The joy of Scholastic Books

Yesterday when I picked up E-Grrrl after school, she was toting her black backpack and a white plastic bag straining at the seams. As she climbed into the back of the car she excitedly said to her brother Mr. A: "The book order came in!"

She methodically unloaded the bag while her brother impatiently demanded the book he was waiting for: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. He'd also requested My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (which I read when I was a kid) as well as its two sequels.

E-Grrrl had begged for Madonna's latest book, The English Roses: Too Good to be True, and Isabel of the Whales by Hester Velmans. The book she couldn't live without  was Emily Windsnap and the Monster of the Deep by Liz Kessler, the sequel to The Tail of Emily Windsnap, which her teacher had read aloud in school.

Because both kids love animals, I bought them Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul  and Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul  as a surprise.

The car hadn't pulled away from the curb before Mr. A and E-Grrrl were buried in their stories and by bedtime E-Grrrl had read all 220 pages of the Emily Windsnap book and Mr. A had devoured Hatchet.

Upstairs in our house is a bookcase that houses my own collection of Scholastic Books. When I was a kid,  I remember poring over the paper book flyers with such longing. The youngest in a large, working class family, there was never a time when money wasn't tight, but my parents always bought me books.

Back then they cost 25-50 cents each. Today my kids get a thick wad of flyers representing a number of book clubs every two to three weeks. Back then there was only one book club flyer, and it didn't come out that often. Normally I was allowed to get two books. Sometimes I shook down the sofa cushions, car interior and my older sisters' coat pockets looking for change to spend on books.

I went through phases with my selections. I liked animal books for a while and was entranced by titles like How to be an Animal Detective. I remember adoring mysteries for quite some time, enjoying the way they scared me in the middle but always turned out fine in the end. I think the spooky aspect of the mysteries is what drove me to buy lots of ghost stories. I had a fling with magic books when I was in second and third grade, and there are a number of them on my shelves.

I also liked Peanuts comic books and any kind of arts and craft project book. I often succumbed to Disney books that were based on movies. I almost never got to go the movies as a kid, so the books were my connection to the films my friends were talking about: The Shaggy Dog, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, 101 Dalmations, The World's Greatest Athlete, The Boatniks, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The Scholastic Book Club also introduced me to classic kids books, such as Mary Poppins, Stuart Little,  Harriet the Spy, and the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. Later I sunk my teeth into young adult titles like The Witch of Blackbird Pond and Jacob Have I Loved. E-Grrrl likes to explore my old books and read some of them herself. Mr. A hasn't had much interest in them.

I still remember carrying my book order to school in a white envelope bulging with change to pay for my selections. Nowadays when I write a check to the Scholastic Book Club, it's likely to be in the vicinity of $50. Once it was well over a hundred dollars. I consider it money well spent. For the most part we read the books and then donate them to charity, only hanging onto absolute favorites which get read over and over again.

Just as the musty titles on the hall bookshelf take me back to the happy afternoons when the school secretary delivered a cardboard box to the teacher and I just KNEW I was going to have a great day, I hope Emily Windsnap and Hatchet will one day remind my kids of the happy evenings they spent sprawled on their beds in Belgium, lost in a story.

April 25, 2007

Comments

[furiousBall]

My son's book fair was this past Monday too, he got a book on tornados and one called...The Truth About Poop

[V-Grrrl]

Those are titles to pass onto the grandchildren.

[Sarah]

I like this post a lot. I used to love the Scholastic and Troll bookorders and I remember my mom circling the ones I could get. I wish I had more of the books from my childhood, maybe it would save me some money once I have kids of my own. Of course, libraries will always exist too! It's really great that your kids love reading and that you find ways to encourage that.

[wordgirl]

I have such incredibly fond memories of Scholastic or Arrow Book Club days. I had forgotten all about "The Boatniks". But all of the titles you mentioned were books that I purchased. I still re-read "Ramona the Pest" each year and, if you haven't already, you should read Beverly Cleary's autobiography..."A Girl from Yamhill". It's quite an insight into the life of a girl who is eerily like Ramona. Like you, my parents didn't have a lot of money, but I knew how to scrape together quite a haul of books for seven or eight dollars. And what a happy day to return from lunch and recess to find that stack of fresh books sitting on my desk. It was magical.

[wendy]

Encyclopedia Brown..was my Harry Potter. Scholastic News still publishes what I remember as the weekly reader..though it isn't called that now.

I have always loved books. Rach shares my love. Maggie would rather have shoes.

[Annie]

I've always been a book lover. The Ramona books, Harriet, and I'd forgotten all about Encycolpedia Brown. I always got a few books a the book fair and continued to do so when I student taught. I'll pretty much read anything I can get my hands on to this day. My sister in law always laughs at me when we go into a book store because I've read everything and loved most of them.

[Ortizzle]

I had a hard time scrounging money for those books, too. Partly because my mother thought it was an unnecessary sacrifice: that's what libraries were for. She just did not understand that receiving a little package with brand new books that would be yours forever, well... that made them even more fun to read.

[Shirley]

Ah, joy is exactly the right word to describe the arrival of new books. We are definitely book lovers in my family. I was more than a bit sad when my son got to the age he didn’t want to be read to any more. (I am a lover of children's books as well as ones on my "grade-level.") I loved those trips to our community library. Our giant tote bag was very heavy on the way to the car-—thank goodness there was no limit on how many you could check out (I always thought the limit in the school libraries absolutely stunk!). We also had Children’s Book of the Month Club orders and school book club orders, and later, Amazon. Books are given for all occasions in our family … Valentine’s Day, Easter … any occasion is right for a book. The book club orders have always been such a delight. I never thought of it before, but maybe receiving an Amazon order is like the adult version of getting a Scholastic book club order! Is that why I relish them so? As a child we had Scholastic. When I was a teacher, there was Scholastic and Troll and another company or two, whose names I don’t remember now. I have to admit that I was disappointed when some of the kids (not the avid readers) would order posters or other stuff the book clubs began offering in later years. Then the book fairs came—-those really got the kids buying and reading. Few can resist the books once you actually see them and can pick them up and flip through them.

I haven’t thought about Encyclopedia Brown in years. Still love that name. How about the Happy Hollisters? Trixie Belden? The Bobbsey Twins? Very enjoyable reading for a youngster many years ago.

I love that E-grrrl and Mr. A were thrilled with their book order and immediately disappeared. You gave them one of the best gifts a parent can give!

[V-Grrrl]

Over three years, my sister-in-law bought E-Grrrl hardcovers of every Trixie Belden ever written. Mr. A likes them quite a lot as well.

[Shirley]

What a surprise to hear that your kids were Trixie fans!! Bet your SIL loved finding those for them to enjoy.

BTW, I heard recently that the Nancy Drew books were revamped to be more contemporary ... while on one hand I understand trying to make them more relevant to today's kids (I sort of remember them being dated when I read them), on the other hand, it just seems wrong. I bet the Trixie Belden Books and others have not been changed and have been enjoyed just the same.

[mamatulip]

I lived for Scholastic book day when I was a kid. I wish I'd saved more of of them...

[Char]

Books are the absolute best! I am so grateful that I have three kids who love to read. I'll have to share some of those titles with my kids and see if they have already read them.

By the way, I am loving this watermelon color scheme!

[Nancy]

I still get excited when my girls have those Scholastic order forms taped to their cubbies at day care. Unfortunately with the younger grades it seems to be hit or miss if list any really good titles (lots of licensed character books -- cringe). We did get a few goodies this year, fortunately -- Knuffle Bunny, Rosemary Welles, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Still, I'm looking forward to Mimi's kindergarten years and hopefully a better selection!