Growing up, I distinctly remember the seeing Goosebumps books in Reading Club flyers and at Book Fairs. I remember my friends reading them and swapping books so they could read all the books in the series. But for me? No thanks. I thought those covers were so creepy! And don’t forget the titles, like One Day at Horrorland or It Came From Beneath the Sink! I wasn’t that brave...I don’t want to know what’s under the sink! So I stuck to my Baby-Sitters Club and Boxcar Children books (which had pastel-colored covers and pictures of friends, NOT ghosts!)

Around this time last year, R. L. Stine was scheduled to come to the office and sign books for employees. I decided to use this opportunity to conquer my fear and finally read a Goosebumps book! I’m an adult! I could do this…right? So I picked up The Haunted Mask(I’ll admit, I thought about trying Night of the Living Dummy, but that one STILL freaks me out!) Unfortunately, the event was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy, but I was still proud of myself for reading it…even if it did give me the creeps.

Since I’ve finally read my first Goosebumps book, I am truly looking forward to this Saturday, October 19, because R. L. Stine will be at The Scholastic Store in Soho! If you’re in NYC, be sure to come by! You can make monster blood,have your book signed, and participate in a Q&A. It'll be a fun (and spine-chilling time) for fans of all ages!

We are excited to share that three of our products were recently recognized by the Education Software Review Awards ("Eddies"), which targets innovative and content-rich programs and websites that enhance the classroom curriculum and improve teacher productivity, providing parents and teachers with the technology to foster educational excellence. Winners were selected from titles submitted by publishers worldwide.

The Education Software Review Awards were presented to Scholastic Library Publishing for the following:

• TrueFlix, an online resource that captures the attention of children in grades 3–5, motivating them to learn social studies, science, and literary skills, took home the award for Best Multi-Subject Website for Upper Elementary students. Click here for a trial of TrueFlix.  
• FreedomFlix, which is delivered completely over the Internet and helps students to comprehend and evaluate nonfiction texts across a range of types and complexities, was recognized as the Best American History Website for Middle School. Click here for a trial of FreedomFlix.
• Grolier Online, the most comprehensive source of nonfiction content for grades 3 and up, was awarded in the Multi-Level category for Best Reference Website. Click here for a trial of Grolier Online.

GIVEAWAY: To celebrate these programs honors, we thought it would be fun to host a giveaway for one lucky reader to win a year subscription of FreedomFlix for any single building school. For a chance to win leave a comment below telling us how FreedomFlix would help your students. See official rules here.

At Scholastic we are so fortunate to work with incredible partners who value our mission of getting books into the hands of children. Last week we caught up with LaMarr Woodley, linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, during his second annual Sack Attack Literacy Initiative kickoff event. During the event, we asked LaMarr some questions that were on our mind:

Why did you start the LaMarr Woodley Sack Attack Literacy Initiative?

I started my Sack Attack program in 2009 to benefit three deserving organizations that mean a lot to me. The great thing about Sack Attack is my on field performance helps give back off the field. With every sack I make, I donate money to these organizations. One of those organizations is the Boys & Girls Club. I felt like one way I could give back even further, is to develop a literacy initiative for these kids that are part of my Sack Attack program so that they can read and write, and get more involved with learning outside of the classroom.

Can you tell more about the initiative?

We give 200 kids two new books through our partners Scholastic and Reading is Fundamental Pittsburgh, along with activity sheets for each book. They read each book and complete the reading response form for prizes. Also, we hold an essay contest each year, and this year the theme is anti-bullying. The winner from each age group gets to come to one of my games at the end of the season. It’s so much fun to kick off this program and literacy initiative each year with the kids. They are always so excited.

How has education played an important part in your life?

Education has played a big role in my life. It’s one of the most important things in life. Education is the foundation for every person, not only in the classroom, but in athletics too. For me, it’s been all about learning everything there is to know in the game that I play, and without a doubt helping me to get my degree.

Who was your role model growing up?

Otis Washington was one of them, an older teammate of mine in high school. Family, community members, coaches - there were a lot who helped guide me to where I am today.

What are you reading?

Right now I am currently enjoying Uncommon by Tony Dungy.

If you could give one piece of advice to children today, what would it be?

Never give up, and never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. If you put your mind to it, and put in the hard work, it will pay off.

Our President & CEO Dick Robinson was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal's "Boss Talk" to discuss Scholastic's focus on educational technology and the importance of books and reading in the Common Core era.

You can watch a portion of interview here, and we've included excerpts below! You can also view the piece online here.

WSJ: Why is Scholastic, which was once in the textbook business, now betting heavily on education technology?

Mr. Robinson: We exited textbooks in year 2000 because the textbook business was very much a commodity business.

What we can do today is help you adapt to Common Core standards with services that you can use to move your kids from here to there. It's a different model than what has happened before in education. And it's a model that will have a much bigger impact on the way children learn and the way that schools perform.

WSJ: Can a content and distribution provider such as Scholastic succeed on its own, or does it need a technology partner with greater engineering prowess?

Mr. Robinson: We have any technology we want available to us. We know all the people in the business, and we know what services they offer. But what the schools need is something that works in the classroom, which is our capability.

Yes it's about content, but it's also knowing how to teach something, and how to interest kids. The technology itself is only a tool.

WSJ: Earlier this year Pearson PLC merged its Penguin Group consumer publishing arm with Random House to focus on digital learning and education services. Have you considered a similar move away from trade publishing?

Mr. Robinson: Pearson [was mostly] an educational publishing company. ... It made perfect sense. But we're also a distribution company with outreach. We sell book to parents primarily through clubs and fairs, and it's a more stable business than people think. It's not advertising based, and it's not getting rapidly disintermediated by digital books.

We don't need to exit trade publishing. We've got some good things coming up, and we've had a pretty good track record. We're good at that in part because we are sellers as well as content providers. We get sales reports every day with thousands of different books from all publishers. We know what kids want, which is often different from what bookstores want or what librarians want.

WSJ: How are you going to grow revenue, which took a big hit in the recent fiscal year in part because of slowing unit sales of the "Hunger Games" trilogy?

Mr. Robinson: Common Core will give a boost to the business. Teachers and parents want their kids to do better, and reading more is one of the most foolproof ways of doing that.

WSJ: You've got about 125,000 book fairs a year. Will the growth in digital reading mark the end of the fair business?

Mr. Robinson: I'm optimistic about the book fair experience. The reason is that it's not only about reading. It's also about communities coming together. Sometimes the fairs are connected to parent visiting night. It's a way for people to get together and show support for their schools. And the schools make money from it.

WSJ: What will Scholastic look like in five years?

Mr. Robinson: We'll get a larger share of the education business. The money is already there. We'll be asked to do more with staff development, and with our technology programs. That's also the part of the business that investors are most interested in. They aren't so sure about the consumer book business, so they give us a modest multiple on that. But on the education side, they see secular change.

WSJ: Do you plan to be like your father, who remained chairman until he died in 1982?

Mr. Robinson: My dad worked until he was 86. He reluctantly made me chief executive in 1975. He sent notes on the day before he died telling me what I should be doing. But I don't plan to do that.

WSJ: Have you chosen a successor?

Mr. Robinson: I have lots of good people in the company. I haven't anointed one … but as I give more responsibility to people, that meets everybody's goal.

Julia Boudreau of Scholastic Media is guest blogging today to announce the winners of the 2013 ‘Clifford BE BIG in Your Community Contest’!

We can think of no BIGGER inspiration to do BIG things in our community than our very own Clifford The Big Red Dog! Clifford has been inspiring us, big and small, to be better citizens with his 10 BIG ideas (Share, Play Fair, Have Respect, Be Kind, Work Together, Be Responsible, Be Truthful, Be A Good Friend, Help Others and Believe in Yourself) for over 50 years!  So much so – that we launched a dedicated campaign around it called BE BIG. It’s all about inviting kids, parents and teachers alike to take action and raise awareness for how Clifford’s BIG Ideas the world a better place.

As part of that campaign, each year Scholastic works with Points of Light, the largest volunteer network in the nation, to support the ‘BE BIG In Your Community Contest’. The national contest invites participants to submit a BIG idea that demonstrates Clifford’s Big Ideas for a chance to win a community grant to be used toward implementing the winning proposals. Since its inception in 2009, the contest has generated over 4,200 BIG ideas from more than 100,000 children, parents, teachers and community leaders, and has awarded over $200,000 in grants to bring these BIG ideas to life.

Today, we are delighted to share the news of our 2013 contest winners! Teacher Karrie Marciniak from Bay City, Michigan was selected as the grand prize winner for her BIG idea to implement a program in her school called ‘Paws for a Book: Readers Rock.’ The program will engage students in grades K-5 in a continuous service project through the introduction of service dogs into the classroom. The students and dogs will take a variety of fieldtrips to homes for the elderly to read to and visit with the residents. Marciniak’s goal for the program is to help children become more confident, accurate and fluent readers – given the service dogs are such non-judgmental and patient listeners! By teaming up with a local service dog organization, she hopes that the children’s reading skills and overall confidence will be strengthened, and that the service dogs will have a positive impact on the school and community.

Five equally compelling BIG ideas were also chosen as First Place Prize winners to receive community grants to help implement their winning ideas.

For a complete gallery of our 2013 winners– click here. And remember – it only takes a little to BE BIG!

As the conversation around the Common Core evolves, the views of teachers are more important than ever. If you’ve been wondering what public school teachers think about the standards, the views of 20,000 are available as part of a preview of the third edition of Primary Sources, the landmark series of survey reports dedicated to sharing the viewpoints of teachers. 

What did the results tell us? Overall, teachers are positive while recognizing the hard work that is implementation.  Seventy-three percent of teachers who teach math, ELA, science and/or social studies agree that they are enthusiastic about Common Core implementation in their classrooms.  However, the same percentage tells us that they believe implementation is going to be challenging.

In conversations, teachers have told us that they appreciate the consistency and that all students will be challenged in the same way.  For specific skills, 77% believe the standards will have a positive impact on their students’ ability to think critically and use reasoning skills. 

When it comes to challenges, teachers are honest in their concerns for their students.  When asked about special populations in their classrooms, they told us they are most concerned for their students who are currently working two or more grades below grade-level, followed by special education students.  To help them support these students, as well as students working on grade-level and English Language Learners, teachers say their number one need is age-appropriate, leveled instructional materials.

There is so much more to learn from these teachers.  To learn more about Primary Sources, a project of Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and this Common Core data, visit www.scholastic.com/primarysources.

Teachers, do you see your experiences and opinions reflected in this data? 

Yesterday, we shared with you the artwork children's book author and illustrator Henry Cole created for The Art of Read Every Day, our new project that celebrates reading through art. All week long on social, we'll be highlighting the many resources (video, discussion guides, and more) that accompany Henry's artwork.

Today, we have a special addition to that list—we sat down with Henry to ask him about his career, his time spent as a teacher, and what inspires him to draw. Here are five questions with Henry Cole. 

1. You have written and/or illustrated over 100 children's books. What is it you love most about writing for children?

If you've ever seen a kid lost in a book you've worked on, you know how rewarding it is.  

2. You're a former teacher! Can you tell us a little bit about your experience teaching and working with children, and whether or not it influenced you to write for this audience? 

Yes, I enjoyed teaching science and math for about 17 years.  My goal was to make kids WANT to be at school, or at least not want to leave science class. I guess maybe being able to draw helped, also antics and acting out things, too.

If you're writing or drawing for kids, it helps to know the audience; being in the classroom with kids for years and years helped me a lot with that.

3. Who inspired you most to pursue a career in the arts? Did you have a favorite teacher or someone who encouraged you to keep drawing? 

I had lots of favorite teachers:  may I thank dorothy patterson, evelyn holder collier, and barb thompson right here and now?!? My favorite teachers taught me in third grade and 9th grade English.

4. In school you studied forestry, not art, and you say that being outside was a big part of your childhood. How has your background in science and your love for nature influenced you as an artist?

It distresses me that kids don't spend more time being outside these days, exploring and being creative. If you know it better, you can draw it better... I studied forestry  (ornithology, aquatic entomology, dendrology, ichthyology, all the -ologies...) and it helped my ability at depicting nature in stories.

5. Your poster of the child reading with a monkey, cat, dog, bird, and mouse represents what "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life." means to you. Can you explain a little bit about how you got to this finished product?  

Books are about communicating, seeing and understanding different sides of things...

Thanks, Henry! 

Since September, teachers and parents across the country have been entering their kids in Scholastic Reading Club’s Star Reader Sweepstakes. To date, over 11,000 Star Readers have been submitted! We noticed some books and series kept popping up as kids’ favorite books, so we went through the entries and made a list of the Star Readers’ most listed favorite books and turned it into a word cloud!

Star Readers’ Most Listed Favorite Books:

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
2. Harry Potter
3. Magic Tree House series
4. Percy Jackson
5. Junie B. Jones
6. Rainbow Magic series
7. Captain Underpants
8. Pete the Cat
9. Geronimo Stilton/Thea Stilton series
10. Dork Diaries

There’s still plenty of time to enter kids for a chance to be featured in Scholastic Reading Club’s iconic flyers! Here’s how it works:

• Parents or teachers can go to Scholastic.com/starreader to submit a star reader.
• Eight lucky kids will be randomly chosen each month to be featured in their grade flyer (Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Graders, 2nd Graders, 3rd Graders, 4th Graders, 5th Graders, and Middle School) PLUS they will win a 10-book library.
• Last day to enter is December 31.  Winners will appear in the flyers (February – May 2014)

For complete details on how to enter and official rules, visit www.scholastic.com/starreader

How do you say Ms. Frizzle in Chinese?

“Juan Mao Lau Shi. Juan means frizzy; Mao means hair; and Lau shi is teacher,” says author of the Magic School Bus series, Joanna Cole. She and illustrator Bruce Degen just returned from their first trip to China, where they met with fans of The Magic School Bus across the country!

“We learned that Magic School Bus has sold more than 8 million Chinese language books since 2007, and the volume has increased every year.  Our hosts were the Chinese publisher, Beijing Yuanliu, with the children's imprint, Dandelion, who have the rights for the Chinese language editions on the mainland,” says Bruce.

Joanna and Bruce were busy during their two weeks in the country as they visited schools and libraries, met with the team from Scholastic Asia, attended book signings, sampled local cuisine, and even met a panda bear! Some of the schools they visited were reading The Magic School Bus books in Chinese, while others were using the original versions to learn English. Through the help of a translator, Joanna and Bruce were able to answer questions from the students and learn about what they love about the Magic School Bus!

 “At one point in our journey, a typhoon was headed right for us, but swerved away at the last minute,” said Joanna. “So good fortune followed us all the way.”

“I will never forget this trip.  With the traveling time it took 14 days.  It was worth every minute,” said Bruce. “It felt like we were participating in a rising renaissance of Children's publishing in a huge country that is eager to be part of the worldwide advances in reading, education, and the pleasures of Children's literature.”

Each week, from now through December, we'll be highlighting the artwork of thirteen illustrators who shared with us their interpretation of "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life." The collection of artwork is part of our new project, The Art of Read Every Day, and each piece is accompanied by free, Common Core-ready resources for classrooms. Last week, we revealed the gorgeous work of Nancy Carpenter and the week before, the beloved Harry Bliss.

This week, I'm excited to share with you the work of children's book illustrator Henry Cole. Cole has written and illustrated over 100 children's books thus far in his career, including the widely acclaimed Unspoken, which was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book for 2012.

Cole's interpretation of "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life." made me laugh out loud. In the sketch, a monkey is reading a book about sign language, a cat is learning how to build a better mousetrap, a dog is reading about new tricks, and a mouse about cheese making. It's incredibly detailed—you must zoom in to make sure you're capturing all of the nuances of the piece. Each character in the sketch is really embracing the notion that reading can make you better at what you set out to do (whether it be cheese making or learning new tricks).

There's a plethora of resources for children that can be used in conjunction with the artwork. Visit the site and you'll find:

• Common-core ready writing and art prompts
• a video of Henry Cole reading aloud from Unspoken. (Interestingly enough, this book has no words, yet Cole walks us through the pages, telling the story in his own language.)
• a video interview of Cole, where he discusses how he first became interested in drawing and offers advice for young artists (get a pet!)

We hope you enjoy these resources. Check back here later in the week—we asked Henry Cole five questions about his career and his work, and we'll be sharing them here!