First Edition Identification
Dr. Seuss Beginner Books B-42
1966 Don And Donna Go To Bat
1966 B-42 Don And Donna Go To Bat
Al Perkins. B. Tobey (Illustrator). Don And Donna Go To Bat. New York. Beginner Books: 1966.
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 tells of twins Donna and Don and their mix-up at their baseball game.
Pagination: Front fixed and free endpapers illustrated in color; [i] title; [ii] copyright; 3-63 story; [64] small color illustration; 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 58 years with tens of thousands of copies sold. Al Perkins wrote over 20 children's books in a career spanning decades. Barney Tobey was successful cartoonist and illustrator for over 50 years. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
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. “OM and / [Beginner Books logo top right] / DONNA / GO TO / BAT / By Al Perkins / illustrated by / B TOBEY”
Note: Click on any of the book's images to see at larger scale.
Book Back: Bound in glossy orange paper covered boards. Blank with no illustration or text.
Book Spine: “[BB logo] BEGINNER BOOKS [black horizontal text] DON and DONNA GO TO BAT Perkins B-42 [black horizontal text]”
Title Page: “DON And DONNA / GO TO BAT / [illustration] / By Al Perkins / Illustrated by / B. Tobey / BEGINNER BOOKS A Division of Random House, Inc. “
Copyright: “To Ted and Helen / (c) Copyright 1966 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. / Published in New York by Beginner Books, a division of Random House, Inc., and simultaneously in Toronto, Canada, by Random / House of Canada, Limited. / Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-10685. Manufactured in the United States of America.”
DJ Front: Color illustration matching Book Front. “DON and / [Beginner Books logo top right] / DONNA / GO TO / BAT / By Al Perkins / illustrated by / B TOBEY”
DJ Back: Beginner Books DJ Back 'O': 1966 No BB Titles
“[The Cat In The Hat Beginner Book Dictionary (1964) front cover] / Here is where / BEGINNING/ READERS / really begin / to read! / [four-lines starting with 'This amazing Dictionary by the Cat in the Hat' / Now available for Beginners / in / ['CITH BB Dictionary FRENCH' cover] / FRENCH / ['CITH BB Dictionary SPANISH' cover] / and / SPANISH / too”
DJ Spine: “[BB logo] BEGINNER BOOKS [black horizontal text] DON and DONNA GO TO BAT Perkins B-42 [black horizontal text]”
DJ Price: 195/195
DJ Flap Front: “195/195 [top right] / DON and DONNA / GO TO / BAT / Here's a baseball story that both / boys and girls will want to read. / It has twins in it. / Boy twin. Girl twin. / On the day of the big game, / there's a great big mix-up / Everyone thinks that Donna is … [… paragraph] / * * * / It's funny. It's exciting. But, be- … [… 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 Al Perkins] / THE AUTHOR [photo caption / [Three paragraph Al Perkins bio] / [Three paragraph Barney Tobey bio]”
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-42' on the spine.
First edition dust jacket is Beginner Books 1966 DJ 'O' with an advertisement for The Cat In The Hat Beginner Book Dictionary (1964) along with the French (1965) and Spanish (1966) versions. See Beginner Books Dust Jacket Backs from Chapter 52 of the First Edition Identification Guide: Beginner Books.No Beginner Book titles are listed.
Second Printings and Later
Second printing book is identical to first printing.
Second printing DJ is Beginner Books 1966 DJ 'P' 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.