Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden tweeted Sunday that “Robinson was a giant and a legend in children’s literature” and cited his “lasting legacy” as a supporter of libraries and reading.
Robinson, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Harvard College, was the son of Maurice R. Robinson, who founded Scholastic as a classroom magazine in 1920. The younger Robinson worked as a teacher and bricklayer, among other jobs, before joining Scholastic in the mid-1960s. He was named president of in 1974, CEO in 1975 and board chair in 1982.
Robinson’s time at Scholastic was marked by global expansion, by financial ups and downs, even with the historic success of “Harry Potter,” and occasional battles with censors who objected to books like “Potter,” “Captain Underpants” and Alex Gino’s “George” as inappropriate for younger readers. Scholastic books often were in the annual list of “challenged books” that is compiled by the American Library Association.
“We strongly believe our books and magazines need to address tough topics that are relevant, even if we get backlash or boycotted,” Robinson told The Associated Press in 2020.
Robinson also presided over historic changes in the business and culture, whether the rise of digital media or the increased emphasis on diversity and scrutiny of the past. In 2016, Scholastic pulled “A Birthday Cake for George Washington,” a picture story about one of Washington’s slaves, after widespread allegations that the book presented a benign portrait of enslavement. This spring, Pilkey agreed to withdraw “The Adventures of Ook and Gluk” because of what he called “harmful racial stereotypes.”
