Finding books for Catholic kids growing up in a secular world can be a challenge. Many popular publishers are trying to push their agenda and expose children to topics they may not be ready for, or we may not want them to be exposed to. It is hard to get good books into our children's hands without prereading all of them and making sure they align with our values.
Enter Lion & Lamb - The First Ever Catholic Children's Book Subscription Box.
Lion & Lamb aims to "spark meaningful conversations at home, to provide characters and stories that ground children in their identity as children of God." (Quote from Matt Meeks, CEO of Catholic Ventures,)
.jpg "Catholic children's picture books")
I received a free box from Lion & Lamb in exchange for my honest review. View our full disclosure policy HERE.When I was asked to review a Lion & Lamb Box, I had to laugh. This was the Holy Spirit saying - "See? You need to check this out!" You see, a few weeks before this, my mom sent me the link and asked if I'd ever heard of it. We texted back and forth as we both scrolled through the site, looking at what the subscription box had to offer. I told her I thought my girls - all 4 of them would love it and I loved the concept.
And then they reached out and asked if I could review a box. I was so excited to have the opportunity to hold a box in my hands and see what was in it.
The first thing that I liked was that they have options for boxes at three different levels.
Duckling - Ages 0-3
Lamb - Ages 3-9
Lion - Ages 9-12
There is definitely something for everyone and I love how even our littlest Catholics can enjoy a box. If I could add a wish in here, it would be for an option to have one box with a variety of ages for siblings - something that everyone could enjoy each month without needing to subscribe to their own box. But I digress.
The box I was sent was the Lamb level for ages 3-9. I have two kiddos in that age bracket so this was perfect. Everything was packaged so nicely. Of course, that didn't last long once everyone started grabbing at books and taking it apart.
What's Included
.jpg "An honest review of Lion and Lamb - The first ever Catholic children's book subscription box.")
Included in our box was 4 books, a letter explaining the themes of the books, faith based stickers and cards with discussion questions for the book. The books in this set included Beakle and the Star Stone, The Empty Pot, Light of the Saints, and The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. So everything from a short picture book, to a long multi chapter picture book, to a longer chapter book. I would say the books could be read independently by the kids on the older range of the 3-9. A few of the titles could be read aloud to younger kids.
The books weren't specifically Catholic, except the Light of the Saints, but they all had themes that taught and supported Christian values - the importance of honesty, good vs evil, having courage, etc. That is exactly what the Lion & Lamb Book Club promises - a variety of books from literary classics, to undiscovered books, to new Catholic releases - all of which have been vetted by Catholic moms that teach the virtues important to our Catholic Faith.
Subscription Boxes as Gifts
I'm ordering the baby box for our godson in honor of his Baptism this weekend. I will be excited to see what books he receives in this box.
Lion and Lamb subscription boxes would make great gifts. They are perfect for:
- Baptisms
- First Communion
- Christmas
- Easter
- Birthdays
- A gift for a teacher for their classroom library
Lion and Lamb Subscription Payment Details
At the time of writing this, the subscription boxes are one price no matter what age bracket you choose. They are sent four times a year. You are charged each time a box ships and you can cancel at any time. The boxes generally contain 3-5 books. While this particular box that we received wasn't seasonal, I noticed a note on their site that the next boxes were for Advent/Christmas, so seasonal books do appear throughout the year.
.jpg "An honest review of Lion and Lamb - The first ever Catholic children's book subscription box.")
My Overall Thoughts
.jpg "An honest review of Lion and Lamb - The first ever Catholic children's book subscription box.")
Overall, I really like the Lion and Lamb Subscription box. I love the concept of subscription boxes. Over the years my girls have tried several - everything from Catholic activities (see my Mass Box review), to STEM activities, to cooking and more. So I love this as a way to get books into the hands of our kids.
I also like knowing that Catholic moms have vetted these books, so I'm going to be comfortable handing them to my girls, even if I haven't read them first. Unfortunately, I can't let them do that with most books we see on store shelves unless I really know what it is or have read it. I just feel like we don't know what so many of those books contain and if it would go against the values we are teaching our girls. I love that Lion and Lamb gives them specifically Catholic titles, but also titles that align with the values and virtues we want our girls to have.
It is a little pricey, but I've found that to be true with most subscriptions we've tried. And that is something I'm more willing to pay if it is supporting a Catholic company and if it is making my job as a parent just a little easier.