First Edition Beginner Books

Beginner Books First Edition Identification

Dust Jacket Publishing Sequence

1960 Beginner Books Dust Jacket Back 'F'

Beginner Book Dust Jacket Back 'F', which can be found on the first editions of five Beginner Books B-14 to B-18, all published in 1960:

• B-14 The King's Wish and Other Stories (1960)
• B-15 Bennett Cerf's Book of Riddles (1960)
• B-16 Green Eggs And Ham (1960)
• B-17 Put Me In The Zoo (1960)
• B-18 Are You My Mother? (1960)

There are two versions of BB DJ 'F' - both 'DISTRIBUTED BY RANDOM HOUSE' - one with a full torso Cat In The Hat, and the other version with only his head. There is no precedence for one version over the other.

Click on the DJ image - and then click again - for the high-resolution enlargement.

1960 Beginner Books Back 'F' Version 'a'

1960 Beginner Books Back 'F' Version 'b'

Beginner Book Dust Jacket Back 'F' lists all eighteen books that were being published im 1960 for the Beginner Book franchise. It can be found on the first editions of the four books listed, above, but also on the earlier Beginner Books in the franchise.

In addition to The Cat In The Hat and The Cat In The Hat Comes Back , the three books in the 'For BEGINNING Beginners' box are monumental American picturebooks, Green Eggs And Ham , Put Me In The Zoo and Are You My Mother?. All five of these Beginner Books were on Publisher's Weekly 2001 list of All-Time Bestselling Children's Hard Cover books, and the first editions are very collectible.

The first edition Green Eggs And Ham with the sticker on the DJ front is the scarcest and most valuable of the Beginner Books.

The publisher is 'Beginner Books, Inc', and 'DISTRIBUTED BY RANDOM HOUSE', since at the start of 1960 Beginner Books was a separate publishing entity and not yet owned by Random House.

1960 Beginner Books Dust Jacket Back 'F' Version 'c'

1960 Beginner Books Dust Jacket Back 'F' Version 'c' was used on early printings of B-14 to B-18 published in late 1960 AFTER Theodor Seuss Geisel decided to sell Beginner Books, Inc. to Random House.

After the sale and acquisition, Beginner Books became 'A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE, INC.' and was no longer only 'DISTRIBUTED BY RANDOM HOUSE'.

First Edition Book B-14 to B-18 Distributed By Random House

The first edition book for Beginner Books B-14 to B-18 are 'Distributed By Random House' on the copyright page.

Beginner Books, Distibuted By Random House	Beginner Books, A Division Of Random House'
Beginner Books, Distibuted By Random House	Beginner Books, A Division Of Random House'
Beginner Books, Distibuted By Random House	Beginner Books, A Division Of Random House'

Be wary of 'mixed state' books & dust jackets. Usually the DJ is version 'c' 'A DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE' while the book will still be a true first edition stating 'DISTRIBUTED BY RANDOM HOUSE' on the copyright page. In these instances the DJ was converted to the new Random House ownership while excess first edition books were still around for distribution to book stores.

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See Beginner Books Dust Jacket Backs to see the publishing sequence of dust jackets from 1957-to-1967. This is the primary resource to identify the year of publication if you own a later edition Beginner Book.

See Beginner Book Covers 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.

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