First Edition Identification
Dr. Seuss Beginner Books B-31
1963 Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?
1963 B-31 Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?
Helen Palmer. Lynn Fayman (photos) (Illustrator). Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?. 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, by Helen Palmer, the wife of Dr. Seuss, is a photographic journey of a child's wishes for a Saturday afternoon. Told using only 176 different words.
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; 2-63 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 Solid 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 tens of thousands of copies sold. Palmer, Ted Geisel's wife, was a successful children's book author. Lynn Fayman was a very successful photographer whose work was recognized by the La Jolla Museum of art with 'The Photographic Art Of Lynn Fayman' (1969). 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 | Collect ibility | Illust. | 1st Early Late | Author | Awards | Pop Culture | Copies Sold | Fran chise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
Scarcity Context
The first edition book in its original first edition DJ is Scarce to Uncommon: There was only 1 first edition found in the March 2024 survey offered at $150. 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 yellow paper covered boards with color illustration. “Do you know / [Beginner Books logo top right] / what I'm going to do / Next / Saturday? / By Helen Palmer / with photographs by Lynn Fayman”
Note: Click on any of the book's images to see at larger scale.
Book Back: Bound in glossy gray paper covered boards. Blank with no illustration or text.
Book Spine: “[BB logo] BEGINNER BOOKS [black horizontal text] Do you know what I'm going to do Next Saturday? Palmer B-31 [black horizontal text]”
Title Page: “Do you know / what I'm going to do / Next / Saturday? / By Helen Palmer / with photographs by / Lynn Fayman / BEGINNER BOOKS A Division of RANDOM HOUSE, INC. / [three-line copyright statement]”
Copyright: “(c) Copyright 1963 by Helen Palmer. 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-. Manufactured in the United States of America.”
DJ Front: Color illustration matching Book Front. “Do you know / [Beginner Books logo top right] / what I'm going to do / Next / Saturday? / By Helen Palmer / with photographs by Lynn Fayman”
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] Do you know what I'm going to do Next Saturday? Palmer B-31 [black horizontal text]”
DJ Price: 195/195
DJ Flap Front: “195/195 [top right] / [Photo] / Do you know / what I'm going to do / Next Saturday? / by Helen Palmer / with photographs by / Lynn Fayman / This is the stuff kids' dreams are … [… paragraph] / He water-skis and flies in Navy … […paragraph] / As his imagination soars, he sees … [… paragraph] / With ONLY 176 DIFFERENT … [… paragraph]”
DJ Flap Back: “[Photograph} / RAWLI DAVIS, our hero, lives in … [… paragraph] / HELEN PALMER and LYNN FAYMAN … [… paragraph] / In putting together DO YOU KNOW … [… paragraph] / (c) 1963 Helen Palmer”
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-31' on the spine.
First edition dust jacket is Beginner Books 1963 DJ 'L' with 33 titles listed on the back DJ. See Beginner Books Dust Jacket Backs from Chapter 52 of the First Edition Identification Guide: 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 First Fifty Beginner Books for first edition identification of the first 50 Beginner Books.
See Beginner Books Dust Jacket Backs to see the chronological sequence of the Beginner Books dust jackets.
All of this information is sourced from the First Edition Identification Guide: Beginner Books (2024, Flying Moose Books), by Stan Zielinski.