Who is Scholastic Australia?

Scholastic has been the market leader of Australian children’s publishing for over 50 years. The fledgling H J Ashton Company—founded in New Zealand in 1962—was established in Australia in 1968. In 1970, the company joined the Scholastic Inc. International group, which has its head office in New York, USA.

Since then, Scholastic has established itself as a beloved and recognisable household name in children’s literature. For decades, Scholastic has proudly been bringing adventure and the unrivalled enjoyment of reading to multiple generations of Australian families. Many of the books bought by Scholastic’s first customers are still sitting, battered and loved, on the bookshelves of those customer’s own children and grandchildren.

Scholastic is a trusted literacy partner worldwide, publishing and distributing books and educational materials of the highest quality to children and educators in over 150 countries. Scholastic books can be found in the iconic Book Club catalogue, fun-filled Book Fairs at schools, and in bookshops and major retailers across the nation.

There are more than 7000 Scholastic Book Fairs held annually in Australian schools. Each Book Fair offers an exciting, hands-on book buying experience, where children are encouraged to browse and interact with any book title that catch their eye. Book Fairs are a chance to bring together an entire school community, encouraging both children and their families to unite over the simple—yet powerful—love of books.

Scholastic Book Club can be found in more than 94% of primary schools across Australia, and covers ages from 0-12+ years. Each Issue of Book Club contains specially curated, age-appropriate titles that have been carefully selected and levelled by a dedicated team of professional booklovers.

With numerous studies finding that reading at home is a key factor in a child’s lifelong success, Book Club provides a fun and easy way of bringing books into a child’s home. It provides families with an affordable and convenient way to access the best in Australian and international children's literature. As well as bridging the important class-to-home reading gap, Book Club also benefits Australian schools—for every Book Club order placed, Scholastic gives back 15% of the order spend to schools to spend on valuable educational resources via its Scholastic Rewards program.

Scholastic always strives to offer an extensive range of quality books and cross-curriculum products to the children and educators of Australia. Scholastic’s team searches the globe for resources that will enable a child to reach their highest potential—strengthening their vocabularies, critical thinking skills and broadening their knowledge of the world around them, all via the enjoyable act of reading.

Therein lies the heart of Scholastic: the unwavering belief that all children should have regular access from a young age to quality, affordable books that they have chosen for themselves. Reading books for pleasure has been proven to play an integral role in a child’s success during both their schooling and adult life. It is Scholastic’s goal to foster this love of reading, and to acknowledge the power of choice when it comes to children genuinely enjoying the books they’re reading.

Reading brings a sense of unparalleled joy and ignites a spark of adventure that a child can carry within their heart well into their adult life. Scholastic hopes to light this spark within every child.

Written by: Alesha Evans