Please link to my flickr set:
Nostalgia for the Scholastic Book Club,
circa '60's & '70's
I know that Scholastic Book Services is 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.
The small collection of images I've posted at flickr is very vaguely chronological, 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.
Please link to my flickr set:
Nostalgia for the Scholastic Book Club,
circa '60's & '70's
(ADDENDUM, 2/6/08: 42 new images added! More 'junior lit' cover scans, plus illustrations too!)
Enjoy!
(Another ADDENDUM, 5/16/08: 125 new images added! More of everything!
More links to author/illustrator info, and back cover images, too!)
(UPDATE, 11/17/08: 39 more images added, bringing the current total to 226!)
Please link to my flickr set: 
