has experience creating large-scale systems change, passing laws, and lovingly parenting small children. My children, ages 6, 4, and 1, adore their OurShelves books, and I love reading the books with them!
Verified Purchase
Thank you for these very kind words that reflect our advocacy mission! As you share, every member of OurShelves both receives wonderful, high-quality children's books that include all kinds of kids and families AND also joins our collective effort to prove to the publishing industry just how many of us there are seeking these books! Thanks to you for your leadership in bringing these books to your family and also your support of our systems change vision and mission!
Photos from reviews of OurShelves…
Past boxes from OurShelves…
Past OurShelves Box
This box is full of fun -- and diverse characters and families! Here are three examples of the books you may receive with this fall box. These books center imagination, wonder, joy, and playfulness -- and LGBTQ+, racially and ethnically diverse, and feminist characters and families, among other under-represented identities in today's children's books. Enjoy!
Past OurShelves Box
This box illustrates the fun and joy you'll have with OurShelves books, all the while affirming the beautiful diversity of the world around us. The books shown here feature LGBTQ+, racially and ethnically diverse, and feminist characters and families, among other under-represented identities in children's books. Enjoy!
Past OurShelves Box
This is a picture of Chance, one of our newest members, and the three board books he received with his winter Sunshine (ages 0-2) book box!
Past Box
This box illustrates the fun and joy you'll have with OurShelves books, all the while affirming the beautiful diversity of the world around us. The books shown here feature LGBTQ+, racially and ethnically diverse, and feminist characters and families, among other under-represented identities in children's books. Enjoy!
Fall 2020 Book Box Samples
This box illustrates the fun and joy you'll have with OurShelves books, all the while affirming the beautiful diversity of the world around us. The books shown here feature LGBTQ+, racially and ethnically diverse, and feminist characters and families, among other under-represented identities in children's books. Which books actually end up in your box depend on your child's age and available stock. Enjoy!
