Collecting Childrens Picturebooks

Previous to the July 2007 PBA Galleries auction, we had listed Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are, the 1964 Caldecott Medal winning book, as the most valuable picturebook in the The Children's Picturebook Price Guide. At the PBA auction, a copy of Where The Wild Things Are sold for a respectable $6,900. See here for actual auction description and results.

On the same day, at the same auction, the first edition Curious George sold for $21,850, and a first edition The LIttle House, the 1943 Caldecott Medal winning book, sold for $9,775.

In our Children's Picturebook Price Guide we listed the first edition Where The Wild Things Are as the most valuable picturebook. Obviously, this is no longer true. We now consider Curious George the most valuable children's picturebook.

Even though The Little House sold for nearly $10,000, we do not consider it to be the most valuable Caldecott Medal winning book. Instead, we think Robert McCloskey's Make Way For Ducklings, the 1942 Caldecott Medal book, would be the most valuable Caldecott, followed by Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House. The first edition Where The Wild Things Are would be the third most valuable Caldecott Medal book, and the fourth most valuable children's picturebook.

The first edition copy of the 1943 Caldecott Medal winning book The Little House we described in our May 2007 blog post sold for $9775 at the July 12, 2007 PBA Galleries children's book auction.

The first edition The Little House is very difficult to find, and we estimated the book would sell for close to $10,000. The Children's Picturebook Price Guide estimates a first edition The Little House to be valued at $5,000 in Very Good condition, so obviously the value must be modified upward.

The book auctioned was in 'Fine' condition, in a 'Fine' dust jacket.

Written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton, published by Houghton Mifflin in 1942, The Little House first edition books do not surface for sale very often. There are currently none on the market.

The Little House - PBA Galleries Auction

From the PBA Auction description:

Item # : 182758

Description:

Illustrated by the author. 9x9¼, teal cloth pictorially stamped in cream, color pictorial jacket. First Edition.

Rare first edition of legendary elusiveness, an exceptional copy in dust jacket.

Condition:

Just a touch of shelf wear, else fine in fine jacket.

See here for actual auction description and results.

The first edition copy of Curious George we described in our May 2007 blog post sold for $21,850 at the July 12, 2007 PBA Galleries children's book auction.

The first edition Curious George is quite rare, the PBA copy being the first to surface at auction in over a decade. Pre-auction estimates were over $10,000, however few thought the children's book would bring over $20,000.

Having never been out of print, and with over 25 million Curious George franchise books sold, this auction garnered quite a bit of interest from book collectors and book sellers.

The PBA Curious George Auction

From the PBA Auction description:

Item # : 182763

Description:

Illustrated in color by the author. 10¼x8¼, orange cloth pictorially stamped and lettered in brown, color pictorial yellow dust jacket. First Edition.

Rare first edition in dust jacket of the beloved children's tale featuring inquisitive ape Curious George and his captor/protector The Man in the Yellow Hat. Curious George made his literary debut in the French children's book titled Rafy and the Nine Monkeys. Before H.A. Rey and his wife Margret could submit to a publisher the sequel featuring George, the Nazis captured Paris, and the Jewish couple fled on bicycles to Lisbon with five manuscripts, among them Curious George. Following a brief sojourn in Brazil, the Reys made it to the United States, where they were able to find a publisher for the eventual classic. Besides influencing the consciousness of countless post-war children, the work is the basis for the recent movie, and the ongoing PBS television show. The book itself is quite rare in the first edition, but the jacket is virtually unobtainable. The present example of the jacket is unclipped, with the price of $1.75 present the top of the front flap; at the top of the rear flap is affixed the sticker of Bullock's Wilshire, with the detachable price (also $1.75) still present. No copies of Curious George are listed by American Book Prices Current as having been sold at auction since 1975, further evidence of the book's scarcity.

Condition:

Light dust-soiling to jacket, a few short tears (1¼" or smaller), small chips at spine ends; a few faint scratches to covers, else near fine in very good or better jacket.

See here for actual auction description and results.