I loved the day the teacher passed out the Scholastic book flyer. I would pour over it and calculate how to spend my allowance money. When I was in fifth grade, I stopped receiving an allowance, so I painstakingly examined the next few flyers to eke out as many books as possible from the last of my money. The last Scholastic book I purchased, with the remnants of my money, was Swiss Family Robinsonby Johann Wyss. For years, it sat on my top bookshelf symbolising my unfulfilled desire to acquire books. I never read it. It took on the emotional weight of being the book that would end an era of my reading life; I still feel a trace of anxiety when I hear the title.
When my husband and I were under the delusion that we could pick our own stocks for our securities portfolio, the first purchase I chose was Scholastic Books. We followed the adage, buy what you love and I love Scholastic. We bought just as Goosebumps was losing popularity, watched the stock go down, then sold it at a loss right before the first Harry Potter book was published. That pretty much sums up all of our 1990s investments.
I was over the top excited when my preschool son came home with his first Scholastic book flyer. I poured over it “for” him, but I in truth was celebrating my ability to once again buy Scholastic books.
I would sign up every year to be the classroom parent who organized the Scholastic orders. I enjoyed seeing what the families choose, it was another opportunity to learn about the lives of the kids in my child’s class — who liked bugs, princess stories or mysteries. I looked forward to the day the mail carrier delivered boxes of Scholastic books to my door, I enjoyed sorting the books, filling the orders and then delivering everything to the classroom.
As school gets underway, look for the Scholastic flyer in your child’s backpack. Maybe he will experience the thrill of having a shiny new book to bring home one afternoon. Consider helping out the teacher, volunteer to organize the Scholastic orders and enjoy the opportunity to get a peek at your child’s classmates.
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