Book Fairs

[Foreverfox]

Oh man, book fairs were the BEST. Give me those cheesy car posters, cat’s cradle books, and best teams of the year pennants all day. My favorite things I got there were actually those things! I got a cat’s cradle book, which I still had through high school, a book on how to fold money into little origami things WHICH I STILL HAVE and I can still do some of them without looking it up, and a Chicago Bulls pennant. You just had to be alive during the time of Michael Jordan’s Bulls to understand out legit this was and the success of snagging one before they were all gone. I don’t think there was a person on the planet at that time who didn’t know who he was. Man, going to the book fair with $20 feeling like the richest kid ever was seriously a thrill.

 

[Suguri]

Yeah, I experienced book fairs back then, and I've ordered from those book club flyer thingymabobs too. Good times! The last time I experienced a book fair was in the 5th grade. There was going to be one in middle school but it was cancelled because of the pandemic. By the time my school reopened there were still no plans for another book fair. And the last time I ordered from the flyers was when I was in the 8th grade.
I especially remember getting a Wimpy Kid book (which I still have in my collection), a kit for making chenille stem dogs, a Harry Potter pop-up book, a copy of Dog Man that came with a booklet for making your own comic, and this book based on the Kleptocats mobile game that came with a stuffed toy.

 

[ZeldaCrossing64]

We had book fairs in my elementary school, plus one in my high school when I was in the 7th grade. Funnily enough, I don't think I ever got any books. (I love reading, but I think the problem was that there were so many books I wanted and not enough in my pocket to get them all. I was an "all or nothing" kind of kid, I suppose.) I was more interested in the stationary, I bought so many pens and erasers and highlighters!

 

[Zinnia.]

Yep! There were book fairs at both of my elementary schools. I never really bought anything from them because it was cheaper to borrow the books that I wanted from the library or order them online. They also sold a lot of stuff like invisible ink pens, posters, stationary and plastic pointer staffs.

<- There were always kids on the bus sword fighting or throwing them at each other. After a few years the school stopped ordering them because they got tired of having to take them away lol.

 

[Corrie]

I LOVED book fairs! I remember wanting everything there except the books haha. The scented erasers, animal posters, or cool pencils...

I got my books from the scholastic book orders. My parents bought me the entire set of the series of unfortunate events as well as two pokemon handbooks. I adored and read each of those books a bunch of times.

 

[Hyoon]

wow this brought back memories for me for sure. i've always loved book fairs at my elementary school. i loved browsing the catalogue and seeing the random things for sale and browsing the books themselves at the fair. the only sad thing is my parents never allowed me to buy any sadly since they were pretty expensive back then.

 

[SkyKnight03]

I attended them. My family was dirt poor so actually getting something wasn't always likely. And if so, I was limited to one item. I was usually after the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Super fun places and they do make me fairly nostalgic.

There was one time another kid asked me if I could buy him the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book at the fair. Being limited to one item, I used my money to buy him the new book.

He told me the book sucked. He wasn't grateful. Other kids (and the teacher) thought he bullied me into buying it. Nope. I bought it for him on my own free will.

Waaaay later in life (actually legit last year) that same kid found me on social media. I think he wanted money. Seemed to be where it was headed. I didn't want to talk to him though.

 

[Suguri]

There was one time another kid asked me if I could buy him the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book at the fair. Being limited to one item, I used my money to buy him the new book.

He told me the book sucked.

Ouch! You deserve better than for your gift to go to waste. He needs to be more grateful next time!
I'm curious though, what was the new Wimpy Kid book at the time? Just asking because I have a collection of every single book in the series (including the spin-off) and I felt the urge to give you my opinion on whatever book you were talking about.

 

[SkyKnight03]

Ouch! You deserve better than for your gift to go to waste. He needs to be more grateful next time!
I'm curious though, what was the new Wimpy Kid book at the time? Just asking because I have a collection of every single book in the series (including the spin-off) and I felt the urge to give you my opinion on whatever book you were talking about.

It was Roderick Rules. (I distinctly remember him saying "He bought me Roderick Rules. Roderick Rules sucks").

...It's also possible that there may have been other books out at the time, and he wasn't happy that I got him this one. Because now that I'm talking about this and recalling information better, he didn't specify 'new'. He said 'any wimpy kid book'.

I kept up with the series for a while too. I even had the Do-It-Yourself spin off book. I got older and found out the author released so many of them. Some day I'll have to revisit the series.

 

[Suguri]

It was Roderick Rules. (I distinctly remember him saying "He bought me Roderick Rules. Roderick Rules sucks").

...It's also possible that there may have been other books out at the time, and he wasn't happy that I got him this one. Because now that I'm talking about this and recalling information better, he didn't specify 'new'. He said 'any wimpy kid book'.

I kept up with the series for a while too. I even had the Do-It-Yourself spin off book. I got older and found out the author released so many of them. Some day I'll have to revisit the series.

Oh yeah, Rodrick Rules! I like this one, the jokes there are great. Not sure why he thought it "sucks".

And just a heads-up in case you're going to revisit the series: the books become a bit more nonsensical and less realistic-ish starting (for me) with The Long Haul. Also, some of the books have this thing where a bunch of words are UNNECESSARILY in UPPERCASE. The Meltdown is a good example. At least it was toned down later on.

Thank you for replying and good luck!

 

[KittenNoir]

I loved going to the book fairs I want to go back in time and read those book catalogue they would give you of stuff you could order.

 

[Neb]

They were always the highlight of the school year for me. I loved picking up the newest Big Nate or Dork Diaries books there along with the silly pencils and erasers they had.