The SCA Scholastic Book Fairs Return To Manhasset March 11th-15th.
Manhasset Book Fair Week kicks off on Monday, March 11th, and both elementary schools are thrilled to host best-selling children’s and young adult author, Gordon Korman, in-person this year. Mr. Korman will speak to students on Monday at a special assembly for the upper grades about his life and work, followed by a Q&A. Mr. Korman will also sign books at both Family Night events later that evening. Shelter Rock’s Family Night will be from 4:30-8:30 pm, with book signing from 4:45-5:30. Munsey Park’s Family Night will be from 5:30-8:30 pm with book signing from 6-6:45.
The Scholastic Book Fair continues throughout the week with class visits, where parents can join in the fun and shop the fair with their kids. Keep an eye out for the class visit schedule and more book fair information in your children’s backpacks.
Brush off your bell bottoms and break out your tie dye. The Munsey Park School wants to take you back to the groovy 1960s at their “Peace, Love, and Books” book fair. Are comets and constellations more your bag? The Shelter Rock School invites you to blast off to the “Shelter Rock Galaxy: Where our students are the stars.”
For those budding flower children and beginner space explorers in town, preschool events are planned for Thursday, March 14th. Munsey Park’s Preschool Hour will run from 12:15-1:10 pm and will feature Ann Graf from The Actor’s Garage. Ann will lead a themed story time with the children, and it’s going to be happenin’. Shelter Rock’s Preschool Hour will be from 1:15-2:15 pm and will feature an out-of-this-world craft and special story time with their new principal, Mrs. Jessica Zimmer.
In 1926, Scholastic published its first book, a collection of student writing from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards called Saplings. This was followed by the introduction of book clubs in 1948 through a partnership with Pocket Books. The partnership helped Scholastic revolutionize access to books and bring reading to the masses. Teen Age Book Club (T.A.B.) specialized in books for children ages 13 to 18. Students could rip out the form on the last page of a classroom magazine and submit their order through their teacher. Today, nearly 5 million students across the country order from Scholastic Book Clubs through 800,000 educators.
Scholastic Book Fairs have been a staple of the school year since 1981, when Scholastic launched its in-school book fairs business with the purchase of a California book fair. Scholastic Book Fairs currently host more than 120,000 book sale events in partnership with schools across the country, giving more than 35 million students and their families’ access to thousands of affordable books and educational products. In 2020, Scholastic celebrated its centennial.
The Book Fair introduced kids to classic series such as Goosebumps, The Babysitter’s Club, Captain Underpants, and Magic School Bus. Perhaps their most famous offering, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, has sold more than 500 million copies to date, been translated into over 80 different languages and began a series that was made into eight blockbuster films.
Scholastic published The Hunger Games in 2008, the first title in Suzanne Collins’ wildly popular dystopian trilogy. The Hunger Games spent more than 260 consecutive weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List. There are more than 100 million copies of all three books in the trilogy, and the series was adapted into four hit films, earning more than $3 billion at the box office.
The SCA Scholastic Book Fairs give back to the community via multiple philanthropic endeavors. Both elementary schools are collaborating with a Manhasset High School student-run book drive to collect used books for the Adventures in Learning after-school enrichment center. The Munsey Park School Kindness Club will also donate some of the used books collected to the Book Fairies, a non-profit organization that distributes reading materials to local communities who need them. These book drives are the perfect opportunity for families to clear out shelf space for new books while supporting local children in need. In addition, both schools are once again fundraising through the “All for Books” campaign. Funds raised through “All for Books” will be used to help build school and classroom libraries as well as provide Adventures in Learning with money to purchase new books for their program at the Munsey Park book fair.
So, whether you want to travel light years away or 60 years back in time, boogie on down to the Manhasset SCA Scholastic Book Fairs next week.
The Manhasset SCA is the district’s version of a PTO. It consists of parents, interested residents of the community, and members of the school faculty and unites these various facets of the public school district into one dynamic and effective organization. The organization promotes closer cooperation between teachers and parents, school and community and furthers the physical, mental, social and ethical education of the community’s young people.
Q and A with Gordon Korman
Gordon Korman was born on October 23, 1963 in Montreal, Canada, and grew up mostly in the Toronto area. He has been writing for more than three-quarters of his life. His books have been translated into 32 languages, have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and have appeared at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list. He has a BFA degree from New York University with a major in Dramatic Writing and a minor in Film and TV.
Korman now lives on Long Island with his wife and family. When he’s not writing, he is on the road, appearing at schools, libraries and bookstores, meeting his readers.
1) When did you know you wanted to be a writer? My writing career started very young. My first book began as my 7th grade English assignment. It was published when I was a freshman in high school and I’ve been writing ever since.
2) What are your favorite kinds of stories? My two favorite genres are humor and adventure. You can find a combination of those two in all of my books.
3) What does the book fair mean to you? I’ve always been a big reader, so I remember book fairs as a time when books literally came to me – to my own school library, gym, or cafeteria.
4) What do you draw on for ideas? My ideas are usually a combination of personal experience, research, and what-if thinking. I’m a great believer in what-ifs. I consider them the building blocks of all stories.
5) Any advice for aspiring writers? I advise young writers to make writing a part of their daily lives. It actually doesn’t matter if you blog, write fan fiction, post stories online, or even privately keep a diary or journal. The important thing is to keep on writing.
6) What’s next for you? Right now, I’m on tour to promote SLUGFEST, my latest, the story of a star athlete who flunks PE and has to repeat it in summer school. Next for me is FAKER, about a kid growing up in a family of professional con artists. It comes out July 2nd.
—Submitted by the Manhasset SCA
with additional information compiled
by Amanda Olsen
