(LifeSiteNews) — Conservative educational outfit PragerU is launching its own book fair initiative to offer a “non-woke, patriotic” alternative to the increasingly radical content offered by children’s literature giant Scholastic.
The PragerU Kids Book Fair program offers schools, libraries, and community book fairs standing displays including 16 “chosen PragerU Kids K–12 books, each paired with entertaining videos & lesson plans designed to instill a love of reading, strengthen character, and deepen understanding of history and civics.”
The books will be curated from PragerU’s selection of children’s books, with topics ranging from the Ten Commandments and the signers of the Declaration of Independence, to inspirational stories from American history, to profiles of historical figures and key community institutions, and more.
Interested parties can either apply to be sent a limited number of free kits (complete with books, displays, and supplemental materials), or purchase kits outright.
PragerU Kids outreach director Jill Simonian recently spoke with Breitbart News about the need for an alternative to the likes of Scholastic.
“It is tilted so far woke, under a veil of inclusion and diversity and equity and all of these labels that we are all — most of us — are now wise to,” she said, citing books about transgenderism (targeted to fourth-graders), “anti-racism” (promoting the narrative that society is systematically racist), and (paradoxically) minority “reconquista” of American land from white, Christian, western influences. “Scholastic is publishing these books and it’s putting them in its book fairs and they’re touting them as these American Library Association Award-winning materials for young readers, and it is the opposite of that. Parents have no idea because it is under the radar.”
By contrast, PragerU’s content teaches appreciation for the founding principles of America’s system of government and for the achievements of men and women throughout history who took on the challenge of building, growing, and improving the nation as it exits today.
In 2024, LifeSiteNews covered Scholastic’s publication of its “pride” guide for K-12 teachers. In the document, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books effectively admits its goals include LGBT activism, not just education. “Books and literature are never neutral,” Scholastic says. “By engaging with queer literature for children and young adults, you are disrupting the status quo that implies being cisgender, heterosexual, and allosexual are the default.”
Nor is Scholastic’s woke turn a recent development. Back in 2015, the company distributed 10,000 copies of George, by self-described “queer activist” Alex Gino, which tells the story of a 10-year-old boy who decides he doesn’t feel like a boy. Scholastic deemed the book appropriate for children as young as third grade.