Story Parade Magazine

 

 It's always a fun to check the old children's magazines like Jack and Jill or Story Parade for collectible authors and illustrators. Both the covers above are by Caldecott winning artist Feodor Rojankovsky who also illustrated interior stories and the December 1952 magazine has stories illustrated by Flavia Gag, Mordvinoff (another Caldecott winner) and William Wiesner amoung others.

Sleepers

In every generation there are books that may not have been financially successful or widely read when they were published, that end up growing in desirability as the children of that generation become adults with children of their own.

Sleepers like THE BOY WHO ATE FLOWERS or the CHRISTMAS COOKIE SPRINKLE SNITCHER two titles from the 1960's or one of my favorite sleepers from the 1990's; THE HIGH RISE GLORIOUS SKITTLE SKAT ROARIOUS SKY PIE ANGEL FOOD CAKE.

It has a great message, lovely illustrations and a title which probably drives Librarians, um I mean Media Specialists crazy.

Crockett Johnson

An illustrator I ALWAYS scout for, this book is: THE LION'S OWN STORY.   Published by Harper & Row, 1963.

Auction Alert-Dr. Seuss

The January 7th auction at PBA Auctions in San Francisco is going to include 85 lots of Dr. Seuss material; books, original sketches and ephemera with many of the items signed.

2008 National Book Award - Young Adult

The ABA awards were announced on November 20th and the juvenile award went to What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell.

Helen Dore Boylston-Biblio Checklist

• Sister: The War Diary of a Nurse. NY: Washburn, 1927 . 202pgs, 20cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Student Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1936. Illustrated by Forrest W. Orr. 244pgs, frontis, plates. 22cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Senior Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1937. Illustrated by Major Felten. xi, 220pgs, frontis, plates, 22cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Visiting Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1938. Illustrated by Major Felten. frontis, plates, 22cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Rural Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1939. Illustrated by Forrest W. Orr. 254pgs, 22cm.
  

• Sue Barton, Superintendent of Nurses. Boston: Little, Brown, 1940. Illustrated by Forrest W. Orr. 239pgs, frontis, plates, 21 cm.
  

and then in a break from Sue there was:

• Carol Goes Backstage. Boston: Little, Brown, 1941. Illustrated by Frederick E. Wallace. frontis, plates, 21 cm.
  

• Carol Plays Summer Stock. Boston: Little, Brown, 1942. Illustrated by Major Felten. frontis, plates, 20 cm.

• Carol on Broadway. Boston: Little, Brown, 1944. Illustrated by Major Felten. frontis, plates, 20cm.

• Carol on Tour. Boston: Little, Brown, 1946. Illustrated by Major Felten. frontis, plates, 20cm.

• Carol Goes On the Stage. London: John Lane, 1947. Illustrated by Frederick E. Wallace. 190pgs, frontis, plates, 19cm. This is the English edition of Carol Goes Backstage.
  

then back to Sue Barton with:

• Sue Barton, Neighborhood Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1949. Frontis by Major Felton. 236pgs, col frontis, 20cm.
  

and the final Sue Barton book:

• Sue Barton, Staff Nurse. Boston: Little, Brown, 1952. Illustrated by Major Felten. 204pgs, 20cm.

• Clara Barton: Founder of American Red Cross. NY: Random House, 1955. Illustrated by Paula Hutchison. 182pgs, 22cm.

author's final title:

• Travels With Zenobia: Paris to Albania by Model T Ford (with Rose Wilder Lane). William Holtz (editor). Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1983. 117pgs, 22cm. ISBN: 0826203906.

I would include Boylston's Sue Barton and Carol books on my even as x-libris book list. (With my usual dust jacket caveat.)

Auction Watch

The PBA galleries auction on Aug 21st is auctioning some very interesting children's books, the highlight being a first edition in dust jacket of Madeleine L'Engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME.

Their auction estimate is $5,000-8,000 but I would not be surprised if it sold for quite a bit more. This is a very, very scarce title that (so far) I've only had once. About 8 years ago I handled a consigned copy in the second state dust jacket which I sold overnight to another dealer for $3,000.

Ooohh Lookit!

As an out of print bookseller you spend a lot of time handling and processing general stock books, nice solid inventory that you describe accurately and hopefully sell quickly. But every once in a blue moon you get a bragging book in, one that by rarity/condition/edition you just want to do a happy dance, blow a figurative raspberry at other dealers and say LOOKIT WHAT I'VE GOT!

Like this one :-)

MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN by Jean George. Published NY: Dutton, 1959. First edition, Fine in a Near Fine dust jacket. 1960 Newbery Honor book and in 15 years the FIRST time I've ever even had this book in first edition.

Auction Price Realized- Harold's Trip to the Sky Crockett Johnson

I usually don't report on Ebay auctions but the auction of a possible first of one of the Purple Crayon books by Crockett Johnson fetched a most reportable $565.

Harry Potter Auction Price Realized

This in from the Oct 25th auction at Heritage Auction Galleries. A first English edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. (a X-library copy!) fetched a very cool $33,460.

J.K. Rowling: The Rare True First Edition of the First Harry Potter Book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. ([London]: Bloomsbury, [1997]). First edition. Octavo (7.75" x 5"). 223 pages. Publisher's pictorial laminated boards, no dustwrapper was issued for the first edition. Ex-library copy, with ink stamp to copyright page that shows through to the title page, two blemishes to paper from staples to the preliminary pages, including title. Light bumping to corners, and general light rubbing, small scratch on the rear board, evidence of label removed from front free endpaper but barely noticeable. Altogether, a very good, handsome copy, with the covers and text block remarkably clean and tight. The book shows very well. Very scarce indeed. Reputedly only 300 hardcover copies were printed, nearly all of these went to schools and libraries. This particular copy was once the property of the Portsmouth City Library, evidenced by the library stamp on the title page, which reads "Portsmouth City Council Library Service". Both first issue points present on the copyright page: "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" and "Copyright © Text Joanne Rowling 1997".

Eloise Auction Price Realized

From the 10/25/07 auction at PBA Galleries this signed first edition of Eloise by Kay Thompson fetched $3737 after buyers premium.

Even as x-libris

Another series title that I would pick up even as a library discard if and only if it still had a dust jacket attached is:

Helen Dole Boylston's Sue Barton books. Especially the first in the series: Sue Barton Student Nurse. Originally published by Little Brown in 1936 this book was in print a long time. (Abebooks lists a 43rd printing.)

even as x-libris

Sally Watson wrote great juvenile historical novels and it has always amazed me that her books were never reprinted.

Mistress Malapert. NY: Henry Holt, 1955. Illustrated by Genia. This book in particular seems to generate a great many want requests.

(I'd pick up any of her titles, even as x-libris as long as the dust jackets were not too mangled. )

David Edwards First Book

David Edwards, an avid collector of modern signed children's books and a dedicated and determined writer will have his first book published in October. David's wish was to have at least four copies of every title he collected (one for each of his children) which allowed many a children's bookseller to see black ink instead of red at the end of a month.

The Pen That Pa Built written by David and illustrated by Ashley Wolf will be published in October and is available at Amazon.com for pre-order.

Book Description

In this warm display of old-fashioned know-how and family spirit, a blanket is made from scratch--from the shearing to the carding, spinning, dying, and weaving. And it all starts in the pen that Pa built. Told through Ashley Wolff's vibrant artwork, this illustrated history of 1830s North America celebrates the lost art of creating a cherished, homemade object.

even as x-libris

Another good book to scout is Tony Hillerman's only children's book, The Boy Who Made Dragonfly: A Zuni Myth. Harper & Row, 1972. Illustrated By Laszlo Kubinyi.

(This one has an ISBN # so you will have to grab fast or fight the Scoutpal users for it.)

Genre Collecting- Juvenile Mysteries

I was visiting with another children's book specialist the other day and we were doing the usual free association book natter, the topic being the books that seem to be most sought by collectors in the juvenile mystery genre. The list below does not cover the series books (Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden etc.) and is by no means complete:

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. (This book won the Newbery Award and is probably my single most requested mystery title.)

Enid Blyton's Fabulous Five stories, especially from the 1940's and 1950's. Published by Hodder Stoughton. (My dealer friend is from the UK, I'm not sure these were even published in the U.S., though I remember reading them in California in the 60's.)

Elizabeth Honness. Her books were all "Mystery of" Mystery of the Secret Message, Mystery of the Maya Jade etc. Mostly published by Lippincott.

Phyllis Whitney wrote juveniles, including juvenile mysteries, as well as adult mystery/romances. She won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for juvenile mystery in 1961 for Mystery of the Haunted Pool and in 1964 for Mystery of the Hidden Hand. Whitney's juvenile mysteries were published by Westminster Press which sold almost exclusively to libraries, so finding first edition or even early edition of her mysteries that are not library discard is a major feat.

As I said, this is mostly an off the top of my head observation based on personal experience, not on market research. The flaw with working this way is that it tends to be a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy; these are some of the books I loved growing up, so I scout them as a dealer and find collectors who share the same interest.

Where the Wild Things Are Auction Price Realized

From the July 12th auction at the PBA Galleries, this copy of Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are had fetched $6900. (This is less than I thought, I know of copies that have reached the $10,000 range.)

Curious George Auction Price Realized

If you ever doubt the importance of a dust jacket to the value of children's books:

On July 12, 2007 PBA Galleries of San Francisco auctioned this first edition with dust jacket of H. A. Rey's Curious George for an astonishing (to me anyway!) $21,850.

even as x-libris

Another title I'm always searching for:

Madeliene L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1962. (This is the 1963 Newbery Award book and notoriously hard to find in the first state dust jacket, library discard or not.)

Other than Harry Potter

Like many, many people I'm anxiously waiting for the July 21st and the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. But either pre or post Harry these fantasy authors also deserve to be read:

Diana Wynne Jones (my favorites; Howl's Moving Castle and it's sequel Castle in the Air, there are rumors of a third book but I've not seen anything definite).

Megan Whalen Turner (I loved all three books The Thief, Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia and I will be crushed if there is not another book telling Sophos's story).

David Almond (My favorite is Kit's Wilderness, definitely a young adult title, dark, layered and complex).

Markus Zusak (I'm more partial to The Messenger, than The Book Thief, both young adult titles and both well worth reading.)