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Where Have All The Books Gone?

Based upon our experience, there are fewer key collectible picturebooks on the online market than a year ago, continuing a trend we have seen over the past couple of years.

Try a search on any of the metasearch book finding websites, such as ABEBooks, Addall, Bookfinder, or the ABAA, for first edition Caldecott Medal books, or Beginner Books, or I Can Read Books, or Seuss books. Sort the results from high price to low price (the thought being the high priced books would most likely be first editions), and see how many books turn up. The results will show that many first edition books are not currently being offered for sale.

Money Can’t Buy Everything

We publish a search for the first twenty Caldecott Medal books three or four times a year (we perform the search monthly, and publish it less frequently). We last published the survey in February, and the results were a bit eye opening.

For the first twenty Caldecott Medal books, in first edition format, seven of the titles were not being offered for sale! We found only 27 individual copies for sale, with four copies of 1952 winner The Biggest Bear being offered (several incorrectly I suspect, since the $2.75 price on the DJ flap is required to identify a true first printing).

If one were to extend the search to cover all of the seventy Caldecott Medal books, perhaps as many as 15-to-20 would not be for sale on the market as first edition books.

In a world in which money can buy nearly everything, it could not buy a complete set of first edition Caldecott Medal books!

Given the proper monetary motivation, a book scout could probably find and purchase a complete set of first edition Caldecott Medal books. Probably. It would take upwards of a year, even for the well connected book scout, and cost $60-to-$80,000 (in the Children’s Picturebook Price Guide, we value the set of first edition Caldecott Medal books at $52,000 in Very Good plus condition).

Somewhere, yet Nowhere: Other Key Children’s Books

Try searching for key early franchise books from such staples as Curious George, or Madeline, Harold and the Purple Crayon, or Babar. The first edition books are not available. A key example is a first edition Curious George. One has recently surfaced for sale, and will be auctioned in July by PBA Galleries. It is very likely to reach $10,000, however some have thought as high as $20,000! There are no auction records for a first edition Curious George, and it’s been seven years since one has surfaced for sale.

Try searching for specific illustrator books, such as Marjorie Flack or Robert McCloskey, or Jean de Brunhoff, or Wanda Gag, or Virginia Lee Burton, or Roger Duvoisin, or Hardie Gramatky, or Lois Lenski, or the d’Aulaire’s, Petersham’s, or Hader’s. The more common first edition books are found for sale, however the scarcer editions are not surfacing on a regular basis, if at all.

The first edition books exist, however they exist somewhere in collector’s bookshelves, and are nowhere to be found in booksellers’ inventory.

As Values Increase, Supply Will Increase

Market values will have to rise in order for the supply of key first edition books to surface. This seems counterintuitive. Key first edition books have been absorbed by collectors, or could be in bookseller’s inventory, yet are not surfacing for sale. As prices in the market rise, some of these books will become available for sale.

We’ve seen a slight increase in values since our initial price guide was published, and the next edition (due in early 2008) will reflect this marginal increase. However, the price guide will only reflect the prices in the market, and cannot be anticipatory of where prices might escalate.

As the bookselling public becomes better informed of the values of key children’s books, and the knowledge slowly seaps into the conscious of the general population, more first edition books will surface. We hope.

Next: State of The Hobby, Part III: The New Class of Bookselling Masses

Earlier we posted a column titled “What Books To Collect,” which provided several categories of books or illustrators for various economic levels of collecting. Today and over the next couple of posts, we would like to discuss the state of the children’s picturebook collecting hobby, and provide some background information on the current market place.

A Hobby In It’s Infancy

The hobby of collecting first edition contemporary picturebooks is in it’s infancy. In support of this claim:

1.   There are only a handful of collectible children’s bookselling specialists, and many concentrate their efforts on older antiquarian material.

2.   The number of children’s book collectors today is relatively small, as compared to the number we anticipate will participate in the future.

3.   The majority of the adult population do not consider first edition children’s picturebooks to have substantial monetary value. The hobby is somewhat analogous to comic books and baseball cards during the infancy of the respective hobbies.

·         Just twenty years ago people were throwing away vintage baseball cards because there was no public perception of value. Today, many baseball cards from the 1950’s and 1960’s are worth thousands of dollars. (Note: Mickey Mantle’s 1952 Topps baseball card is valued at $15,000- $20,000.)

·         Just thirty years ago you could find discarded comic books from the 1940’s for sale for a pittance in used books and thrift stores, because there was no public perception of value. Today, Superman and Batman comic books from the 1940’s are worth tens of thousands; early Spiderman comics from the 1960’s are worth thousands (Note: Action #1, the 1937 first appearance of Superman. Is valued in the hundreds of thousands.)

I am not suggesting the value of first edition children’s picturebooks will reach the astonomical prices of rare comic books; only presenting the above as somewhat analogous situations. Hyperbole and I are not usually compatible.

4.   The majority of elementary school teachers and librarians, the group closest to the hobby, do not consider children’s picturebooks to have substantial monetary value. Not only are elementary school teachers and librarians the closest to the hobby, their reading recommendations and ‘prescriptions’ to children and parents, gained from knowledge, experience, and collegial associations, determine the long-term publication success of many of the books the hobby defines to be collectibles.

5.   The current contemporary children’s picturebook market is very Seuss-, Sendak-, and Caldecott-centric, the Big Three. The high market value of their first editions has seeped into the knowledge base of general bookselling (i.e. not limited to children’s books), therefore many, many booksellers are aware and on the lookout for examples. However the non-specialist children’s booksellers do not get much deeper than the aforementioned Big Three.

Adolescence, The Next Phase

When one takes a bird’s eye view of the current state, I think the hobby will eventually place greater emphasis on 'years-in-print' and 'copies sold' as measures of collectibility and desireability. The important collectible picturebooks are those which have stayed in print, unadulterated, for decades.

Consider Madeline, in print for 70 years, and still being read by today’s children. How many other ‘things’ are enjoyed, unchanged, seventy years after the original publication? A quick glance at Publisher’s Weekly list of all-time bestselling children’s books will show a plethora of classics which have sold millions of copies, been read to or read by tens of millions of children, and unchanged after decades.

·         Many of the books are ‘A’ list books, however many are not. Books like Marcus Pfister’s Rainbow Fish, or Margret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon, or Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog. Go!, or Laura Numeroff’s If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, or Sam McBratney’s Guess How Much I Love You?, or Jan Brett’s The Mitten, or Janell Cannon’s Stelleluna, or Marc Brown’s Arthur Goes To School. And so forth.

·         Each of these books are underappreciated in the current state of the hobby – books barely considered collectibles, and then by only a handful of collectors and booksellers. Yet, I would wager, each of these books will be in print for decades hence, to be enjoyed by millons of more children and parents in the years to come. What is the future worth of these first editions?

The Astute Collector and The Not-So-Smart Hobby

Several weeks ago we posted a column on ‘Factors Affecting Collectibility,’ identifying six key factors which impact the desireablity and value of a children’s picturebook. These factors are our personally developed list of factors, and as yet have not been vetted within the hobby. They are, how shall we say, in development.

The astute collector can leverage this period of development by focusing on books not yet held in high regard within the collectible picturebook market. What can you do? Develop your own list of factors, factors currently under weighted in the market, and target those books and types of books (the prerequisite being the books are appealing to your personally).

Currently, in its state of infancy, i.e. disjointed development, the collective intelligence of the ‘hobby’ is not nearly as smart as the astute collector. As more is written within the hobby, and knowledge shared, this gap will narrow, quickly, as the hobby matures. The collective intelligence of the children’s picturebook market will overtake that of the individual collector. But that is not today.

Next: State of The Hobby, Part II: Where Have All The Books Gone?

This blog and our website focuses on collecting and valuing first edition children’s picturebooks. We try to stay on subject as much as possible, and refrain from presenting material that strays too far from the hobby. Picturebooks are the center of our attentions.

Some of our readers - parents, teachers, educators, and feminists - will find the following research article of keen interest, Gender Stereotyping and Under-representation of Female Characters in 200 Popular Children’s Picture Books: A 21st Century Update.

The research was performed at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, by Mykol C. Hamilton, David Anderson, Michelle Broaddus, and Kate Young. It appears to be even handed and performed without bias.

This study is based upon a sampling of 200 books published since 2001, including all Caldecott award books. The authors found a “persistence of sexism in picture books.”

We present this information not as an endorsement or indictment. Instead, for those with an interest, read the excerpt, then follow the link to read the entire research document, and develop your own thoughts, opinions, and course of action.

Abstract.

Gender stereotyping and under-representation of girls and women have been documented in children’s picture books in the past, in the hope that improvements would follow. Most researchers have analyzed award winning books. We explored sexism in top selling books from 2001 and a 7-year sample of Caldecott award winning books, for a total of 200 books.

There were nearly twice as many male as female title and main characters. Male characters appeared 53% more times in illustrations. Female main characters nurtured more than male main characters did, and they were seen in more indoor than outdoor scenes. Occupations were gender stereotyped, and more women than men appeared to have no paid occupation.

Few differences were found between Caldecott award books and other books. A comparison of our book sample to 1980s and 1990s books did not reveal reduced sexism. The persistence of sexism in picture books and implications for children and parents are discussed.

Gender Stereotyping and Under-representation of Female Characters in 200 Popular Children’s Picture Books: A 21st Century Update

Does Sexism in Picture Books Matter?

First, common sense suggests that gender bias in books matters—that stereotyped portrayals of the sexes and under-representation of female characters contribute negatively to children’s development, limit their career aspirations, frame their attitudes about their future roles as parents, and even influence their personality characteristics.

Second, experimental research strongly suggests that gender bias in picture books is harmful to children. Schau and Scott (1984) reviewed 21 studies on the effects of sexist vs. nonsexist children’s instructional materials (e.g., male versus female characters; sexist versus nonsexist generic pronouns), and discovered a consistent tendency for sexist materials to strengthen children’s biases.

In one study (Ashton, 1978) 3-5 year old children read gender-biased or -unbiased children’s picture books. Children who read biased books later made more stereotypic toy choices. Based on these and other studies, Tognoli, Pullen, and Lieber (1994) concluded that gender bias in children’s books gives boys a sense of entitlement and lowers girls’ self-esteem and occupational aspirations. Moreover, Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, and Ross (1972) argued that the dearth of female characters teaches both sexes that girls are less worthy than boys.

Other researchers have concluded that children’s literature provides girls and boys with standards of masculinity and femininity (Peterson & Lach, 1990), offers socially sanctioned behavioral models that children may imitate (St. Peter, 1979), and presents a basic model for understanding oneself and others (Rachlin & Vogt, 1974).

For the rest of the research article, see Gender Stereotyping and Under-representation of Female Characters in 200 Popular Children’s Picture Books: A 21st Century Update.

Several weeks ago, we garnered a   by being tagged by Fuse #8 Production in the "Someone Believes I Think!" post.

The idea originated in February from The Thinking Blog's  tagging five blogs which make you think (for those tagged, below, click on the link to see guidelines for tagging thinking blogs).

Certainly a unique idea - "to tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all - blogs that really get you thinking!" Thinking has oft been described as a mix of perspiration and hard work. To the five blogs that follow, keep the perspiration to yourselves, and a modest "thank you!" for the hard work.

Book Collectors

Kenneth Sullivan's discussion on Modern First editions, Signed Limited editions, and other book collecting topics. There are bookseller blogs galore on the web, most are, eh…, monologues? rants? diatribes?, etc..., on a variety of 'topics-of-the-week', those easy to write opinions many bloggers feel is their sacred duty to pontificate upon. Not so Book Collectors – Mr. Sullivan actually provides information related to the hobby of collecting books! For starters, try either the article  on E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime or To Kill A Mockingbird.

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast 

"Our vision for this blog is pretty simple: we’re going to talk about the books we read. We read lots of different kinds of books: picture books for toddlers, memoirs, young adult fiction, graphic novels, Man Booker Prize-winning high-art metafiction, whatever. And we’ll write about them, whenever we can, in the hopes that we can

a. let you, the reader, know about a book that you might like to read, too; and
b. inspire discussion about said books."

We love the author interviews on Seven Things, which are much more than the usual list of suspect questions. Try the MT. Anderson interview and see if you too don't get hooked.

The Brookshelf

"A children's librarian thoughts, ideas, and news about children's books from yesteryear."

Among the plethora of librarians and teacher blogs on the web, the brookshelf stands apart by providing thoughtful reviews on forgotten books, gems of the past nearly lost among the hoard of Potter wannebe's gracing the shelf of the local Barnes & Noble and such.

Bookride

"It's a guide to the most wanted and collected books. There is some evaluation of why the book is wanted, what it is worth - with a range of selling prices, some trivia, apercus and bon mots, a few anecdotes, so called jokes and occasional rants."

Nigel posts on an eclectic measure of first edition books, from Harry Potter to Kerouac's On The Road to Wuthering Heights, offering humorous opinions and anecdotes relevent to book collectors. Highly readable.

The Publishing Contrarian

Lynne W. Scanlon, the self proclaimed Wicked Witch of Publishing offers regular posts on the inside workings of the publishing industry. Not for the faint of heart, she offers brutally honest information and advice, of special importance to the prospective, as yet unpublished, author.

Wannabe Author Syndrome: Cheap, Craven & Conned?

"I am so tired of hearing unpublished writers (I won’t call a writer an author until he/she can actually show me a bound book or a buyable online version) wail about not being able to find a literary agent or get published or get readers to buy direct. Last night I practically leapt across a dinner table to throttle a wannabe author because he simply could not or would not absorb what I was telling him—that what he desperately needed was someone to assess his book and let him know if it was good or bad."

 Click on the article's title to read the rest.

From Publisher's Weekly: 

For Better or Worse, Used Book Sales Grow

Trade publishers ambivalent; online businesses prosper

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 4/2/2007

"Prompted in part by Amazon.com's decision to sell used trade books in 2004, the Book Industry Study Group commissioned a report in 2005 to determine the size and composition of the used book market. Those findings, released in fall 2005, confirmed the fears of publishers—that used trade books had grown into a significant market, with sales estimated at $589 million in 2004—while providing proof to retailers about the opportunity afforded by used books. But what has happened in the market since that study?

Despite their concerns, publishers have found few ways to stop used sales; in fact, while no new figures are available, the used book market for trade titles appears to have grown by double digits in 2006. The good news for publishers, however, is that the increase in used book sales has not resulted in the collapse of sales of new trade titles. Preliminary sales figures from the AAP show sales of adult titles in 2006 up slightly, consistent with gains of recent years. That's cold comfort for some publishers who speculated that sales could have been higher if not for the siphoning of sales by used books."

For the complete article, CLICK HERE. 

Book collectors hail from a variety of economic backgrounds. For some, twenty dollars is a great deal to spend, while for others, hundreds or even thousands is a reasonable price to add a first edition children’s picturebook to their collection. To each, his or her own.

Even with this disparity, there are areas of interest for every pocket book. With this in mind, we wanted to offer some thoughts on various dollar-value levels for collectible picturebooks.

The Book Collector's Mantra - Learn, Learn, Learn!

Ours is a growing hobby. As such, there are many unexplored nooks and crannies within the picturebook hobby. Learn, learn, learn, then find them. Astute early adopters often benefit in the long run. The key is to understand the factors impacting a book’s collectibility and subsequent value, and being insightful enough to benefit. The benefit is buying a collectible book in the present for less then it would cost in the future.

Booksellers cannot afford to be so 'insightful' in a long-term manner. They have to buy books to sell in the near term. Booksellers do not buy books for purposes of future appreciation – they buy books for instant monetary appreciation. The business model strongly favors turnover of their book inventory. This works to the advantage of the astute book collector.

Most booksellers are generalists, or specialists in other areas of the vast book collecting spectrum. There are only a handful of children’s bookselling specialists, and in most cases specialize in older antiquarian materials. Because of this, the astute hobbyist can often find contemporary ‘bargains’ in used and collectible bookstores.

Important Caveat

Collect books that you enjoy.

The lists that follow tend toward traditionalist children’s picturebook collecting, and should be used as guides to develop your own collecting interests.

The intention is to help you spend less for books of your interest.

Presumptions 

The following lists are for first edition hardcover picturebooks, with dust jacket.

• Learn to identify first edition books by key children’s book publishers (it’s not too difficult)! For the beginning collector, CLICK HERE.
• Books without dust jacket (when originally issued with one) are worth only a fraction of the book with dust jacket.
• Paperback versions have little collectibility or value.

Level 1: Up to $20

1. Caldecott Medal books, 2000 to present.
2. Caldecott Honor books, 1990 to present.
3. Geisel Medal books, 2006 & 2007.
4. Modern Caldecott award winning illustrators, such as books by Tony Deterrlizi, Kevin Henkes, Kadir Nelson, Chris Raschka, Eric Rohmann, David Small, and Mo Willems.
5. Contemporary illustrators, 1990 to present, such as books by Felicia Bond, Kay Chorao, Steven Kellogg, Michael Hague, Tomie de Paola, Mercer Mayer, and Cindy Szekeres.
6. Contemporary pop culture franchise books, including Little Critter, Arthur, Berenstain Bear, Magic School Bus, Olivia, and Toot & Puddle books.

A common strategy is to collect books which stay in print for decades, perhaps never going out of print ('never' is a long time, so please consider it in context). The idea is the longer the book is in print, the more children enjoy and read it, thereby increasing the interest in the first edition copy. Eventually. If only those five year olds would hurry up and become forty. 

Level 2: Up to $50

1. Caldecott Medal books, 1995 to present.
2. Caldecott Honor books, 1980 to present.
3. Harper & Row, ’I Can Read’ series books, 1970 to present.
4. Illustrators, 1970 to present, such as books by Leo & Diane Dillon, Richard Egielski, Stephen Gammell, Trina Schart Hyman, Leo Lionni, Jerry Pinkney, Richard Scarry, Peter Spier, Tomi Ungerer, David Wiesner, Ed Young, and Paul Zelinsky.

Level 3: Up to $100

1. Caldecott Medal books, 1990 to present.
2. Caldecott Honor books, 1970 to present.
3. Beginner Books, 1960 to present.
4. Harper & Row, ‘I Can Read’ series books, 1957 to present, especially the early Syd Hoff books, and the affordable Maurice Sendak Little Bear books.
5. Illustrators, 1960 to present, including Raymond Briggs, Marcia Brown, Ed Emberley, the Haders, Nonny Hogrogian, Hilary Knight (non-Eloise), Leo Lionni, the Petershams, Shel Silverstein, William Steig, Leonard Weisgard, and Taro Yashima.

Level 4: Up to $200

1. Selected Dr. Seuss books - from eBay only - including The Sleep Book, Sollew Sollew, Hop On Pop, Lorax, One Fish/Two Fish, and Yertle the Turtle. First editions can be found on eBay, however are considerably more expensive from other bookselling sites.
2. Caldecott Medal books, 1980 to present.
3. Caldecott Honor books, 1960 to present.
4. Classic illustrators, 1950 to present, including Roger Duvoisin, Ingri & d’Aulaire, Feodor Rojankovsky, Leo Politi, Louis Slobodkin, Gustaf Tenggren, and Kurt Wiese.
5. Selected franchise books, including Happy Lion, Petunia, Little Golden Books (with dust jackets!),  

Level 5: Up to $500

1. Caldecott Medal books, 1950 to present.
2. Caldecott Honor books, 1938 to present (except Madeline, which would be much more expensive).
3. Key franchise books, including Angus, Babar, Curious George, Eloise, Madeline, Harold/Purple Crayon, and the Smalls books (Lenski).
4. Foundation illustrators, 1930 to present, including Marjorie Flack, Wanda Gag, Robert Lawson, Lois Lenski, Robert McCloskey, and Tasha Tudor.
5. Selected Maurice Sendaks books.

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