First Edition Summer

First Edition Identification

1963 B-32 Summer

Alice Low. Roy McKie (Illustrator). Summer. New York. Beginner Books: 1963.

Pages#: 64 pages.

Book Description: Color illustrated boards wrapped in matching dust jacket. An early book in the groundbreaking Beginner Book series, written specifically to help children learn to read while simultaneously engaging and entertaining them. The story shows all the frolicking fun one can have on a Summer's day. Told using only 201 different words.

Pagination: Front fixed and free endpapers illustrated in color; [i] half-title; [ii-iii] 2-page title and copyright; 2-61 story; [64] blank; 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 61 years with hundreds of thousands of copies sold. Alice Low was a successful children's book author for decades. McKie illustrated over 30 children's books. Little 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 Uncommon: There were no first editions found in the March 2024 survey. This first edition is not scarce, 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. "Summer / [Beginner Book logo top right] / By Alice Low / with Roy McKie pictures"

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

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

Book Spine: "[BB logo] BEGINNER BOOKS [black horizontal text] Summer Alice Low B-32 [black horizontal text]"

Title Page: "Summer / By Alice Low / with pictures by / Roy McKie / BEGINNER BOOKS a division of Random House / [three-line copyright statement]"

Copyright: "(c) Copyright 1963 by Alice Low. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Pub- / lished in New York by Random House, Inc., and simultaneously in Toronto, Canada, by Random / House of Canada, Limited. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-15628. Manufactured in / the United States of America."

DJ Front: Color illustration matching Book Front. "Summer / [Beginner Book logo top right] / By Alice Low / with Roy McKie pictures"

DJ Back: Beginner Books DJ Back 'L': 1963 33 Titles

"If you're learning to read ... / FIRST learn the alphabet / with DR. SEUSS'S ABC / [BB logo] / THEN discover the excitement of words / and sounds with Dr. Seuss's HOP ON POP / and ONE FISH TWO FISH RED FISH BLUE FISH / THEN you're ready to read these simple stories: / (50-100 Word Vocabularies) / [list of 7 BB titles starting with 'GREEN EGGS AND HAM' to 'SNOW' / THEN up you go in the number of words / These books are listed in order of reading easiness (175-300 Word Vocabularies) / [list of 23 BB titles starting with 'THE CAT IN THE HAT' to 'LITTLE BLACK GOES TO THE CIRCUS'] / THEN you won't quite yet be ready for college. / But, as a child of 5-8, you'll be on your way."

DJ Spine: "[BB logo] BEGINNER BOOKS [black horizontal text] Summer Alice Low B-32 [black horizontal text]"

DJ Price: 195/195

DJ Flap Front: "195/195 [top right] / Summer / [Illustration] / Alice Low and Roy McKie / The excitement of summer! / As your child turns the pages of this ... [... paragraph] / All the happy things that summer / brings! / Written in rhymes, with ONLY 201 ... [...paragraph] / Roy McKie's enchanting pictures help ... [... paragraph] / ."

DJ Flap Back: "A lady who likes SUMMER / [illustration] / is Alice Low / Mrs. Low also likes children and chil- / dren's books. / She has written three other books for / children: / 3 titles / She writes reviews of children's books / for The New York Times Book Review / She, her husband, and their three chil- / dren live in Briarcliff Manor, New York. / A lad who likes SUMMER / [illustration] / is Roy McKie / He also likes drawing pictures for chil_ [... paragraph] / [4 titles] / Mr. McKie also loves dogs, and his il- ... [...paragraph] / (c) 1963 by Alice Low"

First Edition Identification

First edition book states "Published in New York by Beginner Books, a division of Random House" on the copyright page and has 'B-32' on the spine.

First edition dust jacket is Beginner Books 1963 DJ 'L' with 33 titles listed on the back DJ.

Second Printings and Later

Second printing book is identical to first printing.

Second printing DJ is Beginner Books 1965 DJ 'N' with 37 titles listed.

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.