Laura Lundgren, Scholastic’s Chief Marketing Officer for the Children’s Book Group, shared an exclusive first look with School Library Journal at the company’s upcoming Discovery Fair, set to launch in January 2026.
With STEAM titles, hands-on science and art kits, and interactive displays, the Discovery Fair will help combat pandemic learning loss and build on the popular nonfiction offerings at standard fairs.
“The discovery fair is this idea of helping kids discover how amazing the world is. This is a pairing of straight nonfiction book content and a lot of interactive kits that are based around STEAM education,” Lundgren said.
After implementing feedback from both research and conversations with customers, the fair features titles about popular topics such as the ocean, outer space, wild weather, natural disasters, science and engineering, and the arts. Roughly half the products offered will be hands-on kits such as instruction books, painting sets and sketchbooks.
“The curatorial process is really based on subject matter and really thoughtful consideration of what's going to resonate with kids,” Lundgren said. “We’re very conscientious about making sure that it is educationally sound, but also that we have multiple price points and a really nice wide variety of entry points for every economic level.”
With museum-like displays, Lundgren explained the fair is designed to be an experience for kids.
“The creative team also took so much care. They went and looked at interactive museums. They did all sorts of research to make sure that they were showing up in a space in a way that felt scientifically fortified, really educationally bound, but [through a] kid lens. Make it playful. Make it inviting. Invite them to touch and feel everything. Invite them to pick up the books,” said Lundgren.
To learn more about the new Discovery Fair, read School Library Journal’s feature here: Scholastic To Launch New Nonfiction Book Fair in the Spring