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A first edition The Little House is a scarce bird, rarely sighted in public. First edition copies of Virginia Lee Burton’s 1943 Caldecott Medal winning book are one of the scarcest contemporary children’s picturebook to find. One is currently being offered for sale on ABEBooks. It can be yours for $12,500.

[Caveat emptor: I have no affiliation to the bookseller, nor to sale of this particular book. The bookseller, Raptis Rare Books is a reputable member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America.]

Here is the link to the item, The Little House, with the following description, courtesy Raptis Rare Books:

First edition of one of the rarest and most sought after children’s classics. Oblong quarto, original blue cloth. Light rubbing to the spine tips, a near fine copy in an excellent unrestored dust jacket that shows a small chip to the crown of the spine and some light wear. Small ink inscription opposite the title page. This book and dust jacket are usually seen with restoration, this copy is exceptionally clean and bright. “Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country. She was a pretty Little House and she was strong and well built.” So begins Virginia Lee Burton’s The Little House, winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1943. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

There is only one, perhaps two, first edition Caldecott books which are harder to find.  This is one of the few first edition Caldecott Medal books not in my collection. Sigh. If only.

In 2007 a copy of The Little House sold at PBA Galleries auction for nearly $10,000.

The prices of first edition Caldecott Medal books have escalated in the past five years. Impressive in the face of the nation’s economy, this Great Recession.  The escalated prices have not resulted in additional first editions hitting the market. If anything, the opposite is true – there is less supply of first edition Caldecott Medal books on the market today than five years ago. In general, I think this applies to collectible first edition picturebooks.

Ironically it is not just the scarce books which are scarce. Even some of the more common first edition Caldecott Medal books are not available in numbers, making it a seller’s market.

A first edition Curious George sold at Heritage Auctions for $26,290. This surpasses the $21,850 paid for the first edition Curious George sold at PBA Galleries in 2007.

The Heritage sale took place in the September 2011 Beverly Hills Signature Rare Books Auction. The link to the Curious George lot #37070 at Heritage (you will have to login to Heritage to see the final sale price).

Lest one thinks first edition Curious George’s are popping up hither and thither, the seller of the 2007 book at PBA Galleries assures me that the Heritage copy is the very same book. 1stedition.net promoted the 2007 item, see Curious George First Edition Identification for photos of the covers, spine, dust jacket, and DJ flaps. Comparing the tears on the dust jacket confirms the two books are one and the same.

The Heritage Auction description:

First Edition of the Children’s Classic, In the Exceedingly Rare Dust Jacket

H. A. Rey. Curious George. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1941. First edition. Quarto. Unpaginated. Illustrations by the author. Publisher’s brick red cloth with Curious George vignette in black on front board and lettering in black on spine. Illustrated endpapers. Original dust jacket with $1.75 price. A couple of faint scratches to cloth on rear board. Original unrestored dust jacket is rubbed, with a few chips to extremities and spine ends; also with a few short closed tears and shallow creases at edges. Rear flap with Bullock’s Wilshire price sticker ($1.75). A remarkably crisp, bright copy in near fine condition. We could locate only one other record of this title in dust jacket selling at auction in the past 35 years, and that was this very copy. Extremely scarce.

A classic children’s book, Curious George burst upon the scene in 1941, a year after H. A. Rey and his wife Margret (both German Jews) had escaped Paris only hours ahead of the Nazis. The Reys had fashioned makeshift bicycles from spare parts and fled Europe with possessions limited only to clothes, food, and five manuscripts, one of which was Curious George.

Featuring one of the most beloved characters in children’s literature, Curious George has never been out of print, and the story of the curious little monkey continues to delight and entertain children seventy years after its first publication. A superb copy, in the remarkably rare original dust jacket. Estimate: $15,000 – up.

Obviously this $26,000 sale will impact the other first edition books in the H.A. Rey Curious George series. In addition – guilty by association – there will likely be a ripple effect on the other scarce high-end contemporary children’s picturebooks, such as Make Way For Ducklings, Little House, and the scarcer Dr. Seuss and Caldecott Medal books. A very nice copy of the first edition Little House sold for nearly $10,000

Kevin and I have teamed up again. Guardian Angel Publishing will release No More Gunk! - an ebook for kids about taking care of teeth. Another exciting development - this book along with Ouch! Sunburn! will be released together as a print book. They both address a children's health issue. Watch for more news soon!

Kevin sent an email first thing this morning with news of a review for Ouch! Sunburn! What a nice surprise! Check it out - TCM Reviews.

A New 'Most Valuable Children's Picturebook'

Previous to the July 2007 PBA Galleries auction, we had listed Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are, the 1964 Caldecott Medal winning book, as the most valuable picturebook in the The Children's Picturebook Price Guide. At the PBA auction, a copy of Where The Wild Things Are sold for a respectable $6,900. See here for actual auction description and results.

On the same day, at the same auction, the first edition Curious George sold for $21,850, and a first edition The LIttle House, the 1943 Caldecott Medal winning book, sold for $9,775.

In our Children's Picturebook Price Guide we listed the first edition Where The Wild Things Are as the most valuable picturebook. Obviously, this is no longer true. We now consider Curious George the most valuable children's picturebook.

Even though The Little House sold for nearly $10,000, we do not consider it to be the most valuable Caldecott Medal winning book. Instead, we think Robert McCloskey's Make Way For Ducklings, the 1942 Caldecott Medal book, would be the most valuable Caldecott, followed by Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House. The first edition Where The Wild Things Are would be the third most valuable Caldecott Medal book, and the fourth most valuable children's picturebook.

OUCH! SUNBURN Text Donna Shepherd Illustrations Kevin Collier ISBN 10: 1-933090-60-x ISBN 13: 978-933090-60-3 Guardian Angel Publishing Reviewer Carolyn R Scheidies Sunburn is a big problem. Parents, adults and kids are out under the sun without considering the long-term consequences and they can be severe. As a kid, I seldom thought about sunscreen. Few did.... TO READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW, VISIT

Ouch! Sunburn!, another wonderfully written book by Donna J. Shepherd, is a fun book about getting sunburned and how to avoided getting burned again. The story not only teaches kids what will happen if they get too much sun, but what to put on their burned itchy skin. The book is written in a simple fun rhyme and at the end of the book there are tips on how to keep from getting sunburned when

A new coloring page by Kevin with the little boy from Ouch! Sunburn! Uh-oh! It looks like he might be falling asleep in the sun. That's a no-no! Right? *Click on the picture, then print! It will print out full size ready to be colored. If that doesn't work with your printer, right click on the picture, and then 'save picture as...' and then you can print it out using your photo program.

OUCH! SUNBURN! by Donna J. Shepherd A Wings of Faith Children's Book Author: Donna J. Shepherd Illustrations: Kevin Scott Collier ISBN: 1-933090-60-X ISBN 13: 9781933090603 From the Publisher: Donna J. Shepherd’s snappy rhymes along with the 15 colorful and fun illustrations by Kevin Scott Collier help children see the need to protect their skin in the sun. Sun Safety Tips in the back of the

A nice surprise today! Kevin, illustrator of the book, Topsy Turvy Land, sent a new coloring page featuring the boy in our newest eBook, Ouch! Sunburn! Enjoy! *Click on the picture, then print! It will print out full size ready to be colored. If that doesn't work with your printer, right click on the picture, and then 'save picture as...' and then you can print it out using your photo program.

Another collaboration with Kevin! We are working on an eBook for Guardian Angel Publishing called Ouch! Sunburn! The book features my poetry, Kevin's illustrations, and Sun Safety Tips for Kids. Watch for more news soon!