By Surabhi Ashok
The Scholastic, a biweekly magazine publication, got its start in 1920, with Maurice Robinson’s The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic as a four-page edition. In two years, the over 20-page publication covered national and world events, as well as sports and arts.
In 1923, the magazine founded the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards to recognize young writers and eventually teen artists. This led to the company’s first published book, Saplings, which was a consolidation of various student writing pieces.
Partnering with Pocket Books in 1948, the company created Scholastic Book Clubs, allowing children to look in a magazine and order books directly through their teachers. Within a decade, Scholastic established its first international subsidiary in Canada, which has since expanded all across the globe.
Scholastic started its popular in-school book fairs in 1981 by purchasing California School Book Fairs. Partnering with schools across the country, Scholastic Book Fairs now host more than 120,000 book sales, enabling children to have various genres directly at their fingertips.
Many recognizable symbols now were born in Scholastic. In 1963, Clifford the Big Red Dog was created, leading to more than 134 million books printed. Other popular series such as The Baby-sitters Club, The Magic School Bus, and I SPY have been cultivated as the company delved into publishing.
In October of 2020, Scholastic celebrated its 100th year of existence, having had a history of expanding educational access to kids around the world.