Scholastic is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books, operating two closely linked core businesses: children's book publishing and school-based reading events (book fairs and book clubs). Scholastic publishes original children's books under major franchises including Hunger Games, Dog Man, Harry Potter, Captain Underpants, and Goosebumps, and sells these through retail channels as well as its own proprietary school channels. Scholastic's book fairs are weeklong in-school sales events held at over 100,000 schools annually, where schools earn a share of proceeds as a fundraising incentive. Book clubs distribute promotional flyers to classrooms and let parents order books at discounted prices, with roughly 98% of orders placed online. These two school channels give Scholastic direct, recurring access to millions of children and serve as a low-cost distribution pipeline for its own titles — a combination of publisher and distributor that management argues is a key competitive advantage. Beyond the core, Scholastic operates an Education Solutions segment selling supplemental literacy materials and classroom magazines to schools, an International segment replicating the U.S. model in Canada, the UK, Australia, and parts of Asia, and a small Entertainment segment producing children's film and TV content. The business is highly seasonal, with the fall and spring book fair seasons driving the bulk of revenue and profit. Scholastic recently acquired 9 Story, a children's content producer, to expand its IP monetization through streaming and YouTube.