Scholastic Press Releases
Scholastic Launches Ultimate Children’s Book Search Tool, Teacher Book Wizard™
New Free Web Site Helps Teachers and Parents Match the Right Book to the Right Child Based on Four Different Reading Level Systems, Interests and Previously Enjoyed Books
New York, NY (January 30, 2008) -- E-Scholastic, the online division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing and media company, announces the launch of Teacher Book Wizard™ (www.scholastic.com/bookwizard). The new Web site enables teachers, librarians and even parents to search a database of over 50,000 books to find just the right match for every child, according to reading level, interest, subject and genre. Teachers and librarians can also download free lesson plans related to specific books and purchase many titles at teacher discounted prices through Scholastic.com’s Teacher Store.
The unique BookAlike™ feature helps educators find book recommendations based on a title that their students’ already know and enjoy. They can also search for titles that are at, above or below the original book’s reading level.
Teacher Book Wizard offers other tools, including:
Kids Learn Math and Science Through Online Videos, Interactive Tutorials, and Music at www.scholastic.com/studyjams
New Homework Help Web Site Takes Fun, Multimedia Approach to Kids’ Toughest Subjects
New York, NY (January 28, 2008) -- Ask kids and parents which school subjects they struggle with the most, and the answer is likely to be math and science. When kids have trouble understanding Aquatic Ecosystems or are stuck on a homework question about Division Equations, where do they turn? Now they can get help finding the answers with Scholastic StudyJams!™ at www.scholastic.com/studyjams, an online learning experience for kids in grades 3-6 that takes the most challenging math and science topics and explains them through animated videos, Karaoke songs, interactive tutorials, quizzes and more. Developed in conjunction with a nationwide panel of teachers, this subscription-based learning service lets kids sing about “Solids, Liquids & Gases,” play a “Mean & Median” basketball game and create their own downloadable song, all while mastering those tough math and science concepts they need to know in order to excel in school.
Scholastic Kid Reporters Make News with Candidates’ Kids
Scholastic News Election Reporters Learn About Life at Home and on the Campaign Trail with Children of Presidential Candidates, Ages 6-37
New York, NY (January 24, 2008) -- What are the kids of the current presidential candidates like? Emma Claire Edwards likes Webkins; Bridget McCain loves hanging out with friends; Malia and Sasha Obama can’t wait to get a dog; and Tagg Romney sometimes fights with his brothers. The Scholastic Kids Press Corps, a team of student reporters ages 10-14 who are covering the race to the White House and reporting for Scholastic News, discovered that the kids of candidates are not so different from the Kid Reporters themselves!
Scholastic Kid Reporters interviewed many of the candidates’ children and spouses to find out more about them and to learn what it’s like to have a parent running for president. Their interviews are published at Scholastic News Online (www.scholastic.com/news) and in upcoming issues of Scholastic News (for students in grades 1-6) and Junior Scholastic (grades 6-8).
Here’s a peek at what the Scholastic Kids Press Corps learned about the candidates’ kids, ages 6-37:
Kids Tackle Climate Change by Learning How to “Act Green” at www.scholastic.com/actgreen
Multi-Media Educational Website Helps Kids Create Custom Green Plans, Earn Green Points, and Take Action to be GREEN
New York, NY (January 22, 2008) — According to a recent Scholastic News online poll, kids ranked the environment as one of their top issues in the upcoming presidential elections. Now, Scholastic launches ACT GREEN! at www.scholastic.com/actgreen, a fun, educational website designed to motivate and empower kids to take action in school, at home and in their community to preserve the environment. This multi-media website provides kids, parents and teachers with customized green plans, expert tips, inspiring green short films provided by Live Earth, and a “Greenroom” to share ideas with other kids.
Developed in consultation with an environmental scientist from the University of California at Berkeley, ACT GREEN! at www.scholastic.com/actgreen provides kids, parents and teachers with free actionable information that will help them preserve the environment. When kids enter the site, they are first directed to the Green Quiz, to test how environmentally conscious they are. Upon completing the quiz, kids receive a customized Green Plan and are automatically entered into the Greenerator™, where they can activate their Green Plan and turn it into reality. As kids check off the green actions they have accomplished, they earn green points that power up the Greenerator. They can also earn green points throughout the site by selecting action items from the “100 Ways to Act Green!” list, reading articles, sending e-cards and more. Kids will enjoy tracking their own green points, as well as the overall power of the Greenerator, generated by all ACT GREEN! members.
Scholastic Launches Bone-Chilling New Book Series by World-Wide Bestselling Author R.L. Stine — Goosebumps Horrorland
“R.L. Stine rode a wave of kid popularity, partly fueled by the fledgling Internet, to become perhaps the best-selling children’s author of the 20th century.”
— Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly (August 17, 2007)
New York, NY (January 21, 2008) — Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, is delighted to announce that it will publish an all-new series from R.L. Stine, author of the monstrously successful Goosebumps® series—featuring Stine’s hallmark combination of humor and horror. Goosebumps HorrorLand™, an original twelve-book series, will launch with two books in April 2008.
The new series will be an immersive storytelling experience welcoming fans to HorrorLand, a vast theme park which R.L. Stine describes as “the scariest place on Earth.” In a Goosebumps first, the new series will be a serialized adventure, and the story won’t end on the final page of book one, Revenge of the Living Dummy. Instead, the spine-tingling and funny bone-tickling adventures will continue on the Internet and in books #2-12, each of which can also stand alone. The first nine HorrorLand books all will feature a combination of frightful new faces as well as the vilest villains from the original Goosebumps series. Ordinary kids are being summoned to HorrorLand—but why? Readers are in for the ride of their lives as the cast of characters trapped in the theme park grows larger with each book, and their situations become more and more perilous.
Scholastic Sets Industry-Leading Goals for Recycled and FSC-Certified Paper Use
New “Act Green” Website Teaches Kids About Climate Change and Sustainability
New York, NY (January 9, 2008) -- Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced that the company is further strengthening its sustainable paper procurement practices by setting industry-leading goals to increase the percentage of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper and post-consumer waste (pcw) recycled paper it purchases. In consultation with the Rainforest Alliance, the Green Press Initiative and other stakeholders, the company has set a five-year goal to increase its publication paper purchase of FSC-certified paper to 30% and its use of recycled paper to 25%, of which 75% will be post-consumer waste.
The new policy adds to the company’s long-standing responsible environmental practices that have already resulted in reducing paper use by more than three million pounds annually. Under the new policy, the increase in the use of pcw fiber alone will result in a reduction of 23,988,000 lbs in green house gas emissions compared to fiscal year 2006 usage, as calculated by the Environmental Defense Paper Calculator. The new policy also includes a commitment by Scholastic to help educate children about responsible environmental practices and what they can do to help preserve the environment. The policy is available at www.scholastic.com/paperpolicy.
Scholastic and Los Angeles Unified School District Announce the 40 Schools Participating in J.K. Rowling Open Book Tour
40 Lucky LAUSD Students from Each Selected School Will Join Rowling at the Kodak Theatre for Special Reading, Q&A and Book Signing
Scholastic Donates 5,000 Copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to L.A. Schoolchildren Ready to Begin Their Hogwarts Journey
Scholastic and New York City Department of Education Announced the 40 Schools Participating in J.K. Rowling Open Book Tour
1,600 Lucky New York City Public School Students Will Join Rowling at Carnegie Hall for Special Reading, Q&A and Book Signing
Scholastic To Donate 5,000 Copies of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to New York City Schoolchildren Ready to Begin Their Hogwarts Journey
Scholastic Announces Record Breaking Sales of 11.5 Million Copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in First Ten Days
New York, NY (August 2, 2007) -- Scholastic, the global publishing, education and media company, announced today that sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the blockbuster final volume in J.K. Rowling’s phenomenally successful series, reached a record breaking 11.5 million copies in the U.S. in its first 10 days on sale. This milestone comes on the heels of the previously announced 8.3 million copies sold in the U.S. within the first 24 hours of the book’s release at 12:01am on July 21st.
Scholastic and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Make Publishing History with 8.3 Million Copies Sold in First 24 Hours
New York, NY (July 22, 2007) -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final Harry Potter book, published in the U.S. by Scholastic, hit bookstores nationwide at 12:01 a.m. on July 21, 2007 and once again Harry Potter made history. Early reports estimate that Scholastic broke all publishing records, selling an unprecedented 8.3 million copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in its first 24 hours on sale.
