- Modern Scholastic first printings carry a complete number line that includes a 1 on the copyright page; a dealer describes the 2008 first printing of The Hunger Games this way, and the 1 is dropped from later printings.
Publisher · founded 1920 · New York City
Scholastic
Scholastic is an American children's and educational publisher founded in 1920, known for school book fairs and as the US publisher of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.
- Editions tracked
- 1,225
- First editions
- 7
- Books
- 1,136
- Years
- 1957 to 2025
About Scholastic
Scholastic is an American publisher and distributor of children's books and educational material, founded in 1920 by Maurice R. Robinson near Pittsburgh and now based in the Scholastic Building in New York City.
The company sells through bookshops and online, but much of its reach comes from school book clubs and book fairs, and it calls itself the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. It is listed on Nasdaq and bought the encyclopaedia publisher Grolier in 2000. Richard Robinson, the founder's son, ran the business from 1975 until his death in 2021; Peter Warwick is now chief executive.
Scholastic holds the US publishing rights to the Harry Potter books and The Hunger Games. Its Scholastic Press imprint issued the first edition of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games in hardback on 14 September 2008, and of Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret on 30 January 2007; the latter won the 2008 Caldecott Medal, the first novel to do so. Long-running series on its list include Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Magic School Bus, Goosebumps and Captain Underpants. It also runs Scholastic Entertainment for film and television.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Scholastic's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Scholastic first editions
A modern Scholastic first printing is identified by its number line: a complete line that still includes the 1.
How to read it
- A Scholastic first printing carries a number line on the copyright page that includes a 1, and the 1 is removed from later printings, so the lowest number left is the printing.
Traps
- The British first comes first. For the Harry Potter books the true first edition is Bloomsbury's; the Scholastic book is the first American edition.
Examples
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1998): the first printing's copyright page reads "First American edition, October 1998" and has a number line that includes the 1. The true first edition of the work is the 1997 Bloomsbury Philosopher's Stone.
Authors
Books
Published by Scholastic
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Scholastic first edition?
- Modern Scholastic first printings carry a complete number line that includes a 1 on the copyright page; a dealer describes the 2008 first printing of The Hunger Games this way, and the 1 is dropped from later printings.
How many Scholastic books does MyVolumes track?
We track 1,225 editions published by Scholastic, 7 of them first editions, across 1,136 books.
Where these facts come from
- Northern Lights, Scholastic 1995, first edition listings, AbeBooks search results, 2026 (abebooks.co.uk)
- Northern Lights first-issue jackets, AbeBooks search results, 2026 (abebooks.co.uk)
- The Subtle Knife, Scholastic 1997, first edition listings, AbeBooks search results, 2026 (abebooks.co.uk)
- Scholastic Corporation, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- The Hunger Games (novel), Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- A Guide to Identifying Harry Potter First Editions, Noah Goldrach, Sotheby's, 2026 (sothebys.com)
- The Hunger Games first edition listing, Bookfever (bookfever.com)
- A Guide to Understanding Number Lines in Books, page 2, Craig Stark, BookThink (bookthink.com)
- Scholastic Potter Books, alltheprettybooks, 2026 (alltheprettybooks.net)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.