First Edition Bennett Cerf's Book of Animal Riddles

First Edition Identification

1964 B-34 Bennett Cerf's Book of Animal Riddles

Bennett Cerf. Roy McKie (Illustrator). Bennett Cerf's Book of Animal Riddles. New York. Beginner Books: 1964.

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. A third book of riddles by humorist Bennett Cerf (President of Random House).

Pagination: Front fixed and free endpapers illustrated in color; verso of front free endpaper is 1st page of 2-page title; [i] title and copyright; [ii] blank; 3-62 story; [63] blank; [64] small illustration; small illustration on 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 60 years with hundreds of thousands of copies sold. Bennett Cerf was a humorist who appeared on the TV show 'What's My Line?' for 17 years, and was the President of Random House. 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 3 first editions found in the March 2024 survey, with an average price of $47, ranging from $80 to $25. 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. "Bennett Cerf's / {Beginner Books logo top right] / book of / Animal / Riddles / ILLUSTRATED BY / Roy McKie'"

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

Book Back: Bound in glossy white-yellow banded paper covered boards. Blank with no illustration or text.

Book Spine: "[BB logo] BEGINNER BOOKS [black horizontal text] ANIMAL RIDDLES Bennett Cerf B-34 [black horizontal text]"

Title Page: "[Two page Title Page] Bennett Cerf's / Book of / ANIMAL RIDDLES / [large '?' illustration] / illustrated by Roy McKie / BEGINNER BOOKS / A Division of Random House, Inc. / [eight line copyright statement]"

Copyright: "(c) Copyright 1964 by Bennett Cert. All rights re- / served under International and Pan-American Copy- / right Conventions. Published in New York by Begin- / ner Books a division of Random House, Inc., and / simultaneously in Toronto, Canada, by Random House / of Canada, Limited. Library of Congress Catalog Card Num- / ber: 64-11246. Manufactured in / the United States of America."

DJ Front: Color illustration matching Book Front. "Bennett Cerf's / {Beginner Books logo top right] / book of / Animal / Riddles / ILLUSTRATED BY / Roy McKie'"

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] ANIMAL RIDDLES Bennett Cerf B-34 [black horizontal text]"

DJ Price: 195/195

DJ Flap Front: "195/195 [top right] / Animal / Riddles / BY / Bennett Cerf / We can't publish them fast enough! / Our young readers keep begging for / more and more riddles / So for the third time, Bennett Cerf ... [... paragraph] / Like all Beginner Books it is written... [... paragraph] / This book comes from / the home of / THE CAT IN THE HAT / Beginner Books / A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE, INC."

DJ Flap Back: "[Photo of Bennett Cerf} / Everybody knows him, Bennett Cerf ... [... paragraph] / [caricature of Roy McKie] / The simple, direct and lovable illus-... [... paragraph]"

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-34' on the spine.

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

Note: This is the first book in the series where the back DJ marketing information does not list or mention the book itself. Since this has a 1964 copyright, the book likely was not published concurrently with either the 1963 'wave' of Beginner Books, or the 1964 'wave' of Beginner Books.

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.