The information in my book, the Children's Picturebook Price Guide (Flying Moose Books; 2006), was sourced from my database of 23,000 children's books. Today this database has expanded to nearly 26,000 titles.

My database is collectible first edition American picturebooks, published from 1928 to the present. Determining whether a book is "collectible" is based upon the six factors impacting a children's picturebook's desirability, which I've written about extensively.

I recently updated the values in the Price Guide for many key first edition books, and thought some might be interested in the most valuable children's books in my database. The following table provides an estimated value for first edition American picturebooks with dust jacket, both in very good (VG) condition (per A.B. Bookman's standard definition).

Since 1998, either in pursuit of their acquisition or for upgrading an existing copy, I've performed structured queries for internet offerings of specific first edition children's books. Summary information from formal searches were published in 2013 Search For The First Forty Caldecott Medal Books’. Jan. 13, 2013, Search For The First Forty Caldecott Medal Books’. Jan. 19, 2015 and again in 2024 Search For First Forty Caldecott Medal Books’. Feb. 15, 2015.

Why Are These Books Valuable?

For this list and the lists that follow ["lists that follow" refers to lists in the Children's Picturebook Price Guide of the most valuable picturebooks from each decade, covering the 1930's up the 1990's.], note the key factors that impact the collectibility of the books.

Each is a high quality story with imaginative or inventive illustrations, therefore the reading public has recurrently purchased the books for decades. Because of this, the books have stayed in print since their original publication and gone into many, many printings.

Many of the books have earned a children's picturebook award, while many of the illustrators have won numerous awards. All of the illustrators have high esteem within the book publishing market place.

Many of the book's characters became franchise characters, where one or more sequels were published, and line extensions have been made into other consumer product areas (i.e. toys, games, dolls, costumes, decorations, etc...). Lastly, many of the books or characters have crossed over into pop culture, either via a TV or feature film adaptation.

In this list of most valuable first edition American picturebooks the collectibility is heavily influenced by:

• Fondly embraced by the public (i.e. high lifetime sales of the book).
• Pop culture cross-over appeal outside of being a book.
• Authored and illustrated by Dr. Seuss.
• Earning a Caldecott Medal or Honor award.
• Authored Margaret Wise Brown with a notable illustrator.

Scarcity Index & Collectibility Index

Performing daily, weekly, and monthly searches for specific first editions over the past 25 years has given me a certain perspective on both the book's scarcity and it's perceived market value. The table provides the Scarcity Index and Collectibility Index I've given each first edition book. Each index is a 1-to-10 scale where '10' would be most scarce or most collectible. I developed these indexes over 20 years ago specifically for the database, as it provided me with a means to consider the first edition books comparatively.

Probably the most difficult book to find in collectible first edition condition would be Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight, Moon, and H.A. Rey's Curious George In all our years of collecting, we have seen only a couple come to market. Robert McCloskey's Make Way For Ducklings and Jack Ezra Keat's A Snowy Day are two of the more difficult Caldecott Medal first editions to acquire.

Harold And The Purple Crayon is difficult to find, as are the Smith and Haas Babar books.

The early Seuss books are also difficult to find in collectible, first edition state. The first edition Dr. Seuss books published after 1954, starting with On Beyond Zebra, can be found in collectible condition with a modest amount of effort. The exception to this, to a certain extent, is the first edition (stickered) of Green Eggs and Ham.

First Edition Books, with Dust Jackets!

As mentioned earlier the estimated value are for first edition American picturebooks with dust jacket, both in very good (VG) condition (per A.B. Bookman's standard definition). The dust jacket has historical information not contained by the book alone, all from a ‘time of publication’ perspective

1. Original trade price.
2. Original book synopsis (front flap).
3. Author & illustrator short biography (back flap).
4. Original marketing information (back DJ).

All of this information changes over time as the book and the author/illustrator become more popular. The book in its original dust jacket captures a small ‘historical’ moment in time which is incomplete sans DJ.

Most Valuable American Picturebooks #1-to-#20

Year	Book Title	Award	Illustrator	Author	Collect ibility	Scarc ity	Value$
1941	Curious George		Rey, H.A.	Rey, H.A.	9.5	9.5	$28,400
1947	Goodnight Moon		Hurd, Clement	Brown, Margaret Wise	9.0	10.0	$26,600
1937	And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	9.5	9.0	$22,000
1962	The Snowy Day	CM	Keats, Ezra Jack	Keats, Ezra Jack	9.0	10.0	$21,800
1940	Horton Hatches The Egg		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	9.0	9.0	$16,000
1941	Make Way For Ducklings	CM	McCloskey, Robert	McCloskey, Robert	10.0	8.0	$15,600
1969	The Very Hungry Caterpillar		Carle, Eric	Carle, Eric	9.5	9.0	$14,400
1963	Where The Wild Things Are	CM	Sendak, Maurice	Sendak, Maurice	10.0	8.0	$11,600
1942	The Little House	CM	Burton, Virginia Lee	Burton, Virginia Lee	8.5	8.5	$8,800
1936	Story Of Ferdinand		Lawson, Robert	Leaf, Munro	9.5	7.0	$6,800
1942	The Runaway Bunny		Hurd, Clement	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.5	9.0	$6,800
1938	The 500 Hats Of Bartholomew Cubbins		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	8.0	8.0	$5,200
1938	Bumble Bugs And Elephants		Hurd, Clement	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.0	9.0	$5,200
1939	The King's Stilts		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	8.0	8.0	$5,200
1960	Green Eggs And Ham		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	10.0	6.5	$5,000
1947	McElligot's Pool	CH	Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	8.0	8.0	$4,600
1948	Thidwick: The Big-Hearted Moose		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	8.0	8.0	$4,600
1928	Millions Of Cats	NH	Gág, Wanda	Gág, Wanda	9.0	6.5	$4,200
1954	Horton Hears A Who		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	8.0	8.0	$4,200
1933	The Story Of Babar		Brunhoff, Jean de	Brunhoff, Jean de	8.5	7.0	$4,000

No real surprises in the top 20, with Curious George and Goodnight Moon at the top. Eight Dr. Seuss first edition books are in the top 20 most valuable American children's picturebooks, along with four Caldecott Medal winning books. First edition The Snowy Day is proving quite difficult to find, thus far.

Most Valuable American Picturebooks #21-to-#40

Year	Book Title	Award	Illustrator	Author	Collect ibility	Scarc ity	Value$
1939	Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel		Burton, Virginia Lee	Burton, Virginia Lee	7.5	8.0	$3,800
1964	The Giving Tree		Silverstein, Shel	Silverstein, Shel	9.0	7.0	$3,600
1967	Drummer Hoff	CM	Emberley, Ed	Emberley, Barbara	7.5	8.5	$3,600
1970	A Story, A Story	CM	Haley, Gail E.	Haley, Gail	7.0	9.0	$3,400
1930	The Little Engine That Could		Lenski, Lois	Piper, Watty	7.0	8.0	$3,200
1957	How The Grinch Stole Christmas		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	10.0	5.5	$3,000
1938	The Five Chinese Brothers		Wiese, Kurt	Bishop, Claire Huchet	6.0	9.0	$3,000
1939	Madeline	CH	Bemelmans, Ludwig	Bernelmans, Ludwig	9.0	6.0	$2,800
1939	Little Toot		Gramatky, Hardie	Gramatky, Hardie	8.0	7.0	$2,800
1949	Song Of The Swallows	CM	Politi, Leo	Politi, Leo	7.5	7.5	$2,600
1951	Finders Keepers	CM	Mordvinoff, Nicholas	Lipkind, William	7.0	8.0	$2,600
1969	Sylvester And The Magic Pebble	CM	Steig, William	Steig, William	7.5	8.0	$2,600
1948	The Big Snow	CM	Hader, Berta & Elmer	Hader, Berta & Elmer	7.0	8.0	$2,600
1952	The Biggest Bear	CM	Ward, Lynd	Ward, Lynd	7.0	8.0	$2,400
1953	Journey Cake, Ho!	CH	McCloskey, Robert	Sawyer, Ruth	7.0	8.0	$2,400
1930	Angus And The Ducks		Flack, Marjorie	Flack, Marjorie	6.5	8.0	$2,400
1950	If I Ran The Zoo	CH	Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	8.0	7.0	$2,400
1957	The Cat In The Hat		Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	10.0	5.0	$2,200
1960	Baboushka And The Three Kings	CM	Sidjakov, Nicolas	Robbins, Ruth	6.0	9.0	$2,200

The second 20 most valuable children's books are dominated by Caldecott Medal and Honor award winning books, claiming 11 of the places. I'm not confidant yet on the scarcity of Drummer Hoff, but thought to flag it for you - should it prove more common (than it has been over the past decade), then its market value could drastically be reduced.

Most Valuable American Picturebooks #41-to-#60

Year	Book Title	Award	Illustrator	Author	Collect ibility	Scarc ity	Value$
1938	Andy And The Lion	CH	Daugherty, James Henry	Daugherty, James Henry	7.5	7.0	$2,200
1934	The Travels Of Babar		Brunhoff, Jean de	Brunhoff, Jean de	7.5	7.0	$2,200
1955	Harold And The Purple Crayon		Johnson, Crockett	Johnson, Crockett	9.0	6.0	$2,200
1937	Animals Of The Bible	CM	Lathrop, Dorothy P.	Fish, Helen Dean	7.0	7.5	$2,200
1947	Curious George Takes A Job		Rey, H.A.	Rey, H.A.	8.0	6.5	$2,000
1942	Cecily G. And The 9 Monkeys		Rey, H.A.	Rey, H.A.	8.0	6.5	$2,000
1946	The Little Island	CM	Weisgard, Leonard	MacDonald, Golden	8.0	6.5	$2,000
1948	Blueberries For Sal	CH	McCloskey, Robert	McCloskey, Robert	7.5	7.0	$2,000
1947	White Snow, Bright Snow	CM	Duvoisin, Roger	Tresselt, Alvin R.	7.0	7.5	$2,000
1931	Angus And The Cat		Flack, Marjorie	Flack, Marjorie	6.0	8.0	$1,800
1933	The ABC Bunny	NH	Gág, Wanda	Gág, Wanda	8.0	6.0	$1,800
1932	Angus Lost		Flack, Marjorie	Flack, Marjorie	6.0	8.0	$1,800
1952	Five Little Monkeys	CH	Kepes, Juliet	Kepes, Juliet	7.0	7.5	$1,800
1957	Little Bear		Sendak, Maurice	Minarik, Else Holmelund	8.0	6.5	$1,800
1939	Daniel Boone	NM	Daugherty, James Henry	Daugherty, James Henry	8.0	6.0	$1,600
1944	Mother Goose	CH	Tudor, Tasha	Tudor, Tasha	8.0	6.0	$1,600
1938	Pumpkin Moonshine		Tudor, Tasha	Tudor, Tasha	8.0	6.0	$1,600
1943	A Child's Good Night Book	CH	Charlot, Jean	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.0	7.0	$1,600
1939	Abraham Lincoln	CM	d'Aulaire, Ingri & Edgar Parin	d'Aulaire, Ingri & Edgar Parin	7.5	6.5	$1,600

The next 20 most valuable children's books are dominated by Caldecott Medal and Honor award winning books, claiming 9 of the places. Overall this group of books is really solid. Probably the lone surprise is Juliet Kepe's Five Little Monkeys, which is very difficult to find in first edition.

Most Valuable American Picturebooks #61-to-#80

Year	Book Title	Award	Illustrator	Author	Collect ibility	Scarc ity	Value$
1945	The Rooster Crows	CM	Petersham, Maud & Miska	Petersham, Maud & Miska	7.0	7.0	$1,600
1938	Mei Li	CM	Handforth, Thomas	Handforth, Thomas	7.0	7.0	$1,600
1936	Little Tim And The Brave Sea Captain		Ardizzone, Edward	Ardizzone, Edward	8.0	6.0	$1,600
1939	Alexander The Gander		Tudor, Tasha	Tudor, Tasha	8.0	6.0	$1,600
1943	Katy And The Big Snow		Burton, Virginia Lee	Burton, Virginia Lee	7.0	7.0	$1,600
1939	Noisy Book		Weisgard, Leonard	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.0	7.0	$1,600
1938	The Streamlined Pig		Wiese, Kurt	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.0	7.0	$1,600
1946	Little Fur Family		Williams, Garth	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.0	7.0	$1,600
1959	The Moon Jumpers	CH	Sendak, Maurice	Udry, Janice May	7.0	7.5	$1,600
1949	The Wild Birthday Cake	CH	Woodward, Hildegard	Davis, Lavinia R.	6.0	8.0	$1,400
1955	Frog Went A-Courtin	CM	Rojankovsky, Feodor	Langstaff, John	8.0	6.0	$1,400
1956	Gillespie And The Guards	CH	Daugherty, James Henry	Elkin, Benjamin	7.0	7.0	$1,400
1929	The Funny Thing		Gág, Wanda	Gág, Wanda	7.5	6.0	$1,400
1949	Bartholomew And The Oobleck	CH	Geisel, Theodore	Geisel, Theodore	8.0	6.0	$1,400
1954	Wheel On The Chimney	CH	Gergely, Tibor	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.5	6.5	$1,400
1953	A Very Special House	CH	Sendak, Maurice	Krauss, Ruth	8.0	6.0	$1,400
1975	Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears	CM	Dillon, Leo & Diane	Aardema, Verna	7.5	7.0	$1,400
1931	Snippy And Snappy		Gág, Wanda	Gág, Wanda	7.5	6.0	$1,400
1953	Green Eyes	CH	Birnbaum, Abe	Birnbaum, Abe	6.0	8.0	$1,400
1952	Ape In A Cape	CH	Eichenberg, Fritz	Eichenberg, Fritz	6.0	8.0	$1,400

Again Caldecott first editions dominate the next 20, claiming 12 of the places. Notice the strength of the Caldecott Honor books. Sendak/Udry's The Moon Jumper is difficult to find in first edition, as well as the other Caldecott Honor books in this portion of the list. Note the Scarcity is driving the value more so than the first edition's Collectibility.

Most Valuable American Picturebooks #81-to-#97

Year	Book Title	Award	Illustrator	Author	Collect ibility	Scarc ity	Value$
1943	Pierre Pidgeon	CH	Bare, Arnold Edwin	Kingman, Lee	6.0	7.5	$1,200
1943	SHHhhhh……Bang		De Veyrac, Robert	Brown, Margaret Wise	6.0	7.5	$1,200
1937	The Children's Year		Rojankovsky, Feodor	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.5	6.0	$1,200
1938	Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs	CH	Gág, Wanda	Gág, Wanda	7.5	6.0	$1,200
1958	No Fighting, No Biting!		Sendak, Maurice	Minarik, Else Holmelund	7.0	7.0	$1,200
1937	Choo Choo		Burton, Virginia Lee	Burton, Virginia Lee	6.5	7.0	$1,200
1942	Don't Frighten The Lion!		Rey, H.A.	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.5	6.0	$1,200
1955	Eloise		Knight, Hilary	Thompson, Kay	9.0	5.0	$1,200
1947	Stone Soup	CH	Brown, Marcia	Brown, Marcia	6.5	7.0	$1,200
1943	Many Moons	CM	Slobodkin, Louis	Thurber, James	7.0	6.5	$1,200
1938	The Little Fireman		Slobodkina, Esphyr	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.0	6.5	$1,200
1941	Polite Penguin		Rey, H.A.	Brown, Margaret Wise	7.5	6.0	$1,200
1952	Curious George Rides A Bike		Rey, H.A.	Rey, H.A.	7.5	6.0	$1,000
1954	Cinderella, Or The Little Glass Slipper	CM	Brown, Marcia	Perrault, Charles	7.0	6.5	$1,000
1953	The Steadfast Tin Soldier	CH	Brown, Marcia	Andersen, Hans Christian	6.5	7.0	$1,000
1933	Donkey-Donkey		Duvoisin, Roger	Duvoisin, Roger	6.5	6.5	$1,000
1953	Madeline's Rescue	CM	Bemelmans, Ludwig	Bernelmans, Ludwig	8.0	5.5	$1,000

Some nice books in this last part of the list, with five books written by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by four different artists! The books illustrated by H.A. Rey and authored by Brown are probably underappreciated in the market.