Scholastic last promoted 'Conversations with God' book in early 2000s | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The claim: Scholastic book fairs are selling the book ‘Conversations with God’

A Nov. 9 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims a children's book publisher is selling a book at its school fundraisers.

“We want to alert and warn parents and grandparents about this series of books ‘Conversations with God’ being sold through Scholastic Book Fairs,” reads the start of the post.

The post goes on to make an array of other claims, including that the book contradicts biblical teaching, that evangelical author James Dobson warned his audiences about the book twice in the previous week and that child actor Kirk Cameron was also criticizing Scholastic for supposedly offering harmful material to children.

It received more than 2,500 shares in less than a week. Another version of the claim was shared more than 100,000 times in one month on Facebook.

More from the USA TODAY Fact-Check Team:

Our rating: False

Scholastic said an edition of the book geared toward teens was included in one of its book clubs during the 2001-2002 school year. It has not been featured in its book clubs or book fairs for more than two decades. There is no basis for several of the post's other claims.

Book hasn't been in clubs or fairs for more than two decades

"Conversations with God" is a three-book series written by Neale Donald Walsch and first published in the 1990s. Claims about its supposed inclusion in Scholastic Book Fairs have been circulating for decades and appear in blog posts dating back as far as 2003.

It does not appear on Scholastic Book Fair lists for fall 2023, and Scholastic said claims to the contrary are false.

“Conversations with God for Teens was offered through Scholastic’s Inspiring Words Book Clubs during the 2001-2002 school year,” Scholastic spokesperson Anne Sparkman said. “Since that time, Scholastic has not offered the title through its book clubs or book fairs.”

Fact check: Amanda Gorman's book restricted in one school, not banned county-wide

While Cameron has criticized Scholastic and is a board advisor for SkyTree Book Fairs, which presents itself as an alternative that provides "wholesome and trustworthy" books, there is no basis for several of the post’s other claims.

There is no reference to the book on websites for Dobson or Focus on the Family, the evangelical organization he founded in the 1970s.

The book is not currently on The New York Times bestseller list. The first book in the series entered the list in 1996 and “came and went for the next few years,” said Melissa Torres, a spokesperson for The New York Times.

It spent a total of 139 weeks on the list, but it last appeared on Sept. 10, 2000, Torres said. The second book spent 19 weeks on the list until Sept. 29, 1997, and the third spent 16 weeks on the list until March 14, 1999.

Walsch told USA TODAY quotations from the book included in the post as proof of its supposed lack of biblical grounding were taken out of context.

"('Conversations with God') was never represented as a Christian book, and the text itself tells readers not to believe anything found on its pages, but to simply explore its ideas if it serves one to do so," Walsch said. "The books explore and expand on all the world's faith traditions."

USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims surrounding books, including that a video shows books being removed from a Florida school after being deemed “inappropriate” and that an image shows a list of books banned from schools and libraries in the state.

USA TODAY reached out to Focus on the Family and users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Scholastic selling 'Conversations with God' | Fact check