For the first time in more than 10 years, Scholastic will be offering a new book fair option. Discovery Fair will feature nonfiction STEAM titles, science and art kits, and interactive, “museum-ified” displays.

“The discovery fair is this idea of helping kids discover how amazing the world is,” says Laura Lundgren, chief marketing officer of Children’s Book Group for Scholastic. “This is a pairing of straight nonfiction book content and a lot of interactive kits that are based around STEAM education.”

Discovery Fair is comparable in size to the standard fair, including about 370 items in total; roughly half are books and half are STEAM kits and tools, according to a Scholastic spokesperson. It will be available beginning in January.

This new offering has been in development for about two years with the goal of continuing to combat pandemic learning loss, while bringing in students who may not see themselves as readers.

“A lot of our nonfiction [at standard fairs] is so popular with kids, so we pulled on that thread,” says Lundgren. “Then our process is to look at the research [and] talk to customers—that includes the educators in the school, parents and families and what they need in their household libraries, and making sure that it's a product that's going to resonate and be exciting for kids.”

Drawing on what titles had interest from students at past fairs to curate the new collection, some popular categories are the ocean, outer space, wild weather, natural disasters, science and engineering, and the arts—which includes kits and activities like drawing instruction books, painting sets, sketchbooks, and more. 

“[The] curatorial process is really based on subject matter and really thoughtful consideration of what's going to resonate with kids,” says Lundgren. “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.”

For now, the focus is on titles about popular topics and hands-on kits. The fair does not include any biographies. As they expand this particular option, a Scholastic spokesperson says they will be looking to highlight scientists, inventors, and creators “so every child can see themselves in these roles.”

The fair itself is designed to be as much an experience for kids as a book sale.

“The creative team also took so much care,” says Lundgren. “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.”