Review Policy

We always want to learn about new books (or books that are new to us) and enjoy filling the Reading Tub with books that parents will love to share with their kids … especially undiscovered treasures.  Our goal is to promote reading, so literary quality and audience appeal are very important. Most of the books reviewed at the Reading Tub website or on this blog came from the library or our personal collections; were submitted by a volunteer reviewer (who likely got it from the library); or were an unsolicited donation from an author, publisher, or publicist. We very rarely request books from an author or publisher – less than 10% each year.

The Reading Tub, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity. We are a 100% volunteer organization that encourages families to read together and gets books to readers-in-need: kids who don’t have books at home or students failing reading benchmarks for their grade level. Book reviews help us introduce books, but promoting authors isn’t one of our goals. Accepting books helps us facilitate the process of getting books to at-risk readers. When we are finished reading the book, we place it with a sister public charity that works directly with readers-in-need or through one of our community programs, such as Use Your ABCs.

We read every book donated to us, but we do not guarantee a review. All of our profiles are done by kids and adults together (either as a family, in a classroom, library, etc.), and their comments influence whether/not we publish a review. We believe every book has at least one positive quality. That said, our goal is helping kids learn to read, and audience interest and quality (i.e., grammar and spelling) are primary considerations. We have published reviews that don’t recommend that you borrow or buy a book, but they are not a significant part of the book bag.

We believe that authors and publishers are in the best position to decide if donating a book to the Reading Tub is a good fit for their book.  We review books for children from infant through 13. Our audience is parents, teachers, librarians … essentially any adult interested in encouraging reading and helping a child become a lifelong reader.  Because we place the book with a family or in a classroom, our readers must be able to hold your book.  We require a copy suitable for review (market, review, or advance reader copy).  We do not accept unbound galleys or electronic files.

Although we have in the past, beginning in 2009, we no longer host publisher-sponsored book giveaways or blog tours. Why? Two reasons. One, our goal is getting books to at-risk readers … books are expensive to ship. We want them going to the people who need them. Two, our review model doesn’t offer the “quick turnaround” that publishers, publicists, and authors want for these types of events.

When we accept a book, it is logged in our queue by title, audience, and keyword. Our process matches the book with an audience who is interested in the topic/theme. This means that it may take several months to a year to place a book for review. We do not have a set timetable, but we will contact the requester if we decide not to review your book or after we publish a review, whichever is appropriate.

If you decide to send a book to the Reading Tub, Inc. it is a donation to a public charity. Because we do not guarantee a service, the value of the book and the postage can be tax deductible.  If we review the book, we have provided a service in exchange for the book and the donation is no longer tax deductible.  If the book is not reviewed, it is tax deductible. When we finish reading a book, we donate it to a nonprofit organization.

Many of the books on the Reading Tub website are linked with a bookseller, including Amazon, Barefoot Books, and Tapestry Books. The links are provided for the purpose of offering you access to additional information about a book.

Neither the receipt of books – including those we request – nor the affiliate compensation will influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. As mentioned above, we do not always recommend buying a book.  All revenue generated from sales through affiliate venues is used strictly to keep the website and blog subscription free. We roll the funds back into operational costs: (i.e., hosting fees, website upgrades). These affiliate relationships also minimize the need to request donations via fundraising campaigns.

I am not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics as it relates to the Reading Tub, the Reading Tub website, Share a Story-Shape a Future, or this blog. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owner. We do not endorse products or services to ensure that there is no conflict of interest or risk our status as a public charity.

If you have any questions about our policy or would like more information, please visit the website or contact Terry at thereadingtub [at] gmail [dot] com.