Ave Maria University and Ignatius Press have teamed up to offer Ignatius Book Fairs, a Catholic book fair for parents and schools who want to offer their children an alternative to the Scholastic Book Fairs, which have increasingly become a haven for inappropriate content for children.
Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, founder of Ignatius Press, lamented the “attack on the innocence of children” in society, and explained, “We want to use our resources to provide young people with good, wholesome literature and give them a love for reading.”
The fairs are unique, he believes, in that they aim to provide “the best in Catholic literature for young people that will form them in ways that they will build upon throughout their lives.”
Scholastic Book Fairs has been a popular resource for schools and parents for decades, but in recent years, Ignatius Book Fairs organizers related in a press statement, “Scholastic has had a dramatic shift in its mission and principles, publishing sexually explicit LGTBQ content, books about witchcraft and the occult and more topics that have caused parents concern.”
They continued, “National alternatives to such inappropriate and harmful content have not existed until now, leaving Catholic schools in a difficult position when they want to provide great books to their students. Ignatius Book Fairs has been launched to fill this void, with the ability to ship a high-quality, beautiful and fun book fair anywhere in the United States.”
You can watch “Welcome to Ignatius Book Fairs”, released on the Ignatius Press YouTube Channel:
Ave Maria University President Mark Middendorf supports the mission of Ignatius Book Fairs, remarking, “Ignatius Press has a longstanding tradition of being the most popular Catholic publisher in America. Through this new venture, we hope to help form young children with faith-filled literature. We are building these book fairs to be a fountainhead of renewal for the Church, for the salvation of souls.”
Ignatius Book Fairs, organizers stated, will offer “fully vetted children’s classics, contemporary stories, graphic novels, picture books, plus titles about science, history, crafts and more. Ignatius Book Fairs offers schools a competitive alternative to Scholastic.”
Rose Trabbic, Director of Operations for Ignatius Book Fairs, spoke to CWR about Ignatius Book Fairs. She is a longtime Ignatius Press employee, is a mother of five children who currently attend Catholic school who, she explained, “knows the importance of Catholic education and equipping schools with the resources they need to thrive.” One of her favorite pastimes is reading “beautiful, inspiring books to her children and finding new books to share with them.”
CWR: When did a concern develop about materials being offered at Scholastic Book Fairs?
Rose Trabbic: We’ve been hearing concerns from Catholic school leaders and parents going back five years or more now. They were telling us that there needed to be a competitive alternative to Scholastic. In response, we launched Ignatius Book Club, which began and then was delayed by COVID. The “Book Club” option offers the option for parents to buy books for their child’s classroom and the teacher receives awards. We will be bringing this back soon!
Today, we’re getting requests from schools that there is a need for on-site, in-person book fairs and we are meeting this need. The “concerns” about Scholastic have become “serious alarm.” Whereas objectionable material had previously been more subtle, today many of their books are explicit about their intention. Scholastic is offering books that are openly contrary to our Catholic faith in schools, and other than Ignatius, there has been no other nationally available Catholic alternative. With Ignatius Book Fairs, we’re looking to fill a huge hole.
CWR: What books are causing the most concern?
Rose Trabbic: We’re getting the most complaints about LGTBQ materials: stories about children with two moms or two dads or questioning one’s gender. Gender identity is a huge problem.
In the fall, Scholastic announced that Catholic and private schools were to be given the chance to “opt out” of these titles, but there was a backlash and this decision was reversed.
We’ve talked to staff at hundreds of schools who tell us that as well as overt material there can be hidden messages in these books that are opposed to Catholic teaching. If Catholic schools have the chance to vet the books, they may be removing as many as 50 percent of the titles sent to them.
CWR: Have Ignatius Book Fairs begun?
Rose Trabbic: Yes. We started in December 2023 with two pilot fairs that went very well. We’re doing 26 this spring all over the country, and will be scaling up for the 2024-2025 school year.
CWR: How does it work?
Rose Trabbic: The individual school’s staff and volunteers run the Ignatius Book Fairs. We send them the books, catalogues, marketing materials and point-of-sale devices—everything they need to run the fair. Schools can rely on us to do the vetting process. We make sure all material offered for sale nourishes the imagination, and we exclude harmful content. Our staff is available throughout the process to provide support.
The materials for the fair are shipped from our central warehouse in Illinois. Unpurchased materials are returned to us. All the procedures are outlined on our website.
CWR: What kinds of books do you offer?
Rose Trabbic: About 30 percent of our books are specifically Catholic books, with stories of the saints, explanations of the sacraments, a peak into Catholic family life or some other topic related to the Faith. We work with all the major Catholic book publishers to provide the best in Catholic children’s books available, and many of these are published by the Magnificat/Ignatius partnership.
The other 70 percent of our titles are wholesome secular books that have been vetted to ensure that there is nothing at odds with our Catholic faith. We look for good stories that engage a child’s imagination and will foster healthy intellectual growth–and that children enjoy reading!
CWR: What effect do you believe literature from an Ignatius Book Fair will have on young readers?
Rose Trabbic: When you give children good books, they want to read good books. Just like with food: if you give children healthy and delicious options, they will find good food appealing and it will become a regular part of their diet. If we surround our children with good literature, that is what they’ll want to read. This, in turn, will form them in a positive way.
CWR: Is it hard to get children to read books in a digital world?
Rose Trabbic: It can be! Every family struggles with this, and it’s not easy, but we have to keep trying! I have five children, ages 5 to 14. One thing that has been helpful to us is limiting their use of screens and making sure our home is filled with good books. Most weeks, we try to limit TV to a Friday family movie night, and that’s it. The rest of the time, they’re playing or reading good books. If we limit our children’s access to screens when they’re young, they’ll be more inclined to pick up a good book.
CWR: Who should sign up for an Ignatius Book Fair?
Rose Trabbic: We encourage any Catholic school that wants better literature for their students to contact us. They can get started by going to our webpage and completing an inquiry form.After we receive their inquiry, we will be in touch! Or, parents reading this can bring the Ignatius Book Fairs to the attention of their Catholic school staff and encourage them to reach out to us.
(Editor’s note: This interview has been updated for accuracy and to reflect more recent information.)
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I would make this a Parish event. We do have a school but it would reach more kids and parents at the parish level.
Children should not be indoctrinated into any particular religion. Rather, when they reach middle school, show them the vast multitude of religions which all contradict each other, and ask them to figure out which one is true on their own.
I wouldn’t wish that on anyone’s children, because it’s neglect.
I hope the book fairs offer books by Anthony Destafano!! His children’s books are sooooo good! My three-year-old grandson loved The Grumpy Old Ox (a Christmas story), and when he visited a large manger scene in the Ozarks this past Christmas, he asked his parents, “Where is the Grumpy Old Ox?” I wrote Mr. Destafano with this story, and he sent my grandson a copy of his Easter Book, The Story of the First Easter Bunny–my grandson loves that book as much as the Grumpy Old Ox. He’s generally very shy around new people and very shy around Santa Claus and other people in costumes, but when we took him to my parish’s Easter Egg hunt last weekend, when the Easter Bunny made his appearance, my grandson RAN up to him and gave him a great big hug–and then asked if he could see him again a little later–and he did the same thing! Both books are so beautifully-illustrated and the stories (rhyme) are exciting but sweet and touching and very reverent. I predict that Protestants will buy up a lot of his children’s books, as they are soooo well-done. I hope Catholics do the same, and I hope these books are available at the book fairs.
As a retired teacher and disillusioned former supporter of Scholastic Books, I consider this good news indeed.
Canada?
Congratulations for “hearing the call” for Catholic, and wholesome children’s books, Ave Maria University and Ignatius Press!! And has been needed for decades (I’ve seen as a teacher) to offer quality lit in Catholic Schools! (Now if we can just rid the witchcraft, etc)!