Parrot Street in 2020: 5 things we’re looking forward to this year

Emily & Sarah in front of bookshelves

 

This month marks the second anniversary of our first boxes being shipped and we can’t help but reflect on just how far we’ve come in the last two years. It’s been quite a ride! We had an amazing end to 2019; the run up to Christmas was our busiest period yet. In a tough retail climate, our small business continues to grow, and we are delighted to be welcoming lots of new subscribers to our kids’ book club this month. After a very relaxing (and much needed) Christmas break, we’ve spent the first part of this week laying out our plans for 2020. There’s a lot to look forward to as we enter our third year:

1. Discovering new books & authors

It really is the best part of our job! This year we will send our subscribers another 24 brilliant new books (one a month in each of our two age categories). We’ve got the first few months mapped out already, but we’re still on the hunt for the perfect books for our subscription boxes later in the year. We are always so spoilt for choice and knowing that there are gems out there that we haven’t yet discovered, and authors we haven’t even heard of yet that we know we’re going to fall in love with, is incredibly exciting.

2. Working with brilliant children’s books publishers

The children’s book community is an extremely supportive one and we’ve been lucky to build some very strong relationships with lots of brilliant children’s book publishers, big and small, over the last two years. We work directly with publishers to find the best kids’ books and authors for our subscription boxes and we’re excited to continue working closely with our favourite book people in the coming months.

3. Getting out and about

2019 was a busy one for us. We attended a huge number of events, spreading the word about our kids’ book club and meeting hundreds of young bookworms and their book-loving parents and grandparents. The 2020 calendar is already filling up! We’re excited to be heading back to some of the literary festivals we attended last year, including Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, Chiddingstone Castle Literary Festival and Wealden Literary Festival. And we’re also looking forward to adding some new markets to our schedule of events, starting with Hampstead Spring Fayre on Sunday 22nd March. Watch this space for details of where you can come and chat with us in person throughout the year.

4. Growing our small business

We had a brilliant end to 2019 and are feeling very positive about the progress our small business has made. So many small businesses don’t make it this far, so we’re really quite proud of ourselves. Last year it felt like we really found our feet and grew in confidence, which puts us in a great position for the next 12 months. We are welcoming lots of new subscribers to our book club in January and have some very exciting plans for the coming months – plus an eye on some major milestones that are now within our sights!

5. Birthday milestones

Happily it’s not all work! Some of you will know that Emily and I go back a long way. We first met at secondary school aged 11. And this is the year that we both turn … 40! (Gulp.) We’ve got holiday plans later in the year that will give us the perfect opportunity to celebrate with our long-suffering families and very supportive friends. Here’s to an exciting milestone year for the Parrot Street team!


Are you keen to supercharge your child’s love of reading but feel like you could be doing more to support them? We know that discovering, purchasing and recommending books that maintain your child’s enthusiasm for reading, helping them to reach their full potential, is time consuming. Why not let us take that off your to-do list? With a Parrot Street Book Club subscription your child receives a carefully chosen new children’s book and accompanying activity pack through the post each month. They receive a stream of varied and exciting books, whilst the book club-style questions and activities are perfect for sharing. Find out more here.


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