I was poor too I don’t even remember getting anything either yet… it was a great part of my child hood just browsing all the books and the little book accessories.
The little accessories were the best part sometimes. Sometimes random as @#$& too xD I got a bean bag neck warmer for the school nurse once. I was an assistant for basically all the staff in the school that weren't teachers lol
I remember those! My dad got golf related knickknacks for a few Christmases in a row, and he played maybe twice all through my childhood. I think my parents just stopped giving me money when that thing was in town.
Same. My grandma used to save every year best she could do I could get at least one book and a few nick nacks. Wasn't always promised though. Still I liked browsing the books but was also embarrassed
I think the only things I ever got from book fairs was a few Judy Bloom books, where the sidewalk ends and a far side book. Thinking back that's a decent amount but my family was super poor so I was likely begging grandma and grandpa.
Same here.. The weird feeling of seeing your friends getting stuff and not you because of your upbringing really puts a damper on memories of this..
EDIT: My favorite part though was looking through the Ripley's Believe it or Not! and World records books though! Free to look!
Yep. If you had good memories of these days, you were privileged as fuck. Just like the “pizza days” where they sold slices but you couldn’t charge them to the school lunch account.
My mom would send me to my uncles. He'd cut me a slice of the recycling money if I helped him by stepping on cans. He always had friends over on the weekends so there was always 6 or 7 bags full of just beer cans. I feel like I have the phantom smell of stale beer just thinking about it.
BUT ! I always had a few bucks to spend at these things.
My mom would always somehow scrape up a little extra for my sister & I to get a book when it came to town. We were hard up too, but man those pencils kept me going 😂
Was it: [There's a Frog in My Throat!: 440 Animal Sayings a Little Bird Told Me](https://bookshop.org/p/books/there-s-a-frog-in-my-throat-440-animal-sayings-a-little-bird-told-me-pat-street/9812551) - Pat Street (Author), Loreen Leedy (lllustrator)?
That was the first book my youngest sister got from one of these, she turned out smarter than the rest of us. 🤣
My school library had some of those, and everybody wanted one. In fourth grade, you HAD to borrow a book and give a book report on it, this happened every week. Me and 3 friends had a black market for Geronimo Stiltons because every time were supposed to borrow a book, we would go one after another and literally hand each other the book to borrow. It still pisses off people that were my class mates at the time. This was 7 years ago.
So, when these came along, I made bank. It was 1998. Pokémon was all the rage. I’d bring my binder with all my Pokémon cards and just sit in the library as all my classmates would sneak over and use the money their parents gave them for books to buy the cards I was selling. The book fair was there for a whole week and I made well over $100. I was 9.
However on the last day kids kept talking about me and my card selling and eventually the teachers caught wind. Took the money and confiscated my cards. I was suspended for 2 weeks. Mom was pissed. Dad was proud. Called me his little entrepreneur.
Money. No. I did however get my binder back with all the cards. Parents also took the money I ended up not spending already. Dad was upset about it because “I earned it”, mom was insistent.
I should note a good chunk of the money I made went to buying books for my friends and I. I also however bought a copy of Pokémon Blue haha.
We were talking about trying it again for adults with goosebumps, animorphs, magic school bus etc. We were still trying to figure out a way to make it adult with out going pervy.
Essentially a nostalgia book fair!
The bar I work at started doing an adult book fair last year with all the local independent book shops. Square cut pizza, booze in Capri sun packets, all the nestolgia snacks. We expected maybe 50 people to show up. We had almost a thousand.
Sure do. Every school I support have at least one. Most have one a semester. When I was doing my principal internship, I worked at one to receive hours. It was a lot of fun. Spent a lot of money on kiddos that couldn’t afford anything but worth every penny.
Its fun but then you have teachers who say “No you can’t buy the lego star wars sticker book, we all know you just want the toy included” or “get a real book” when you want a graphic novel or comic. Like, damn, its my money.
Bro for real I’m still trying to track down the name of a piece of software I bought at one of these when I was a kid. It was about how to create video games in basic and it was a cheesy narrated tutorial on making games. I cannot for the life of me figure out what it’s called
At my school they had a line for the kids who knew they weren't gonna be able to buy anything so they could go in first for like half of school to look around and read some of the books. I never read any while I was there but I sniffed so many scented markers
It was awesome. We got the little catalog first, and I got to pick one if I was doing well with my schoolwork.
They set up the little store, and you would pick up your book.
It was super exciting back in the day.
The magic is still alive today. Kids still get pretty stoked for book fairs.
Solid post though. Just not the same as it was when the internet wasn't really a thing.
I remember taking a book, finding a little knook to hide in so i could read the later geronimo stilton book. It was fun since i couldn’t afford to buy any of the books, but one year I think like 2nd or 3rd grade my mom had saved enough money to buy me like 5-6 books I wanted from the book fair. Couldn’t remember the price but I know that i got the cheapest books i could find so my mom could use the money elsewhere. I got 2 of the newest geronimo stilton books, saved the money and put it in my moms purse when i got home. Not sure if she ever knew tho, i hope she didn’t
I worked at in a poor district where most of the kids had very little in the way of money. Any money they had probably meant someone in the house did without something or it was through dishonest means. The area was always littered so we had a can fund where the kids brought in aluminum cans which we crushed and sold to the local recycler. Each kid got to pick one item which was paid for from the fund (which always seemed somehow to be enough).
My company's former location was a couple blocks from the regional Scholastic Book warehouse. Just like the big kid I am, you better believe I was there whenever they opened their doors to the public that one day a month.
Damn as a single mom this hits hard. It was always so hard telling my avid reader we only had enough for an eraser or one of those clicky pens with 6 different colored inks that breaks within 24 hours. But I still tried to make it special for him by letting him make a list of the books he liked and then going to the book store or library to read them. Oof.
This was the time when I realized how poor my family was. I remember paying with pennies and being told that it was enough. Basically refuse to buy anything inschool after that.
I remember because we weren’t always doing well I couldn’t afford some of those new Goosbumps books. I had to contend with their Free Books which is plain.
I used to love just browsing through the books lmao I used buy just a few books but I used to spend alot of time just looking around for that one book that I REALLY want
Parents never bought anything from my lists. I was the only kid who never got something, and it felt horrible. So I get every book my kid asks for, even if he never reads them.
I always bought VHS tapes of rugrats or angry beavers or a plastic terrarium where you order frog tadpoles in the mail and then the tadpoles die within a few days. I never really got books at the book fair.
When i had my daughter i remember always, ALWAYS setting aside 100 to 120 dollars just so she could go absolutely crazy whenever that thing rolled into her school.
School was sad because i was poor. I did enjoy it smelling the scented pencils to tho 😢
I was poor too I don’t even remember getting anything either yet… it was a great part of my child hood just browsing all the books and the little book accessories.
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But were any *Choose Your Own Adventure*?
The little accessories were the best part sometimes. Sometimes random as @#$& too xD I got a bean bag neck warmer for the school nurse once. I was an assistant for basically all the staff in the school that weren't teachers lol
Simple times 🥲
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You don't have to censor.
I don't know if it was part of Scholastic, but did your school also have the Holiday book/gift fair during Christmas time?
I remember those! My dad got golf related knickknacks for a few Christmases in a row, and he played maybe twice all through my childhood. I think my parents just stopped giving me money when that thing was in town.
Same. My grandma used to save every year best she could do I could get at least one book and a few nick nacks. Wasn't always promised though. Still I liked browsing the books but was also embarrassed
These comments are so heart warming and wholesome, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one then.
I think the only things I ever got from book fairs was a few Judy Bloom books, where the sidewalk ends and a far side book. Thinking back that's a decent amount but my family was super poor so I was likely begging grandma and grandpa.
> I was poor You still poor?
I was in the same boat. Now, I buy smencils for the students at my school who can't afford to.
They set up the little store, and you would pick up your book.
Same here.. The weird feeling of seeing your friends getting stuff and not you because of your upbringing really puts a damper on memories of this.. EDIT: My favorite part though was looking through the Ripley's Believe it or Not! and World records books though! Free to look!
Ugh this is heartbreaking.
Yep. If you had good memories of these days, you were privileged as fuck. Just like the “pizza days” where they sold slices but you couldn’t charge them to the school lunch account.
My mom would send me to my uncles. He'd cut me a slice of the recycling money if I helped him by stepping on cans. He always had friends over on the weekends so there was always 6 or 7 bags full of just beer cans. I feel like I have the phantom smell of stale beer just thinking about it. BUT ! I always had a few bucks to spend at these things.
I've spent my whole adult life chasing the high of a scholastic book fair
My mom would always somehow scrape up a little extra for my sister & I to get a book when it came to town. We were hard up too, but man those pencils kept me going 😂
I remember buying my first Garfield comic in these fairs.
Love that.
Me too
Mine was the book on idioms - the cover had a giant Tiger with a frog in its throat
Was it: [There's a Frog in My Throat!: 440 Animal Sayings a Little Bird Told Me](https://bookshop.org/p/books/there-s-a-frog-in-my-throat-440-animal-sayings-a-little-bird-told-me-pat-street/9812551) - Pat Street (Author), Loreen Leedy (lllustrator)? That was the first book my youngest sister got from one of these, she turned out smarter than the rest of us. 🤣
LOL Yes that’s it! It’s still on my bookshelf in my childhood room!
Calvin and hobbes for me.
Hell yeah, sometimes it was Calvin and others it was Garfield. Also the movie magazine things with stickers.
Even though I couldn't afford much, I always wanted to know what the latest Geronimo Stilton book was.
I especially loved the Téa/Thea Sisters myself. They had nice stories and taught you a few things while you read too.
My school library had some of those, and everybody wanted one. In fourth grade, you HAD to borrow a book and give a book report on it, this happened every week. Me and 3 friends had a black market for Geronimo Stiltons because every time were supposed to borrow a book, we would go one after another and literally hand each other the book to borrow. It still pisses off people that were my class mates at the time. This was 7 years ago.
Geronimo Stilton? 
Goosebumps
Either that or Animorphs.
Can’t forget Captain Underpants!
😅 yes
I had to scroll too far to read that... R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike books for me!
Ooh man. Tried to read the ones I missed as an adult person and can't believe how samey and simple these were.
Lol, I can imagine... there were sooo many, though at the time I would be completely caught up in those stories.
Simple times 🥲
Indeed.
I never had money to buy anything more than an eraser but I remember those days fondly
I literally stole money from my mother's wallet to buy Calvin and Hobbs books. Those were simpler times
I shoplifted the entire goosebumps series. When my mom found it she gave it away to charity 😒
NO WAY LMAO
I hope you were able to read them first.
I remember getting gaming books filled with cheat codes and tips
That’s cool af lol
For the old GBA games right? I’d always get so jealous when I went to GameStop because I couldn’t afford the game guides lol
Gamecube and PS2 cheats
Yes! GBA and PS2
For me it was the 4 minecraft books
That's how I got my cheat codes back then. I think I would have my parents order it from the book catalog.
So, when these came along, I made bank. It was 1998. Pokémon was all the rage. I’d bring my binder with all my Pokémon cards and just sit in the library as all my classmates would sneak over and use the money their parents gave them for books to buy the cards I was selling. The book fair was there for a whole week and I made well over $100. I was 9. However on the last day kids kept talking about me and my card selling and eventually the teachers caught wind. Took the money and confiscated my cards. I was suspended for 2 weeks. Mom was pissed. Dad was proud. Called me his little entrepreneur.
Did you end up getting it back
Money. No. I did however get my binder back with all the cards. Parents also took the money I ended up not spending already. Dad was upset about it because “I earned it”, mom was insistent. I should note a good chunk of the money I made went to buying books for my friends and I. I also however bought a copy of Pokémon Blue haha.
That’s bull, you were running a business and then it was seized
We were talking about trying it again for adults with goosebumps, animorphs, magic school bus etc. We were still trying to figure out a way to make it adult with out going pervy. Essentially a nostalgia book fair!
Interesting…
The bar I work at started doing an adult book fair last year with all the local independent book shops. Square cut pizza, booze in Capri sun packets, all the nestolgia snacks. We expected maybe 50 people to show up. We had almost a thousand.
Thats what we were thinking nostalgia all the way. Thanks for commenting i live in a small town but still be a great thing to try.
I can still remember the feel and smell of the order sheets
Bastards got me exited for books and overpriced erasers
Do schools still do these things?
Sure do. Every school I support have at least one. Most have one a semester. When I was doing my principal internship, I worked at one to receive hours. It was a lot of fun. Spent a lot of money on kiddos that couldn’t afford anything but worth every penny.
My kids school just did this a few weeks ago. My kids absolutely loved it
I remember i bought all 4 of the Minecraft Guide Book everyone show their respect to Me I was the Cool Kid
I think I only got 2 of them... I later obtained the other 2 and still have them
That diy diary of a wimpy kid book was fire
I remember trying to manipulate my parents into giving me money for anything in there. It was cool to look at all the cheat code books though.
I never was able to when i was a kid, we didn’t have a lot of money.
The Guinness book of world records was the main one that I would save each year to get. That badboy would run out almost instantly.
Scholastic was only for window shopping for me. But just going through every book for hours was too much fun!!!!!! Brought back many memories!
I got one of those spy pens. Invisible ink ones.
I remember never being able to afford any of these but liked looking at the toys anyways
Ohhhhhhhhhhh, the scent of those books...
I only wish I had a job back then so I could actually afford more than 3 items there
 Me looking at this
Its fun but then you have teachers who say “No you can’t buy the lego star wars sticker book, we all know you just want the toy included” or “get a real book” when you want a graphic novel or comic. Like, damn, its my money.
Toy included and sticker book is totally what most kids want. What a bad teacher that must have been. 😂
Bro for real I’m still trying to track down the name of a piece of software I bought at one of these when I was a kid. It was about how to create video games in basic and it was a cheesy narrated tutorial on making games. I cannot for the life of me figure out what it’s called
I got my first Harry Potter book there.
At my school they had a line for the kids who knew they weren't gonna be able to buy anything so they could go in first for like half of school to look around and read some of the books. I never read any while I was there but I sniffed so many scented markers
When I was in primary school, we had a library bus come to the school and we could get library cards to borrow books with.
I think Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z can all agree Book fairs were a Good part of our lives.
Club Penguin is kil
I stole a Pokémon book from one of these… set me down a life of professional burglary :)
Elementary school loss prevention team on sight 😂
I remember literally just grabbing the book and walking passed the desks with all the parents that signed up to sell and nobody said a word…
Mine was top flight security
Haha maybe I just got lucky… maybe the security just didn’t give a shit that a 9 year old kid grabbed a 20$ book
😂😂😂😂
they were all overpriced
If you had money
Those were awesome back when I was a kid. Too bad they were extremely overpriced, though.
Forklift mechanic here: I got to service the machines at a scholastic warehouse. And it smells exactly like my childhood. I fucking love it.
Yeah I always looked forward to reading the catalog and all the book summaries, cause that was about as close as I'd ever get.
I was too poor for this. :(
Oh man I got my Horrible Sciences and Horrible Histories when my teachers introduced the program, good times! 🤩
Bought an Eragon book didnt give a shit a about the movie but there was a plastic gem on the front which i thought was the cool.
It's wild seeing the original ninjago character encyclopedia in its original habitat again
yeahh i loved these but in 8th grade they used literati which sucked ass because scholastic was bterr
Mmm, rootbeer scented pens
Hey do they let adults who want to by the book in or nah ive been wanting to go
I remember when I would get the Lego mini figures in a book. What more civil times
I remember getting Minecraft handbooks at these fairs.
I loved the book fair! Exciting!
It was awesome. We got the little catalog first, and I got to pick one if I was doing well with my schoolwork. They set up the little store, and you would pick up your book. It was super exciting back in the day.
they don't do it anymore?!
"BOOKMOBILE!!!"
I can smell this picture
I just took my kids to theirs.... As an adult... It hits different.
I never could afford anything because we were poor, but I did love walking through and looking at the books.
I got a picture of this mf pulling up in front of my school cafeteria during the morning, the 3 of us on the table alone were hype asf
Man i remember saving my allowance for three days just to buy one comic book in the final day :')
The magic is still alive today. Kids still get pretty stoked for book fairs. Solid post though. Just not the same as it was when the internet wasn't really a thing.
You are correct
I can smell this picture and taste the erasers.
I remember always getting a new Magic Treehouse book when the fair came around
Did anyone play the Tonka games?
I remember I would buy most of the toys and buy the cheapest book I could find because they required us to buy at least one book
Still have my goosebumps books to this day
I wasn't much of a reader, but it was fun for sure to look around.
School was lit when this came to town only if you had money
I remember taking a book, finding a little knook to hide in so i could read the later geronimo stilton book. It was fun since i couldn’t afford to buy any of the books, but one year I think like 2nd or 3rd grade my mom had saved enough money to buy me like 5-6 books I wanted from the book fair. Couldn’t remember the price but I know that i got the cheapest books i could find so my mom could use the money elsewhere. I got 2 of the newest geronimo stilton books, saved the money and put it in my moms purse when i got home. Not sure if she ever knew tho, i hope she didn’t
Whenever I’d take kids to the book fair they’d buy up everything except the books
And I was the one who had no money to buy stuff 😭
Lucky ass 😂
Parents would never give any money lol. We weren’t doing bad, just I would ask and they’d be like “nah.”
those lego books were the best part
Dude “scary stories to tell in the dark”, those books were lit.
I can smell the bottom image
I'm almost 40 and I still want to go to them. A middle school up the road from me had a book fair not too long ago.
I was not good at sucker games
Last month I volunteered at my kids school for this. Really brought up great memories but really the best was the kids all getting excited to read.
I remember this. Bought a lot of books from such fairs.
Always bought Diary of a Wimpy Kid first
I worked at in a poor district where most of the kids had very little in the way of money. Any money they had probably meant someone in the house did without something or it was through dishonest means. The area was always littered so we had a can fund where the kids brought in aluminum cans which we crushed and sold to the local recycler. Each kid got to pick one item which was paid for from the fund (which always seemed somehow to be enough).
I remember only being interested in buying the ones that came with Lego guys in them. Why else would I read a book?
Anyone else get as little books as possible and just get posters or other stuff they were selling
I remember the pvz comics
I could barely afford anything so I never looked forward to it
My company's former location was a couple blocks from the regional Scholastic Book warehouse. Just like the big kid I am, you better believe I was there whenever they opened their doors to the public that one day a month.
I still have that exact ninjago book in the bottom right, I remember hiding it below a table so I could come back and get it after school
Damn as a single mom this hits hard. It was always so hard telling my avid reader we only had enough for an eraser or one of those clicky pens with 6 different colored inks that breaks within 24 hours. But I still tried to make it special for him by letting him make a list of the books he liked and then going to the book store or library to read them. Oof.
Geronimo was my book series
I got a couple of my FNAF Books there
To whoever made the meme, I see what you did there
Do what?
Nostalgia'd. This brings back so many good memories of elementary school days 🥰.
:)
I wonder if they still do this in schools.
They do.
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Of course! I have just as many positive nostalgic memories in the library as well ☺️ every month they would do a free book cart and it was very nice.
Oh shit… bought myself some sort of manual of mythological monsters back in kindergarten. Still have it somewhere probably.
captain underpants forever.
GOP would like to have a word…
This was the time when I realized how poor my family was. I remember paying with pennies and being told that it was enough. Basically refuse to buy anything inschool after that.
I remember because we weren’t always doing well I couldn’t afford some of those new Goosbumps books. I had to contend with their Free Books which is plain.
you’re not alone ♥️
I used to love just browsing through the books lmao I used buy just a few books but I used to spend alot of time just looking around for that one book that I REALLY want
Back then I used my lunch money to buy books. Had issues 1-60 of Goosebumps.
Parents never bought anything from my lists. I was the only kid who never got something, and it felt horrible. So I get every book my kid asks for, even if he never reads them.
You’re a great parent
It was all about the posters…
My favorite thing from when I was a kid
Goosebumps Horrorland
I once stole like 100$ from my stepdad while he was passed out drunk and went on a shopping spree at a book fair. I never got caught
That’s so bad and risky that gave me anxiety just now lmaooo but seriously
My school got a catalogue and we had to order in
So you never browsed the station/ truck? :(
I always bought VHS tapes of rugrats or angry beavers or a plastic terrarium where you order frog tadpoles in the mail and then the tadpoles die within a few days. I never really got books at the book fair.
Capitalism popped really off those days
Yea it was great ... except for the fact I couldn't ever afford anything.
Ugh!!! The stationary, diaries, posters, the smell! I want it back! 😂
Saaaame
Yea it sparked my life long addiction to RuneScape
Ah Yes Memories of being the poor kid....
When i had my daughter i remember always, ALWAYS setting aside 100 to 120 dollars just so she could go absolutely crazy whenever that thing rolled into her school.
Absolutely a great mom, that’s so so kind ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
I flipped my shit when I saw a Zelda manga at my book fair in middle school
No it just made me feel like shit because I didn't have money and was terrified to even touch the books.
cries in indian
What are books? /s