Nostalgia for the Scholastic Book Club, circa '60's & '70's

I know that Scholastic Book Services are still around these days, I guess they're more successful than ever, what with their exclusive deal on the U.S.-released Harry Potter books and all...

...But I can only hope they still have classroom 'book club' operations going, and that kids today are still getting excited about it.

I remember in grade school how freaking fun it was to place an order for these inexpensive kids books, and that there may have been no greater thrill than when those books arrived in the classroom and were distributed.

Like, just electric.

Perhaps the only comparable experience I feel nowadays is when I receive an Amazon dividend via my credit card. It's nice, but it's not like that ol' Scholastic Book buzz.

This set is very vaguely chronological (or it was when it started), somewhat arranged by subject matter, and displays books in two or three different categories:

First and foremost, the Scholastic I remember was always about 'Junior Lit'.

Whether grounded in 'real life' events or problems, or flights of fancy with larger-than-life characters, there was always something for kids to hang onto and learn from.

(I still sort of remember 'The Shark In Charlie's Window' - - pretty sure that's right - - It was about a kid who made a pet out of a levitating shark. Even if the details are fuzzy, it's a hard premise to forget.)

Then there were the adaptations of movies and TV, novelizations chock-full of photos of your favorite stars.

Also popular - - at least with me, at the time - - were the 'behind the scenes' books about those same stars, or 'in depth' looks at the latest TV shows and trends, or at that season's charting pop music stars.

AN FYI: In some of the image titles I've included two dates, reading something like (1951 / 1968).
That refers to the date the book was originally published, and the date of the Scholastic Book printing shown.

ADDENDUM, 2/6/08: Added 42 new images - - New cover scans and illustrations, all in the 'junior lit' category, with the exception of the 'Boatniks' film novelization.

ADDENDUM, 5/16/08: 125 new images added! - - Pretty much across all of the 'genre sub-categories'.

Another ADDENDUM, 11/17/08: 39 more images added!

These books just keep popping up at estate sales and such. It's *almost* as though some people don't recognize the old Scholastic books as the amazing artifacts that they are...

Another FYI - - In most of the newly added images, a scan of the book's back cover is shown in the 'comment' field.
You can click on that back cover to ENLARGE the image in a new window.

Thanks to Brent Cox for inspiring the idea of how to show the back cover on the same page as the front.
Please check out HIS Scholastic Book set for even more cover images .

- - And for lots more 'essential ephemera', please visit my blog, I'm Learning To Share!

Thanks, enjoy!

226 photos | 86,895 views

items are from between 06 Sep 2007 & 16 Nov 2008.