Frequently Asked Questions
What is Book and Bear?
Book and Bear is the only Book Subscription Box for Kids with a Plush Animal Friend to Build.
What's Inside a Book and Bear box?
Book and Bear boxes are specially curated to delight children with fun and educational books, the pride of building their own plush animal, and a little extra surprise gift or activity.
Plus, we also have a Chapter Book option perfect for kids 8 and up to read on their own, or to read aloud together.
We chose our chapter books primarily from books we read aloud to our own kids.
What Age is Best for Book and Bear?
Book and Bear boxes are not approved for children under age 3, due to small parts.
Our Picture Book and Bear boxes are perfect for Children ages 3-8. Picture books are a wonderful way to start a habit of reading aloud to younger children. Stories with colorful pictures spark imagination and build language skills.
Our Chapter Book and Bear Boxes are for children ages 8 and above who are reading well on their own, or for children as young as 5 or 6 who enjoy listening to stories. If your child is under 8, and not ready for chapter books, but seems to be outgrowing picture books, this is also a good option. Research suggests that reading aloud to a child from a chapter book aids in brain development. Their young minds will listen to the story and imagine what the descriptions and actions must look like, expanding their thinking skills and understanding. And those larger words are a gold mine for questions and finding out how to look things up in a dictionary.
Is Book and Bear for Girls or Boys?
We work hard to make our monthly boxes gender neutral, since most children love animals regardless of gender. Reading books is known to help humans understand and empathize with other humans and with animals. Main characters in our books are often boys and girls solving problems together.
Occasionally we may have a box that is more typically skewed to one gender, but we usually make these boxes special editions outside our featured monthly selection. (For instance, our Unicorn Box, or Ballerina Bunny Box)
How Do Subscriptions Work?
When you subscribe to Book and Bear, you'll open for your child a world of fun and learning like no other. For most customers, your first box will arrive at your doorstep within a week. Opted in for our 6 or 12 month subscription commitment? We ship your FREE box with your first subscription box.
Cut off date for subscriptions is the 15th of the month. Any subscription begun on or after the 15th will be delayed until the next shipment on the 4th of the coming month. Be sure to contact us with special date sensitive orders (like birthdays) so we can ensure timely delivery for you.
Thereafter, you will be charged on the same day of the month you signed up until you cancel. To cancel, postpone, or pause your subscription, log in to your account on BookandBear.com and manage your account. Any problems? Email us for help at: Hello@bookandbear.com
What is your Cancellations Policy?
We will be sad to see you go, but you can turn off your auto renewal at any time. Just log in to your account, go to the subscription page and select the option to cancel. If you have committed for a longer subscription and have boxes left to receive you will be charged for, and will be shipped the remaining boxes. Then upon completion of your original commitment your subscription will automatically be cancelled.
E.G If you sign up for a 12 month subscription and have paid for 8 boxes you will be charged for another 4 before your subscription finishes.
Please remember we have to process subscriptions. You need to cancel 24 hours before your renewal to ensure you don't get charged.
Why are the subscriptions different prices of they are still paid monthly?
Good question! If you commit to a longer length of reading fun, you get the best deal!
Preparing ahead of time allows us to make plans with high quality vendors to put together future Book and Bear Boxes at a great price.
If a long term plan isn't your thing, no problem!
We also offer a monthly subscription for $54.99 so feel free to sign up to whichever plan works best for you and your child!
How do you ship?
We use either USPS or UPS to deliver your Book and Bear box. We choose according to the best price we can find to keep costs down for our large boxes. If you are on the West Coast, you will more likely receive your box via USPS, and on the East Coast, UPS. USPS Priority mail takes 2-3 days for most packages, and UPS takes 4-5 days for most packages. Although shipping costs us anywhere from $12 to $19, we charge you only $8 to $12 for shipping each box.
All boxes receive tracking numbers by email.
Do you ship Internationally?
NOW SHIPPING TO CANADA! Shipping for Canadian customers is a flat rate $18.00 per box. Please be aware that Canada charges VAT taxes for many orders when they are received. Book and Bear is not responsible for any additional charges levied by the Canadian postal service to their customers.
Now Shipping Internationally! Most countries will see a flat rate $18 USD shipping charge. If you are unable to checkout, your country may not have been added to our shipping policy yet. Email us to open Book and Bear box deliveries to your country at Hello@bookandbear.com.
Please note: We only ship internationally through our website, not through Cratejoy or Amazon. Fees on these other marketplaces would force us to raise prices overall, so we keep international shipping to our own website only.
International customers (including Canadian customers) please expect delivery to take 1 to 3 weeks.
What if something goes wrong?
Occasionally a box may be misdelivered or not handled well during shipping. Once the box leaves our California warehouse, we are no longer able to control what will happen. If you ever encounter a shipping problem, please email us at hello@bookandbear.com within 30 days of shipping, and we'll investigate the problem and may even replace the box. Please be sure to double check your shipping address when placing your order to ensure uninterrupted delivery.
Once in a while something goes wrong on our end. If you ever have trouble with any of the items in your box, please email us so we can fix the problem. For instance, we once sent a customer the wrong book. She alerted us to the mistake, and we sent her the correct book free of charge. We do our best to inspect and make all our boxes accurate, but our boxes are hand-packed and we do occasionally make a mistake. We will always do whatever we can to make it right for you. We are aware that even though we are the only subscription box with an animal to build, you have plenty of choices in book subscription boxes, and we are very grateful that you have chosen Book and Bear! Our Customer's personal satisfaction and happiness are very important to us.
Why haven't I received a tracking number for the box I ordered?
Sometimes, during the ordering process, a customer may be typing too quickly and not enter their correct email. Please sign in to your account and check your email details to make sure we have your correct email address. If you still haven't received your tracking, email customer service at Hello@bookandbear.com and we'll troubleshoot your shipment and provide your tracking number.
What is your refund policy?
It's hard to imagine, but Book and Bear is not for everyone. If your child is under 3 years old, please wait to subscribe until your child reaches their 3rd birthday. Why? Children under 3 tend to put things in their mouths, or like to unstuff their stuffed animals, and aren't quite ready for picture books with tear-able pages. Plus, our animals mostly have realistic button eyes and noses, which are not safe for young children who may bite the eyes and detach them and swallow them.
If you are unhappy with your box for any other reason, please email us so we can make it right for you. We do not issue refunds for boxes that have already shipped. You can, however, cancel your subscription anytime before your next renewal date so you will not receive the next box. Once we have shipped a box, it's yours to keep or give as a gift. If there is something wrong with one element in the box, take photos and send them to us via email. In most cases we will be able to replace the damaged item.
How do I Stuff the Plush Animal? Is there any sewing?
Our plush animals are easy to stuff, and even young children can mostly build them on their own. Instructions are provided on the back of the package of fluff, and by video on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/hg7qLvWBwKg
Animals close with a zip tie inside the animal's back. Cut the tie to secure the fluff, tear off the protective fabric strip over most animals' Velcro opening, and squeeze the Velcro shut. No sewing required!
Some animal kits with longer limbs (like the sloth) will come with a honey dipper stuffing tool to help you push the fluff into the bottom of the long limbs.
Please note that most animals will arrive with their heads pre-stuffed. You will mostly stuff limbs and bodies. If your animal's head seems a little askew, just move the fluff around in its head, and add a little more fluff to make it just the way you'd like.
Ready to Subscribe?