First couple weeks of school means a fundraiser.
We did order books every few weeks, though. We got a flyer that looked like this one, printed on cheap newsprint, and for a few days we huddled over them, imagining which ones we'd get and bringing our $2.99 in cash or check to the teacher.
Book order day was like Christmas. Everyone looked at what everyone else got and vowed to make different choices the next time.
Do you remember?
I don't know why they call it a book fair, it's more of a trinket and token thing.
The kids are more interested in the toys than the reading material, although they do buy books. Diaries that lock with a minute silver key. LEGO books with a mini fig included. Spinning tops. Shark teeth. (those come with a book.)
Mostly they buy silly toys that will go home to rooms bursting with other silly toys and the novelty will wear off and they'll be on to the next big thing in a few days.
At today's book fairs, you get stuff like this.
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| Goddamn Effin' Poking Sticks |
You're probably not working in After School.
And hey, if you didn't get a GEPS, how about a bear?
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| Shrieking Bears |
Despite today's title and the photo caption, they're not electronic and they don't make sounds.
They're just jelly toys that look like Gummy Bears.
But in the hands of the three girls who bought them, they found (loud, annoying, shrieking) voices of their own.
In a tone that would either melt glass or ensure you'll never have earwax again, the bears 'talked' all afternoon. The girls made little paper houses for them, carried them around the playground while we were outside, took them to the sinks several times to wash them (that gummy stuff gets gross really fast) and generally were obnoxious.
I did ask them to play with them on the far table in the cafeteria, when they were closer to me the noise was giving me a headache.
I was ready to torch those stupid bears.
It's funny, though. It was a fad for a day or two, and I will almost certainly never see them again.
I'm okay with that.
They're too loud.
I remember those book-ordering days in school! I always had the biggest stack on the day they arrived.
ReplyDeleteUnbearable bears! Toy companies seem to excel at marketing colorful junk that kids will quickly lose interest in and move on to the next item. A steady source of income -- and jam-packed landfills. But only a demon could sell kids poking sticks. That's just asking for trouble.
I'm pissed. Blogger ate my comment. If my parents had been willing, I would have ordered many more cheap paperbacks. As it was, though, my dad did one thing really well/right. I was allowed to read anything I wanted. Any section of the library, anything my parents had to read at home. Some old college lit textbooks from a family friend. Nothing was off limits. I managed to read all the time growing up, and I still do it, although a lot of what I consume is electronic right now, nothing beats a good book.
DeleteOh and PS. You once recommended Household Gods to me. I found it fascinating and it's in my 're-read occasionally' section of my own library.
DeleteGlad you liked Household Gods! Probably my all-time favorite novel.
DeleteI really hope Blogger isn't going to start screwing up comments again. It's one thing after another these days.
I think you should have kept a few of those poking sticks, they may come in handy one day especially in your line of work. :) I wonder how many of those bears have been eaten by mistake?
ReplyDeleteBig hugs,
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I'd imagine they taste terrible. There's a science experiment involving gummy bears/worms. You soak in different liquids and some of them cause a huge expansion. Entertaining at the beginning and at the very end.
DeleteThose GEPS are on my permanent feces roster.
lol Why do small kids love these types on little toys? I know I sure did and sometimes I still do.
ReplyDeleteWell, they're fun. :) And there's a lot of little competition things, too. Kid A got one, so Kid B needs one too!!!
DeleteI think I'm too old for there being a book fair. A poking stick....that's what my cane is!
ReplyDeleteI can't deny it's handy to have one. A cane is a stronger version. I have a cane that I use occasionally.
DeleteI tell the kids all the time that I'm going to poke them with my invisible stick. They love it, they're constantly 'stealing' it. Then I tell them I will have to go to the invisible stick store and get another one, but it's going to be hard since I can't SEE the store. We have this whole culture built around sticks.
But the ones from Scholastic Book Fair? Those do *not* make me smile.
I do remember the Scholastic Book Fair! I always got books...if I bought a toy, I don't recall it. I loved books then, and I love them now. I remember the mobile book library that used to cruise through our neighborhood during the summer. It was a van, repurposed with shelving and boxes of books ~ there's nothing like the smell of books!
ReplyDeleteI've always loved to read. That's what I did when I wasn't being forced to go to church or school, lol.
DeleteWhen she was a small child, my daughter used to smell all our books. One at a time.
Oh I remember seeing kids so excited by the book fair and the book orders and whatever meandering manner gets them to be life-long readers, I'm here for it (and yes, occasionally annoyed by the junk too, ha).
ReplyDeleteMost of the junk doesn't annoy me, or not much. But those GEPS are nightmare fuel. And the screaming bears... not a fan. I don't know if other kids would buy them and make them scream or if it's just a quirk in my own bunch. Either way, I hate it.
DeleteI loved it when it was Scholastic day at school. As a huge fan of reading, I was always a huge supporter of this........
ReplyDeleteOh me too. Will never be a poking stick fan, tho. Ha.
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