Remember 'Book Fairs'?

Last night my NaNo office mate and buddy were talking all about the book fairs we experienced as children, and how much we loved them. She grew up in California and I grew up in New York, but our book fair experiences were very similar, I wondered how many of you guys have similar memories (or perhaps memories of those 'summer reading lists' when the local library would allow you to take out twice as many books as usual)?.

Once a year, the teacher would have this big cardboard box on her desk and I KNEW what that meant, I'd be so excited for end of class. She'd pass out these little book catalogs that were almost tissue thin, filled with books you could order. Now, I never did without material possessions as a child but we did not have a lot of money, but the book fair was always one of those things I was allowed to indulge in. I'd bring it home, I'd read over all the books available, and make my choices. My mom would fill in this little order form at the back and make out a check for me to bring back to school in the morning (and I always guarded that thing with my life).

Seriously, I think I honestly had a harder time waiting for that than I did waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve. I'd have friggin' DREAMS about my books. It seemed to take forever, to the point I remember I'd mentally exhaust myself and just stop expecting anything when I got into class. Then, finally, the morning would come when the book fair trucks were pulled up outside the school and I'd freak out!

They always had the book fair set up in the school library, there would be a bunch of tables displaying all the books that had been in the catalog for kids and parents who wanted to buy on the spot, and there was another table set up to pick up the advance orders.

I swear, I am not sure much in my adult life has compared to the perfect excitement of getting in that line, you know? I'd get up there, give them my receipt, and BOOM! They'd hand me this perfect stack of crisp new books that were MINE. Then, I didn't care about ANYTHING going on around me, I was totally gone. I'd just find a table and look through all my books, marveling at the fact they were mine. I'd try to read in the library but it just wasn't time for that yet. I'd white knuckle it until dismissal and rush home as fast as possible to just curl up in my room with my new books.

Book fairs are just some of the fondest childhood memories I have, and on the very rare occasion I actually have money enough to go on a small shopping spree at the book store (used or otherwise), I still feel that same sense of joy bringing home a big old bag of books.

I wondered if you guys had similar memories? Or just fond book-related memories in general?

I LOVED the book fairs! They don't do them anymore? I remember them setting up in the gym, and it being the only time I was really happy to be in that place of childhood torture. So many books, and money in my pocket to buy whichever I wanted. My mom was always very supportive of us buying books, still is, in fact. She's a voracious reader, herself. It was never frowned upon for us to read. I got some truly fantastic books at the book fair when I was little. But then I got too advanced to enjoy the kiddie books on offer.

I remember the book fairs set up in the gym once or twice a year, and the Scholastic book orders which were about once a month. They still have them! I got tons of books that way, because they were steeply discounted. And when my kids were younger, I signed up as their teacher and was able to order from them.

Our public library removed the book limit for me because we lived a little ways from town and my mom had to drive in so often because of how I burned through books. They gave away a free book in the summer for every 20 you read, but I was only allowed to win 5 or 6. Some of the first ones I remember reading and loving were by Sid Hoff and Ruth Chew (not in the same year, just came to mind at the same time.) I'm glad they just don't have those book limits at all now.

I could go on endlessly about it if I had the time... :-)

Oooh, my kids attend a charter school, and we have book fairs twice a year. I think Scholastic Books sponsors them. We usually set them up in the multi-purpose room, and I think they coincide with parent/teacher conferences.

My clearest memory of book fairs was those Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. It seemed like that was where I usually found those crazy books. Who remembers them? Okay, who else used to skip ahead to find the best endings??? :D

Yes! I remember book fairs and hardly being able to stand the wait to get my little paws on the Scholastic book order sheets.
They still have the Scholastic order forms - a school I was working at was distributing them - but when I looked they had a lot more computer-related stuff than I ever remember. Still plenty of books, but at least a quarter of the items on the brochure were technology.

Hehe, my parents used to lose me to the library a lot. Our local library was down at the end of our street - probably a mile or so. On weekends I'd take my bike and go to the library and hang out all afternoon. If my parents ever 'lost' me one of the first places they'd call was the library. "Yes, don't worry, she's here... Yes, we'll send her home." Ah, good times.

I still have the first book I ever bought at a Scholastic Book Fair. It was Dinosaurs and More Dinosaurs by Jean M. Craig. I LOVE Book Fairs. I worked at the school libraries when my son was smaller and I swear that *I* bought more of the books than the kids did.

Loved Book Fairs- I remember buying Jane Addams, 'Twenty Years at Hull House' when I was in Grade 5 or 6 (don't recall which.) It was a paperback and probably the first adult book I purchased for myself with my own money.

The book fairs were the best, I fondly remember those order forms, and some of the books I bought during those elementary school events, particularly Bunnicula stands out for some reason, but many other great books were purchased. Thinking about book fairs made me remember weekly reader and scholastic news, I hope when I have children the book fairs continue to happen, they are wonderful.

Ooooh, LOVED the book fairs! :D

I always liked seeing a big, shiny stack of new books on my desk when the book fair had come. So fun!

Sometimes it was competitive... Whoever had the most books on book fair day won. I can't tell you how I scrimped and saved, and picked up every nickle and dime walking to and from school to be able to buy books from the fair.

I hope to one day pass my love of reading on to the next generation. Not mine, though, because I don't think I'd procreate well.

Remember? My kid just had her first Scholastic book fair. It was rad.

Loved them as a child and love them now as a parent. I just volunteered at my kids' school book fair a couple of weeks ago, and it is one of the most popular events there! I also set up the online orders for my kids' classrooms -- as now the kids can go online and peruse the books in addition to looking through the paper catalogs. So much fun! Problem is, now that I'm an adult with an income, I can spend so much more money myself ...

Book Fairs were like a respite from the awfulness of regular school days. I never had many friends and I was bullied and teased as far back as I can remember, but when the book fair was there I felt like everything was ok and made sense. Books were my friends and took me away from the sad and verbally abusive childhood that I endured every day of my life. Yes, books saved me and made me the confident, loving, assertive, adult that I am blessed to be today. Books literally saved my life. I don't have children so I'm not sure if we still have book fairs around here anymore.

Wow. I hadn't thought about the Scholastic book orders in *ages*. I barely remember how that worked in my school, or even what sort of deal I had going with my parents in regards to buying the books. Huh.

Oh my God you're bringing back so many memories here! We never had book fairs, unfortunately, but we did get a list of books we could choose in Junior school (I'm 44 now and I've never forgotten the joy of this experience). I always sat in the front row in Assembly if i could. in class we were given a kind of a catalogue, like those already described I guess, and I'd get to choose 6 books.

I too could not wait until they arrived - I'll never forget that first time. I was in the front row (nothing changes actually - I'm ALWAYS in the front row of anything if I can manage it) and my name got called out. I still remember the pale blue spine of one of the books and the feeling of running my fingers along the cover and over the pages, flicking them. I tried desperately hard not to break the spine - I'm still the same, actually). I remember I chose Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator; my Naughty Little Sister and Milly Molly Mandy. Mrs Pepperpot may have been the 5th but I'm not sure. I can't remember the 6th at hte moment (it will come to me though). I can still see them now - they were held together with a piece of paper which had your name on and an elastic band.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Mel

REMEMBER: It's the things you DON'T do in life that you regret, not what you do, do!

i both loved and hated book fairs. Loved the books, hated that I couldn't buy them. my parents are educated, and put value on books, so we always had them around, but i don't think they understood how much i loved them. when bookfair time came round, I might be able to get one book if I had saved up enough. I was never good at saving. Usually all i could afford was the 10 cent poster of kittens. I remember being over the moon one year when mom agreed to buy me a book from a flyer. I'm sure that wasn't the only thing i'd ever gotten from fliers, but for some reason that one was a big deal.

my youngest one is like me. when the bookfair hits, he's there, wanting books. i try to get him a couple most years but as a single mom, i don't have enough to buy as many as we both would like him to have. I keep the fliers he brings home so i know what books he wants, and i try to get him a couple of books a year from those.

I still love those book fairs.

Anyone else ever participate in the MS Read-a-thon? I did that through the sixth grade, then it seemed to disappear. The gist was it was a summer program and you'd get people to pledge a certain amount for each book you read. My mom had requirements for me in addition to the program, because I would DEVOUR books. So they had to be books of substance (one that I read for the Read A Thon was "Gone with the Wind"). She wanted me to broaden my own mind while I was raising this money.

I was going to read all summer long anyway, so getting to raise money for a worthy cause was a great thing to me.

Because we lived on a base, I would go around to about half the neighborhoods on base, and by the time I was done, I'd have pledges for about $100 PER BOOK. Some people would pledge $5 to $10 per book, as I always also brought around my proposed reading list (they'd see "Gone with the Wind" and figure that would take all summer). Then my mother would have to call each of those crazy pledgers (anyone who pledged more than $1) and explain that I was a book worm and would be getting through the entire list of 20 proposed books, plus probably another 10 random selections. She'd offer them the chance to reduce their pledge....they always took her up on it, but promised they would give me at least $10 if I didn't get through my list. [Of course, when I showed them my list of 30 books read at the end of the summer, they'd then call my mother and thank her]. Even with my mother's completely warranted sabbotage, I would raise about $500 to $600 each year.

I loved that this afforded kids a real opportunity to raise some major dollars towards a great cause. But I don't think they do it any more, and that is such a shame.

Book fairs. I have some pretty fond memories of those things. They had them back when I was in elementary school and in middle school. Several of the books I bought are still in my possession today (in particular, I was pretty big into comic books as an early teenager, and bought quite a few books related to drawing them). I was also, as I imagine quite a few kids were, quite big into monsters as an elementary kid and bought some monster-related books in my day, including this little bitty book about vampires.