The Nostalgic Magic of the Scholastic Book Fair

There are few childhood memories as universally cherished as the Scholastic Book Fair. Just the thought of it can send a wave of nostalgia crashing over you—the brightly colored displays, the scent of freshly printed pages, the impossible decision of which books to take home with your limited handful of dollars. It wasn’t just a book sale; it was an event, a rite of passage, a portal to new worlds hidden in the pages of paperbacks and glossy covers.

Our local elementary school just posted on their Facebook page that the Scholastic Book Fair is coming! You can bet your bottom dollar I marked it on my calendar! I feel just as excited now as an adult to attend as I did as a child.

I remember the excitement would start building days in advance. The moment your teacher handed out the little Scholastic catalog—thin, newspaper-like pages filled with colorful images of the latest Goosebumps, Babysitter Club, or Wayside School books—you knew something special was coming. You'd circle your dream picks in red pen, carefully calculating how much you could get with your allowance or the crumpled bills your parents gave you.

Then, the day would arrive. Walking into the library or gymnasium-turned-bookstore, you’d be greeted by tables piled high with books, posters of kittens and race cars, fun-shaped erasers, and

Nothing felt more powerful than clutching a five-dollar bill and making the biggest decision of your young life: Which book would you take home? Would it be the latest Babysitters Club? A Guinness World Records book to flip through with friends? A novelty "spy kit" book with invisible ink? The weight of the choice was immense, but the thrill of making it was even greater.

And of course, no book fair visit was complete without being momentarily distracted by the other treasures—posters of horses galloping through misty fields, holographic bookmarks, or those pens that smelled like bubblegum and grape soda. Even if you went in with the intention of buying a book, you often left with at least one extra, completely unnecessary trinket.

The feeling of walking back to class, new book in hand, was pure joy. You’d sneak peeks at the pages during lessons, itching to dive in as soon as you got home.

Decades after my first Scholastic book fair I am still excited to go. I thrilled by new books and I don’t think I am alone in that. For the 2024 holiday season our number one stocking stuffer collection was book lovers! There were a whole lot of you out there who also share my love of books!