Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to color in my own velvet unicorn poster?

Ahh, those were the days…

I still have my scholastic version of Charlotte’s web.

No video games in my day, but there were stickers and craft kits.

i cannot believe that this teacher made her kids write these letters.
when i was ordering from scholastic, yes, they had videogames in the orders, but i remember them being educational in some way. i distinctly remember seeing Civilization in one order, and wanting it really badly.

and really, who cares what the kids are reading? even if it IS a hannah montana book, the kids are still READING. thats the important thing. its so hard to encourage reading anymore, so anything that motivates kids to read is fantastic in my book.

They had a new one every month. Each came with like 4-6 games on it, all at least somewhat educational.

My problem was always that both me and my mom were really forgetful, and I’d never have the order form and check ready to go the day they were due. I remember being so sad the day the stuff came back and everyone else got books but me.

I got a lot of my Sweet Valley High and Sweet Dreams books from these orders. I’m embarressed now – I try to teach the Little Biscottis not to be sucked in by these ridiculous romance books, and give them Famous Five instead.

When we got engaged in the late 90’s, I wrote to Scholastic (remember, it was pre-Intarwebz days) and they sent me their complete catalog, some 600 pages of small print. I found the book (“Follow My Leader”) and got it for Hubby for Christmas. And the story was just as good as we remembered it

I remember going through the book orders, circling things I wanted, bearing in mind what looked both fun and valuable – because I knew my parents would never buy something that wasn’t worth the precious money. That’s where many of my most favorite books came from – My Father’s Dragon, Magic School Bus, Unicorns of Balinor, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Animorphs, Ramona Quimby books and sometimes Calvin & Hobbes. Even some old stuff, like Edgar Allen Poe and Robert Frost and Charles Dickens. I loved those books.

It’s a shame the “book fair” is so commercialized now. It was once upon a win.

I wonder if there’s an Epic Win entry for the Babysitters Club. I remember when we all thought that’s we’d do at 13– talk like 80’s businesswomen and hold these organized meetings looking after kids with almost no adult intervention!

I once paid for my entire order with a bag full of pennies.
DEAR GOD this is an EPIC EPIC WIN.

Sometimes I’d just buy the little packages with stickers and other neat stuff.
Good times

my book collection exists only because my parents allowed me to get these books. i think i dropped $30-$40 in each order into those books. and when they arrived i was like the only person with more than 5 books lol

by the time i got home id read at least two of em. now i cant read a book without falling asleep, wtf happen?

supposedly i was gifted, i think that went away when puberty and hormones kicked in lmao.

i probably order more books out that mag….ya know, for when i get kids *wink wink*

That same months, the had a boxed set of the Fudge series (Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Superfudge, Fudge-a-Mania, Double Fudge). Toa4GN was one of my favourite books as a kid. I remember having to read it in grade 1 (1976-77 for me). By the time the rest of the class had finished, I had read it 3 times! Yeah, I’ve been hooked on reading for ages.

This reminds me, maybe I should dust off my Commodore, or my TRS-80.