Scholastic Books

The "Bud Light" of Children's Publishing

by Sue Greenwald, M.D.

A Nebraska mother volunteered for the Scholastic book fair at her children’s school. These book fairs have been a ubiquitous part of school life for at least a couple of generations. Expecting to find the popular Clifford and Babysitter’s Club books of her youth, this mother was shocked to find that the featured new books were nearly all about social justice or LGBTQ themes. Says the suburban Mom:

“Scholastic gives the teachers so many colorful advertising posters to hang all over the school halls and classrooms. Most of the books they advertise are about gaming, Disney or Netflix spin-offs, or critical race theory. It seems they are either cross-promoting to kids or indoctrinating them. I used to trust Scholastic to have appropriate material for my children. Now I pre-read everything.”

While there may certainly be a market for such books, the market is not as large as Scholastic wants it to be. The company believes it is their duty to influence the minds of children, and they entice unsuspecting children with colorful book covers that may have no hint of what is inside.

The former CEO of the family business, Dick Robinson, died in 2021. His obituary brags of his philosophy:

Notable quote

“We strongly believe our books and magazines need to address tough topics that are relevant, even if we get backlash or boycotted.” —from a 2020 interview with the Associated Press

This press release before his death sets the tone for the company to this day:

“We believe Scholastic can make the greatest impact by continuing to promote the work of LGBTQIA+ creators in in our publishing, including the support and amplification of transgender and non-binary voices. This year, eight of the ten most challenged books on the American Library Association's Most Challenged Books List were there because of LGBTQIA+ content, and we are proud that two of them were published by Scholastic: Raina Telgemeier's Drama and Alex Gino's George, the #1 most challenged book of last year. For our annual Read with Pride campaign this year, we are bringing over a dozen authors of LGBTQIA+ books to virtual events, partnering with independent bookstores across the country.”

The books that Mr. Robinson refers to are as follows. First, “George”, which has now been re-titled “Melissa,”

because George is now transgender. It is a “teacher’s pick” according to Amazon, and is recommended for 8-12 year olds. It is written by this author, Alex Gino, who goes by “they/mx.” Alex says “they” find visits to schools inspirational; and in “mx’s” (included in the book) author interview, “they” tells your pre-teen there is “a community out here ready and waiting to love and cherish you.” That isn’t creepy at all.

According to research done by Brave Books Publishers: (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you download this link.)

“George, republished as, Melissa (to respect the main character’s trans identity), is practically a handbook leading kids to a gender transition, it also includes things like: how to hide internet search history and “dirty magazines” from parents and encourages kids to avoid talking to “unsupportive” parents.”

Here are some samples of this “teacher’s pick” and other Scholastic Books:

The second “most challenged book” that Mr. Robinson bragged about providing to children is called “Drama” written by one of Scholastic’s featured authors, Raina Telgemeier. According to Brave Books, “Drama”

…is a book with strong thematic elements including sexual material that has been labeled for grades 5-8. These children are ages 9-14 and have been told to believe that their parents are evil and homophobic if they don’t agree with the LGBT agenda being pushed on their kids.

Ms. Telgemeier’s books can be found in Scholastic Bookroom, a resource for teachers to find books for their classrooms. The graphic novel from this author currently being pushed by Scholastic is called “Smile,” and it looks completely harmless based on the cover. It says it is an award winning book by a New York Times best selling author.

Remarked one mother who purchased this book for her 8 year old son:

“The book introduced my son to the idea that you need to have your first kiss when you are 13 … to the game spin the bottle … to the phrase “have the hots” ... and to the idea that you should feel insecure about yourself based on how you look but then if you fix whatever is causing you to feel insecure (like your teeth) in the end it will be better and you can be happy.”

Parents may not agree with the direction Scholastic wants to take their children, yet Mr. Robinson summarized the company goals thusly:

“We [Scholastic] will work hard to find and promote them [LGBTQIA+ voices], and provide every child with books where he, she, or they can see the joy and importance of all identities on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. This is in keeping with our commitment to support all children to live a full life and realize their human potential.”

Any woke corporation worth their ESG score isn’t going to stop at sexualizing children. They are also going to make sure the young-uns are steeped in “culturally relevant” material with the tagline “Building Equitable Bookshelves.” For those who have not read up on critical race theory, that is exactly what they are pushing. Unsurprisingly, Blackrock and Vanguard are among Scholastic’s largest shareholders.

Brave Books isn’t the only children’s publisher sounding the alarm about Scholastic. Another publisher of children’s books called Heroes of Liberty, published a video about their concerns in 2022. Said Heroes of Liberty editor Bethany Mandel: “our children’s souls are in danger.”

See the video HERE. See the Daily Wire article regarding Heroes of Liberty HERE.

Parents must be noticing the directional shift, as Scholastic is starting to go the way of Disney, Target and Bud Light. From September 22, 2023: “Scholastic Corporation drops premarket on dismal quarterly earnings.”

Brave Books and Heroes of Liberty are competitors of Scholastic, so they have financial incentive to differentiate themselves from the goliath bookseller. However, that doesn’t make their information any less valuable to consumers.

Brave Books put together this document for families. It provides a list of sexuality-themed books in the Scholastic catalog so that you can be fore-warned.

It also provides a list of trustworthy Children’s Publishers, including links to Brave Books, Heroes of Liberty (also called i55), and their other responsible competitors.

I have linked THIS RESOURCE four times now, so if you have not downloaded it yet, that’s on you.

The author is a Pediatrician now retired, and a co-founder of Protect Nebraska Children Coalition. Please see previous articles at ForwardNebraska.substack.com