# Is "Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book" by Helen Dean Fish (text); Dorothy P. Lathrop (illustrations) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book by Helen Dean Fish (text); Dorothy P. Lathrop (illustrations) (Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1937) is identified by: First Caldecott Medal winner (awarded 1938). US true first is the Stokes 1937 issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First Caldecott Medal winner (awarded 1938)
- Frederick A. Stokes Company imprint on the title page and spine; copyright 1937
- A recognized first-issue point is the misspelling of the illustrator's surname as 'Lathop' (rather than 'Lathrop') on the spine of both the book and the dust jacket, corrected in later printings
- Lathrop's lithograph illustrations throughout
- Later reissues under the Lippincott imprint (Lippincott absorbed Stokes) are not the first
- Publisher imprint reads Frederick A. Stokes Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Helen Dean Fish (text); Dorothy P. Lathrop (illustrations) |
| Publisher | Frederick A. Stokes Company |
| Year | 1937 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First Caldecott Medal winner (awarded 1938) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First Caldecott Medal winner (awarded 1938). Frederick A. Stokes Company imprint on the title page and spine; copyright 1937. A recognized first-issue point is the misspelling of the illustrator's surname as 'Lathop' (rather than 'Lathrop') on the spine of both the book and the dust jacket, corrected in later printings. Lathrop's lithograph illustrations throughout. Later reissues under the Lippincott imprint (Lippincott absorbed Stokes) are not the first.

## Is this the true first?
US true first is the Stokes 1937 issue. Any Lippincott-imprint copy is a later printing, not the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
First-issue jacket predates the 1938 award and bears no medal. Reprints carry the Caldecott seal on the jacket and, later, the Lippincott imprint.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book* by Helen Dean Fish (text); Dorothy P. Lathrop (illustrations) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/animals-of-the-bible-a-picture-book
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.