Scholastic book orders suck
I fondly remember Scholastic book orders from my childhood. It was always so exciting to get that little newsprint catalog each month and browse the affordable books. My children experience this same excitement, only problem is…their book orders suck!
What has happened to Scholastic’s quality? Do they really think parents want to buy crappy cheap Chinese toys and video games instead of quality literature?
It’s been eight years since I taught elementary school full time, and even then I noticed the children were more attracted to the fuzzy diaries and the cheap horse necklaces than the actual books in book orders. As a teacher, I liked being able to provide affordable books for families to purchase, as well as earn points redeemable for classroom books from our orders, but I hated sending home all that junk and poorly written books.
Scholastic has just continued to go further and further downhill since my teaching days. This week, my daughter brought home two book orders. The first one, called “Click” contains nothing but video games. Sure there are some “educational” titles such as “Kid Pix” and “Learn Math“. There’s even an “eco-friendly” game called “National Geographic: Plan It Green“, but the selections are mostly what I consider junk like “Chicken Shoot” and “World of Goo“. Even the prices aren’t so good anymore, as most of these titles are available for less on Amazon. It’s not that I am anti-video games, I just don’t think they belong in school book orders.
The second book order my eight-year-old daughter brought home from school is called “Lucky”, and guess what…they snuck a few “educational” computer games in there too. Even the classic Guiness World Records book is the “Gamer’s Edition”. Oh, there are other great gems, like the Purple Princess Wins The Prize that comes with a giant purple ring! Why does Scholastic think that every crappy book needs a crappy toy to go with it? Of course, it is not all bad. I did find The Frog and Toad, books way below my daughter’s reading abilities, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a book we have already read several times. In the end, I must confess, I allowed my daughter to order some crappy spy kit with some crappy toy, as long as she used her own money. Her teacher will be getting a lot of pennies 🙂
Although I applaud Scholastic’s attempt (or was it greenwashing) to go green, until they remove cheap crappy toys from their book orders, I don’t care how much FSC-certified paper you use. This is certainly not the first time that we have ranted about the lack of books in Scholastic book orders, and it will probably not be the last.
It is true, they are bombarding you with toys which are cheap. Anyway, their books are still great and educational to read any my children are still reading them. There are many books on how to learn math for our kids and I particularly like this site http://www.gamesforfunkids.com which really teach you how to teach and train your kids on math concepts which are usually quite hard for them to grasp, but the activities in this site really make learning math fun and easy. Consider having a look at their site.
I am a teacher and when I look through them I am appalled, as well!! I used to be able to find good books for myself, but now there is NOTHING. And you should see the junk they sell at the book fairs!
I agree! We don’t order from them anymore.
Though I don’t disagree with the decline of Scholastic as an institution, I do disagree with your trepidation about the title “World of Goo”. Just as you should never judge a book by its cover, never judge a video game by its title. World of Goo is a simple and phenomenal game where the player has to build bridges out of little pieces of tar to accomplish certain goals. This game emphasizes problem solving and architecture as a means to solve these puzzles (see more here: http://2dboy.com/games.php). It’s non-violent, incredibly cute, and challenging, even for adults. Just because it’s a video game and doesn’t have “Math” or “Oregon Trail” in the name doesn’t mean it’s bad. Video games are just a medium to another form of education, not a waste of time. 🙂
Oh how I dread the Scholastic Book Fairs. I am still able to recycle the book orders that come home every so often without any trouble. I can’t escape the book fair. I really wish the school would choose a better option, especially since it is a green school, but I am finding it’s hard to change the status quo even if it is crappy toys from China.
Can’t agree with you more. Check out CCFC’s petition to Scholastic on this very topic (plus a petition especially for teachers, too). They’ve also got a terrific alternative book fair guide http://commercialfreechildhood.org/bookfairs/home.htm.
How disappointing. I remember pouring over the order form as a kid, trying to get my parents to order me as many books as possible. To this day, I read about a book a week, and I credit a lot of that to Scholastic.
I recently attended a Scholastic book fair at my granddaughter’s school, and agree it was far too commercial. Too much junky stuff, too many glitzy, surrealistic book covers luring kids to rather weird stories, not enough focus on really well-written literature.
There are alternatives! Barefoot Books, an independent publisher out of Boston, has quality children’s books and are committed to the environment as well. Their ambassadors span the US and UK, and a local one would be happy to put on a book fair at any school, preschool or daycare.
It was interesting to hear the viewpoint of mothers and teachers about books that are marketed to our children. I am an author who is disappointed with the publishing world. New authors are not nurtured or valued in today’s world. I published my first book in Newspapers In Education as a serial story and found a supportive community for for the literary (rather than the commercial) side of writing for children.
As an educator, I find myself on the fence. No, it is not necessary to include a cheap toy with every book… nor is it always appealing to find toys/games included in the monthly book selections, but let’s be realistic. We live in a time where many, many children are not encouraged to read and/or are very far behind their reading level. Scholastic still offers affordable (also important in this economic climate) reading material, and they attempt a mix of reading levels, subject matter and depth. If a parent is lucky enough to have a child who reads above their classroom level, they can always go online and order from more challenging catalogs. I must still applaud an organization that encourages young readers.