The elementary school book sale flyer! I remember we got them on Friday so we could take all weekend to look them over and pester our parents to let us place a HUGE order. Oh, maybe that was just me?
The ones my kids get are from Scholastic but it seems to me like there was another company back in the day. No matter who the flyer has come a long way since I was in school: now it’s eight pages and there are at least 2 different ones for each grade level. There is a key for reading level for the various scoring systems and teachers can even set it up for their class to use online ordering. The best part is the more orders, the more free books are earned for the classroom. Nice system!
The system is so convenient, there is NO excuse not to let your child order something. Well, that’s the argument my kid used on me today! What is on the must-buy list of a ten year old boy for this flyer?
Well, let’s take a look at what he says he “really, truly, Mom” “Otter” be reading!!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
Can you believe this is #9 in the Wimpy Kid books? This is a great series and in this outing, the Heffley’s are going on a ROAD TRIP!!! The Long Haul will release on November 4th but ordering from the Scholastic flyer gets you some extras: a “sneak peek” booklet and 4 postcards that will arrive with the classroom book order. Then, the actual book will be sent to your school to be delivered to you on the release day-kind of cool if you’re in 5th grade! This one goes to the top of the order form for us.
The Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79
Lauren Tarshis is one of my son’s favorite authors, he devours everything she writes. She does exhaustive research on her subjects and the books give kids an accurate look at history with a huge resource list at the end of every book. I like that they don’t flinch from the tough parts of history. If your kids are history buffs and you don’t mind answering questions or looking at tons of websites to get a fuller understanding, then definitely start your kids on books by Lauren Tarshis.
This was just released 8/26 and tells the story of Pompeii and the destruction of the volcano. I have it from a very well-informed source that since the Doctor (Doctor Who / Peter Capaldi) also appeared in a Pompeii-themed episode of that BBC series, that this book must be on our shelves immediately!
Minecraft: Redstone Handbook
This is the only picture I could find but the actual Scholastic order will be for a 3 volume set of Minecraft titles: Redstone Handbook, Combat Handbook and Essential Handbook. I’ll admit I was late to the “minecraft party”. I couldn’t figure out what the heck the kids were doing with all those little blocks. Then, I tried it and WOWZERS, what a cool game! The graphics are minimal and everything is square but it is so much fun-mostly I build little railroads and watch my trains go around my cow pasture, so I guess it’s sort of a Zen thing-yeah, let’s go with that instead of old broad playing video games instead of doing housework 😉
The kids LOVE this game and use something called texture packs and mods to build amazing things. They can play alone or with friends so there is actually a redeeming value to a video game. These handbooks are official Mojang books and have tips and advice for players. This was actually on an early Christmas list I saw (I know, already-it’s August!!) so we’ll be ordering these, too.
This is why I have no money-BOOKS! Don’t miss the post I’ll have up tomorrow for Funday Friday with REVIEWS of a few books you “Otter” be reading this weekend!!