Tell Scholastic: Put the Book Back in Book Clubs

By Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

For many of us, Scholastic's in-school book clubs—the monthly flyers
distributed in classrooms—played an important role in our childhood by
providing the opportunity to purchase low-cost, high-quality
literature.

But something has changed. Scholastic's book clubs have become a Trojan
horse for marketing toys, trinkets, and electronic media—much of which
promotes popular brands. A review by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free
Childhood (CCFC) of Scholastic's elementary and middle school book
clubs found that one-third of the items for sale are either not books
or are books packaged with other items, such as jewelry and toys. Items
sold by Scholastic in 2008 included the M&M's Kart Racing Wii
videogame, the Princess Room Alarm, Monopoly SpongeBob SquarePants
Edition computer game, lip gloss, and a Hannah Montana bracelet.

Please take a moment to tell Scholastic it's time to return to selling
books—and only books—through their in-school book clubs. Your message
will be sent to Richard Robinson, CEO of Scholastic, and Judy Newman,
president of Scholastic Book Clubs.

Find out more by visiting the CCFC's website at, www.ccfc.org and the Scholastic action page at http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26599.