Does anyone else remember the Scholastic Book Club?

When I was in elementary school, once a month the teacher would distribute the book club flyers. They were printed on flimsy paper, almost like tissues, but they were full color and advertised all sorts of books. There was something about flipping through the flyer, reading the descriptions and seeing the covers, that was almost more exciting than reading the books, perhaps because the book club combined two great things: reading and shopping!

Every promo listed the price of the book and an id number for you to pencil in on your order form to be submitted to your teacher with your payment. I had a budget, so I could not order all the books I wanted at once. Sometimes I would keep an eye on a book advertised in every issue until I finally marked it on my order form. Then the teacher sent in the orders and a couple weeks later the books would arrive! The best part however was the lovely anticipation, knowing books were on their way and you had something to look forward to. This was before online shopping, which currently fills my need for joyful anticipation.

I didn’t keep any of the fliers, and I doubt the paper would have survived after so many years anyway. They have a web site now, but it’s really not the same. I sort of miss those little Scholastic book club fliers, and just thinking of them makes me want to put in an order for The Westing Game.