Identifying First Edition Beginner Books
A couple of years ago I posted a series of blog articles which provided identification points for the first fifty Beginner Books, and later collected them into one permanant webpage (see Identifying First Edition Beginner Books).
The articles included identification points for each book, and provided the publication sequence along with the back dust jacket graphic. In essence the titles listed on the back of the dust jacket are the key to identifying most of the early Beginner Books. These articles were the first time identification points were posted for this set of Beginner Books.
While the articles centered upon the publication sequence of the dust jacket backs, they did not provide a good navigational method to each book, and today’s post is purposed to correct the oversight.
Accessible First Edition Identification Points Helps The Hobby
Book collectors and booksellers tend to shy away from books without documented first edition identification points, or in cases where the identification points are not well understood. There is too much risk buying or selling the unknown collectible.
Over the past three years book collector and bookseller interest has increased in the non-Seuss first edition Beginner Books (the Younger/Hirsch Guide To First Edition Dr. Seuss books helped the hobby with the Seuss first edition Beginner Books). People have become more confident buying and selling first edition Beginner Books. The market for the later printings is also more robust.
One of my underlying purposes for this blog and the parent web site is to make first edition idenfication points more transparent and accessible for contemporary American picturebooks. In the long run I strongly believe this will strengthen the hobby.
Many traditional booksellers are not in agreement with this philosophy, since they profit from their proprietary knowledge of first edition identification points:
- Book collectors must rely upon them for this proprietary information.
- Proprietary knowledge of first edition identification points is a competitive advantage over less well-informed booksellers.
- Less scrupulous booksellers can make a windfall profit by purchasing books from a less informed public
(Note: In open shop transactions, by rules of the trade, offers from reputable booksellers will be wholesale market prices for first edition books, even if the seller is unaware of the issue of their holdings.)
This traditional thinking impairs the hobby of collecting first edition American picturebooks. Proprietary and possessive ownership of first edition identification points:
- Limits the number of collectors who want to participate in the hobby.
- Limits the number of booksellers who want to participate in the hobby.
- Reduces the liquidity of first edition picturebooks.
- Suppresses the price/value of first edition picturebooks.
More people will enter the hobby as they learn first edition picturebooks are valuable collectibles. The books have a familiarity to a large number of people, and picturebooks are very accessible – most can be read and appreciated in moments. And we will continue our small part to promote the hobby.
Click on the front cover image, below, to the respective page for first edition identification points for each Beginner Book.
BB-01
1957
The Cat In The Hat
BB-02
1958
Cat In The Hat Comes Back
BB-03
1958
A Fly Went By
BB-04
1958
The Big Jump And Other Stories
BB-05
1958
A Big Ball Of String
BB-06
1958
Sam And The Firefly
BB-07
1959
You Will Go To The Moon
BB-08
1959
Cowboy Andy
BB-09
1959
The Whales Go By
BB-10
1959
Stop That Ball!
BB-11
1959
Bennett Cerf’s Book Of Laughs
BB-12
1959
Ann Can Fly
BB-13
1960
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
BB-14
1960
The King’s Wish And Other Stories
BB-15
1960
Bennett Cerf’s Book Of Riddles
BB-16
1960
Green Eggs And Ham
BB-17
1960
Put Me In The Zoo
BB-18
1960
Are You My Mother?
BB-19
1961
Ten Apples Up On Top!
BB-20
1961
Go, Dog, Go!
BB-21
1961
Little Black, A Pony
BB-22
1961
Look Out For Pirates
BB-23
1961
Fish Out Of Water
BB-24
1961
Bennett Cerf’s More Riddles
BB-25
1962
Robert The Rose Horse
BB-26
1962
I Was Kissed By A Seal At The Zoo
BB-27
1962
Snow
BB-28
1962
The Big Honey Hunt
BB-29
1963
Hop On Pop
BB-30
1963
Dr. Seuss’s ABC
BB-31
1963
Do You Know What I’m Going To Do Next Saturday?
BB-32
1963
Summer
BB-33
1963
Little Black Goes To The Circus
BB-34
1964
Bennett Cerf’s Book Of Animal Riddles
BB-35
1964
Why I Built The Boogle House
BB-36
1964
The Bike Lesson
BB-37
1964
How To Make Flibbers
BB-38
1965
Fox In Socks
BB-39
1965
The King, The Mice And The Cheese
BB-40
1965
I Wish That I Had Duck Feet
BB-41
1966
The Bears’ Picnic
BB-42
1966
Don And Donna Go To Bat
BB-43
1966
You Will Live Under The Sea
BB-44
1966
Come Over To My House
BB-45
1967
Babar Loses His Crown
BB-46
1967
The Bear Scouts
BB-47
1967
The Digging-Est Dog
BB-48
1967
Travels Of Doctor Dolittle
BB-49
1968
Doctor Dolittle And The Pirates
BB-50
1968
Off To The Races
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