Review of "Story Monsters Greenie Box™" by Story Monsters®

Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)

The Story Monsters Greenie Box™ program is a heartfelt, hands-on movement to bring the magic of books into the lives of children who need them most. With a mission rooted in literacy, accessibility, and community upliftment, these vividly painted boxes serve as portable libraries that deliver joy, inspiration, and opportunity to Title 1 schools, children’s hospitals, public libraries, and transitional spaces like veterans’ centers and halfway houses.

The Story Monsters Greenie Box™ exemplifies not only the values of Story Monsters, it also resonates with our own. It's the kind of world we want to live in: a world filled with knowledge, enlightenment, creativity, imagination, and--well--books! 

Story Monsters continues to demonstrate that it doesn't just care about selling books, it genuinely cares about improving communities and enhancing the lives of children! What a remarkable community outreach program!

Each Greenie Box™—measuring a sturdy 23" x 13" x 23"—is not just a container of stories, but a beacon of hope. Designed with a clear Story Monsters door and a shelf for easy browsing, these eye-catching boxes offer a tangible, cheerful presence in any space.

The box itself is colorful, cute, and inviting—just like Story Monsters itself! Bright blue, bright green, and bright purple, it welcomes you with open arms with the same cheerful zest and spirit of the Story Monsters Theme Song!

This color scheme and vibrancy may not mean a lot to some people, but we see it like a bright beacon. The little libraries in most neighborhoods tend to look like brick-red, burgundy phone booths. By comparison, Story Monsters Greenie Box™ looks cool and exciting--like this is the place to gather after school and find your next read!

A single sponsorship includes the sponsor’s name proudly featured on the box itself, 25 books with custom inserts encouraging young readers to engage with the material, and even a half-page ad in Story Monsters Ink® magazine (which, by the way, is an OCA award-winning magazine)!

At first we were uncertain if this meant that 25 of an author's different books would be included in the box or if they're 25 copies of the exact same book. Our reasoning was that 25 books is a lot of books to have published. We only know probably three children's authors and illustrators who've come close to that amount. So, logically, this must mean 25 copies of the same book, right?

Right?

The fact of the matter is that the way that children consume literature now has changed dramatically. You don't have to look further than the internet, streaming services, and digital marketplaces like Amazon and Kobo. Some will argue that physical media is dead or dying. But have you been to a book signing lately? Paperbacks and hardcovers still sell. There's just something about holding a physical book your hands.

It's kind of like pens and pencils. Yes, we can write and type on phones, tablets, and laptops, but we should still know how to write with a pen or a pencil.

We should still have physical books to have available and accessible, especially to children.

This is the idea behind those little libraries that have popped up outside of schools, parks, and community centers.

What truly sets this program apart is its interactivity. Children are invited to reflect on what they love about the books and pose questions to the authors—making literacy an open dialogue instead of a one-way experience. Sponsors, in turn, get to be more than donors—they become champions of curiosity.

Isn't that interesting? One of the toughest things about being an author (besides selling, of course), is getting genuine engagement and people interacting with your work. Sometimes, as an author, it seems like you're talking to a wall. That's why reviews, like the editorial reviews we publish, mean so much to authors. Authors crave and hunger for acknowledgement, interaction, and engagement. In other words, they will wonder:

What did you genuinely think about my story? Did you like my characters? Are they memorable? What about my plot? The moral of the story? The message? Did it resonate with you at all? Do you have any questions?

At this isn't just important for the author, it's important to children. The best way for children to learn is to be engaged with the learning material. In other words, they should be able to ask questions and apply it to themselves, their relationships, and their lives. You'll often see or hear a child hinge or fixate on the idea of an animal being a "mommy" or "daddy' animal. Or on a animal being a "baby" animal. This is how they tend to see the world because it relates to their home life. You'll see them anchor thoughts and ideas on their own personal experiences, recognizing and relating characters to friends, family members, and even individuals like bullies based on their own encounters and experiences.

It goes back to the Socratic method: asking questions to gain a better understanding and, perhaps, a mastery of the concepts and knowledge.

Also, curiosity is a powerful thing. When you spark a child's curiosity, creativity, and imagination, you're planting the seeds that lead to innovation. This leads to—among other things—technologies that improve our world and make life better and easier for everyone. This is how little Einsteins, Teslas, and Thomas Edisons are born and nurtured.

Children's literature plays a big role in that.

In fact, when we were growing up, Hooked on Phonics was all the rage.
Encourage children to read as early as possible. It's a critical period for their learning!
Just think about how much easier it is to learn a second language at that age. The logic and concept are the same.

Books are NOT OBSOLETE.

Anyway, returning to the particulars of the Greenie Box™ itself.. .

Whether you’re looking to sponsor a full Greenie Box™, donate individual books, or become a Book Box Builder at the $49 entry level, there’s theoretically a tier for every budget and every heart. You can contribute beteen $5 to $495 as a donation. Now, if you actually want to establish a Greenie Box™ in front of your place, building, or institution, the upfront cost is sizable albeit manageable. The suggested price is listed as $650, but it's discounted to $495. It seems like they're "filled" with books with that price (it's implied). We're guessing they are.

Bonus features like Story Monsters® keychains as reading rewards further promote engagement in Title 1 classrooms. And with every dollar going directly toward more books, more boxes, and more outreach, the program sustains itself on a cycle of giving.

That actually goes back to what we saying about encouraging children to read. One way is to provide incentives. In others words: rewards.It's awesome that the folks over at Story Monsters actually thought about that and came up with the idea of keychains as rewards.

In a world where screen time is up and attention spans are down, the Story Monsters Greenie Box™ brings a refreshing, tactile, and human approach to education and empathy. As the incredible folks at Story Monsters would likely put it, this is more than just a box—it’s a doorway to dreams, one book at a time.

If you're interested in getting involve in the program, you can check it out HERE!