Scholastic is the US children's publisher behind the American Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, but much of its output is school club and fair paperbacks reissuing other houses' books.
Scholastic, Incorporated is the American children's publisher and schools distributor; this entry covers the US company, not its separate British arm. Maurice R. Robinson launched it near Pittsburgh, in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, with the first issue of The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic on 22 October 1920: a four-page paper sent to 50 high schools. In the early 1930s it took offices on East 44th Street in New York.
Books came in 1948 with the Teen Age Book Club, run with Pocket Books to sell paperbacks to pupils. Branches in England and New Zealand opened in 1964, and a hardcover division, Four Winds Press, followed in 1965. School book fairs began in 1981, when it bought California School Book Fairs.
Norman Bridwell's Clifford, created in 1963, became the company mascot, and its series lists include The Magic School Bus, The Baby-sitters Club and R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (from 1992). Arthur A. Levine Books, started in 1996, issued the American Harry Potter editions, and Scholastic also holds the US rights to The Hunger Games. Shares began trading on Nasdaq in May 1987, and it bought Grolier in 2000.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Scholastic, Incorporated's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Scholastic, Incorporated first editions
What to look for
Scholastic is two kinds of publisher at once: an original publisher (Scholastic Press, Arthur A. Levine Books and others) and a schools paperback distributor through its book clubs and fairs. Many Scholastic-branded paperbacks reissue books another house published first, so find the original publisher before treating any Scholastic copy as a first.
1940s to 1970s
The Teen Age Book Club, begun in 1948 with Pocket Books, sold cheap paperbacks to pupils. Club and Scholastic Book Services paperbacks carry catalogue numbers with letter prefixes beginning with T (for example TX).
1980s
From 1990
Original Scholastic hardcovers use a number line, and a first printing keeps the full line down to 1. The 1998 American Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and the 2008 The Hunger Games are both identified this way. The lowest number present gives the printing.
How do I identify a Scholastic, Incorporated first edition?
Scholastic is two kinds of publisher at once: an original publisher (Scholastic Press, Arthur A. Levine Books and others) and a schools paperback distributor through its book clubs and fairs. Many Scholastic-branded paperbacks reissue books another house published first, so find the original publisher before treating any Scholastic copy as a first. 1940s to 1970s - The Teen Age Book Club, begun in
How many Scholastic, Incorporated books does MyVolumes track?
We track 151 editions published by Scholastic, Incorporated, 0 of them first editions, across 151 books.
