Dick and Jane, of those prim 1950s-’70s grammar-school primers, never really left us. Spoofs circulated on greeting cards, T-shirts and magnets after the books themselves fell out of elementary-education favor.
But now even the books are back in force, if not in classrooms, then in rec rooms–to the tune of 5 million copies in 15 months–since publisher Pearson reissued the primers in Wal-mart in November 2002, according to USA Today.
They hit other bookstores last fall, and board books, coloring books and other merchandise may follow.
More Top Picks Aprons Plant
But don’t expect them to become Mrs. Smith’s required reading. The tales, with their rosy-cheeked painting of reality and clipped cadences, now are regarded as one reason so many kids were failing to read.
So this time, they are for nostalgia only.