First Edition You Will Go To The Moon

First Edition Identification

1959 B-07 You Will Go To The Moon

Mae & Ira Freeman. Robert Patterson (Illustrator). You Will Go To The Moon. New York. Beginner Books: 1959.

Pages#: 64 pages.

Book Description: Color illustrated boards wrapped in matching dust jacket. The 7th book in the groundbreaking Beginner Book series, written specifically to help children learn to read while simultaneously engaging and entertaining them. The story tells of the various stages a rocket takes when traveling to the moon. Told using only 186 different words.

Pagination: Front fixed and free endpapers illustrated in color; illustrated verso of front free endpaper with copyright; [i] title; 2-61 story; [62-63] two page "The Science of Your / MOON TRIP"; [64] blank; blank recto of back free endpaper; back free and fixed endpaper illustrated in color.

Collectibility Context

The first edition book in its original first edition DJ is a Very Collectible: Early book in ground breaking Beginner Books series, which changed the way children learned to read in America. Embraced by the public for 65 years with tens of thousands of copies sold. Robert Patterson was a successful magazine illustrator for decades. Interest in the moon landing, therefore some modest pop culture appeal.

The Collectibility of a first edition American picturebook is comprised of specific factors, as explained in detail at Factors Affecting Collectibility.

Scarcity Context

The first edition book in its original first edition DJ is Scarce: There were no first editions found in the March 2024 survey. This first edition is scarce, not rare, just that the market price is too low for copies to surface.

First Edition Book & Dust Jacket Descriptions

Book Front: Bound in glossy paper covered boards with color illustration. "YOU WILL GO / TO THE MOON / By Mae & Ira Freeman / [color illustration with rocket ship nearing the moon] / Illustrated by Robert Patterson". Note: No Beginner Book logo on book front.

Note: Click on any of the book's images to see at larger scale.

Book Back: Bound in glossy red paper covered boards. Blank with no illustration or text.

Book Spine: "YOU WILL GO TO THE MOON BY MAE AND IRE FREEMAN BEGINNER BOOKS, INC." [all white text]

Title Page: [Double page title] / "You Will Go To The Moon / MAE and IRA FREEMAN / Illustrated by ROBERT PATTERSON / Beginner Books, Inc. / DISTRIBUTED BY RANDOM HOUSE"

Copyright: "First Printing (c) Copyright 1959 by Mae & Ira Freeman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copy- / right Conventions. Published in New York by Beginner Books, Inc. and simultaneously in Toronto, Canada by Random / House of Canada Limited. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 59-6459. Manufactured in the United States of America."

DJ Front: "YOU WILL GO / TO THE MOON / By Mae & Ira Freeman / [color illustration with rocket ship nearing the moon] / Illustrated by Robert Patterson" [FOR BEGINNING READERS logo bottom right]"

DJ Back: Beginner Books DJ Back 'C': 1959 7 Titles

"They all vote for / Beginner Books! / [Images of first 7 Beginner Books down left and bottom] / THE PARENTS: / "BEGINNER BOOKS are in my humble ... [... paragraph] / THE EDUCATORS: / "I was delighted with the Beginner Books ... [... paragraph] / THE CHILDREN: "I love the BEGINNER BOOKS because I / can READ them!" -- Kathy Winters (age 7) / BEGINNER BOOKS - 457 Madison Avenue, New York 22, N. Y."

DJ Spine: "YOU WILL GO TO THE MOON BY MAE AND IRE FREEMAN BEGINNER BOOKS, INC." [all white text]

DJ Price: 1.95

DJ Flap Front: "$1.95 [top right] / [Beginner Books Logo] / YOU WILL GO / TO THE MOON / by MAE and IRA FREEMAN / Today even the youngest child takes ... [... paragraph] / In this new Beginner Book the au- ... [...paragraph] / A list at the end of the book explains ... [... paragraph] / The authors and editors were so anxious to have ... [...paragraph] / *Trademark of Beginner Books, Inc. [very small black text bottom of flap]"

DJ Flap Back: "[Mae & Ira Freeman photograph] / [three paragraph Mae & Ira Freeman biography] / [Robert Patterson caricature] / [one paragraph Robert Patterson biography]"

First Edition Identification

First edition book states 'First Printing' on the copyright page.

First edition dust jacket is Beginner Books 1959 DJ 'C' with seven titles listed and no 'B-7' on the book or DJ spine.

Note: There's a 1961 printing with 'First Printing' stated on the copyright page and 'Beginner Books / A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE' on the title page. This is a much later printing and is not a first edition per the book collecting definition.

Second Printings and Later

Second printing book omits 'First Printing' statement on the copyright page.

You Will Go To The Moon Second Printing Copyright \

Second printing DJ is identical to the first printing with no 'B-7' on the spine.

Somewhere along the way the 'First Printing' statement was added back to the copyright page. Remarkably, the tenth printing book states 'First Printing' on the copyright, and below it has '10 367'. The title page states 'A Division Of Random House'.

You Will Go To The Moon Tenth Printing "Division Of" \

You Will Go To The Moon Tenth Printing Copyright \

The tenth printing DJ is Beginner Books 1967 DJ 'Q' with 41 titles listed, and therefore 8 years after the true first printing.

Another interesting aspect of BB-7 You Will Go To The Moon is the omission of the rocket ship approaching the moon on later printings of the dust jacket and book front cover.

Later printing Book Front Without Rocket Ship Approaching The Moon \

See Beginner Book Fronts for first edition identification of the first 50 Beginner Books.

This information is from the First Edition Identification Guide: Beginner Books (2024, Flying Moose Books), by Stan Zielinski.

© Stan Zielinski
A serious collector having fun with fun books.