My kids enjoyed Scholastic Books thru elementary school. They had many books for just a dollar or two and most were under $5.
A few years ago I re-read many Sherlock Holmes stories and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Has anyone mentioned Encylopedia Brown?
I don’t remember having the Scholastic book program at school, but I do remember looking forward to receiving The Weekly Reader. And kind of off topic, but how many of you remember the SRA cards in school?
Ah, yes, SRA and also my math teacher had some teach yourself math at your own pace after you’ve done all the class work and homework. It was a great way to teach myself algebra and some geometry, which was very handy in intermediate school when I couldn’t see the overhead projector from the back of the room and my classmates didn’t understand the way the teacher explained things.
I liked SRA and “programmed learning.” It had its limitations but it was useful to doublecheck reading comprehension so that folks actually could get what was being conveyed.
I liked the Encyclopedia Brown series tho S and D didn’t really warm to those books.
My relatives and D loved Archie comics series. My kids loved graphic novels. D also loved beautifully illustrated books—read lots of myths because of the detailed and gorgeous illustrations.
I loved Scholastic Books! My parents would always let me order three or four. Like Christmas when they showed up.
Three that had a huge impression on my were:
Snow Treasure (already mentioned upthread)
Plain Girl – about an Amish girl and ways she felt different from the rest of the kids
Mary Jane – fictional account of a girl integrating a school down south. It made me an early crusader against racial injustice. I lived in an almost all-white town, so rarely met anyone black till high school, and never heard any racism, so I had to read to find out what it was.
Oh, another. I wish I could remember the name, but it was a book about a boy in Scandinavia, I think, named Nicholas who grows up to be Santa. Explains all the Christmas traditions through “real” events in his life. Loved it, but never could find it again.
My kids got SB too. We also had a book fair that I always volunteered at. The Home and School bought every kid one book, so even kids without money from home could pick out a book. I loved that tradition.
As a first grade teacher, I reread books every year. The Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing/Fudge books are hilarious. My students laugh at all of Fudge’s hijinks!
Also a very oldie but goody is My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett.
But, I have to say Wonder, by R.J. Palacio is one of the best books I’ve read (kid or adult). And, of course, the Harry Potter series.
The Scholastic books were inexpensive but we couldn’t afford them. One year, though, my grandmother gave me some money just about the time the orders were due, and I ordered Amelia Bedelia. I treasured that book and still have it. Also loved the SRA program. The tiers went by color, right? I seem to remember getting excited about getting to the next color/level. Good preparation for the SAT. 
my kiddos and I have taken a break from the heat and have been listening together these past 2 days. My S is 17 and I would not let him read it before because it is just so sad. We do dog rescue, mostly older dogs that are non-adoptable, so I felt I needed him to share this with me now
A more recent book that is amazing is The One and Only Ivan. I read it a few years ago as an adult and then my daughter actually used the book during high school in a drama competition. Also, I, Freddy! As mentioned earlier, From the Mixed Up Files… was my favorite childhood book! What an adventure! Does anyone else remember a children’s book called Mrs. Twiggley’s Tree? I loved it as a child and my kids loved having me read it to them. And Just Only John!
@IAbooks have you read any Dick Francis as an adult? British author about lots of horse racing type mysteries. Great for the equine inspired reader. 
I bought a copy of Ezra Jack Keats’ “The Snowy Day’, one of my early favorites, for my kids. I remember being struck as a very young child by how different I was from Peter, yet how alike we were. He was an urban black boy and I was a suburban whiite girl who didn’t know a single person of color, but Peter did exactly what I would have done on a snowy day. I also fell for the simple yet beautiful style of illustration.
@InigoMontoya thank you for stimulating that long dormant part of my brain: I was obsessed with the Zilpha Keatley Snyder book “The Velvet Room” and read it many times, along with all the books in the Edward Eager “Half Magic” series. Even younger me adored the “Betsy Tacy and Tib” and “All of a Kind Family” series. I also felt great love for Nancy Drew and the Judy Blume books especially “Are You There God, it’s Me Margaret.” The only ones here that I re-read as an adult were the “All of a Kind Family” books because my kids loved them as well. I still own the entire Nancy Drew series and none of my girls liked them even a little bit. Like many of you, reading was such an important part of my life for many many years and I look back to the books you have all mentioned with great fondness. Older me feels annoyed with herself that she barely reads anything for pleasure these days 
I’m showing my age by saying I can remember when you could order 2 Scholastic books for $1 or less. I loved pouring over that order form and figuring out what to buy.
One girl in my class was allowed to get EVERYTHING from the Scholastic Books flyer every time … so jealous!
And someone, I’ve never known who, made donations so that even the kids who couldn’t afford a book or whose parents didn’t bother to order went home with something.
@Bubblewrap666 Thanks for your kind words. As a child, I could walk to the library without crossing any streets - so at an early age I was going to the library regularly. The librarians would put aside new books they thought I would like, and they waived the limit on the number of books I could take out at one time since they knew how voraciously I read and that I would return the books ahead of time.
As an adult, unfortunately I’ve not been able to read as much for pleasure - too much to do around the house, and too much technology and business reading to do. I need to try and carve out more time.
I did appreciate the callouts to SRA as well. I remember in elementary school I always finished my work quickly and would get fidgety. Teachers allowed me to self-study SRA cards to keep me focused. I would typically be working several grade levels ahead, especially in reading. SRA kept me from being completely bored in school.
With my kids, we would alternate reading chapters of books at night - Magic Treehouse and Secrets of Droon were among favorites - Percy Jackson, the Mockingjay books, and Ready Player One were fabulous new finds.
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame_
The Secret Garden Francis Hodgson Burnett
Mrs. Tiggy Winkle Beatrix Potter
Not surprisingly, I grew up to idealize the the traditional English countryside, as I devoured these books for the illustrations as much as the stories.
Also,
The Little House series
The Lois Lenski series
Brighty of the Grand Canyon. Margurite Henry (was my fav over Misty of Chincoteague but liked that too!
and… the whole 1940s series by Esther Averill featuring cats Jenny Lenski and Pickles the fire cat (anybody remember those?
The Hotel Cat
Jenny’s Birthday Book
Jenny and the Cat Club
Jenny Goes to Sea
Jenny’s Moonlight Adventures
Later, loved Watership Down.
Fun thread!
@garland I still have my Scholastic copy of Mary Jane! Some other favorites from Scholastic were a series about witches and magic by Ruth Chew, Encyclopedia Brown, The Great Brain series, and How to Eat Fried Worms.
I just reread the Little House Series and the annotated version of her memoir, Pioneer Girl, upon which the books were based. I also reread the Anne of Green Gables books from time to time.
Not from my childhood because I am too old, but I reread the Harry Potter books.
Tolkein I adored as a child/adolescent but find the language stilted today.
I loved Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew but I can’t imagine picking them up now. Others that might not stand the test of time but that I enjoyed as a kid were the Mushroom Planet books, Danny Dunn series, and a book called the Lemonade Trick.
I just reread the Oz series by L. Frank Baum (which I also bought through Scholastic when a child) and like @JHS I now find the quality of the writing uneven. The first book is beautifully written IMO but the others are variable, probably because he wrote one nearly every year. They are still charming and creative.
I have also revisited Island of the Blue Dolphins, Witch of Blackbird Pond, My Side of the Mountain (and really wanted to run away and live in a tree), the Wrinkle in Time series, LeGuin’s Earthsea Trilogy, and works by E. Nesbit and Frances Hodgsen Burnett.
The Arthur Lang Fairy Tale compilations (Blue Fairy Book, Green Fairy Book, etc.) still hold up but arguably are geared towards adults.
So many of the pre-1923 classics are available for free through Project Gutenberg, which is great if I want to satisfy my curiosity.
Danny Dunn - yes! And I loved the color fairy tale books — still have the blue one.
@InigoMontoya My teacher did the same with the SRA cards. I think we were both sad when I finished the whole box. And they were great SAT prep!
@CMB625 - If you like The One and Only Ivan, then you might like to try Home of the Brave, which is also written by Applegate. It is a wonderful story of an African refugee boy in Minnesota, written in verse. It is a current favorite of the fifth grade students in the schools where I work.
@Bubblewrap666 - If you like Zilpha Keatley Snyder, have you tried her book The Egypt Game? It is quite wonderful, with the layers of complexity and real-world issues over a tale of imaginative children, just like in all of Snyder’s books.
@TheGreyKing I have not read the Egypt Game but just texted my oldest, who is at our local library right now doing LSAT studying, and asked her to pick it up for me, along with The Velvet Room, if they have it. I feel some Zilpha coming on!!!
And another shout-out to SRA! I loved it so much. For some reason, I’m seeing the olive one in my mind.