I don’t know when Scholastic book orders started, but I remember loving them during my grade school years.

I remember savoring over the book orders (a detail shown above) like I now savor over a new craft magazine. Seeing all the wide range of books that I could get was pretty magical. I remember picking out 2 or 3 books from each…I usually went for one that was 99¢…I loved deals even back then.

I ordered lots of books, but my favorite that I ordered were:

Sleepover Friends

The Sleepover Friends were a Babysitter’s Club knockoff. Every book would center around something that happened at the the friends’ sleepover. I remember loving Stephanie (the girl in orange above) because she wore black, white, and red alot and big plastic red earrings. The book shown above was all about Patti getting her hair dyed and it wouldn’t come out the next day. I remember another book featured the girls sneaking tastes of one of their mom’s mousse (with sugary mint adornments) and they basically ate the whole middle of the mousse. They got in big trouble the next day. Those books were a good read.

American Girls

I also loved the American Girl books. I read them when the books were just introduced and before the dolls even existed. I read books about Kirsten, Samantha (she was so fancy, from the 1910’s), and Molly from the 1940’s (shown above). I identified most with Molly cause she was crafty and wore glasses. She was also very funny and loved to do little performances for her family. She was a cool chick! If you haven’t read these books, they are cool. In the middle, they showcase historical pictures and information from that time period.

Hot Dog magazine

I also ordered several issues of this magazine called Hot Dog! I’m pretty sure it was a magazine that Scholastic exclusively did. It featured toys, kids stuff, and celebrities. The issue that I remember the most about had Bon Jovi as a centerfold. I pulled it out and put it on my wall. Every night before I went to bed I would kiss the keyboard player (at the time I thought he was the cutest…don’t ask me why). I’m pretty sure I did this without anyone seeing me. I was so dweeby as a child. Oh, and I remember taking the magazine on a school trip to the Lexington Horse Park and showing the Bon Jovi centerfold off to Kansas Reynolds. I was always trying to impress her. I don’t know why.

I’m pretty sure I also ordered New Kids, World Record, and lots of other trivia books as well. I wish I could remember more of my favorites!

So what do/did you love about the book order? It was a very fond and happy memory for me!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa