# Is "Are You My Mother?" by P. D. Eastman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman (Beginner Books / Random House, 1960) is identified by: Beginner Books number B-18: roughly 9 x 6.5 in., 64 pages, glossy colour pictorial boards, colour illustrated throughout with pictorial endpapers; the book number B-18 belongs on the spine. US-only true first: Beginner Books, New York, 1960, distributed by Random House — Eastman's second Beginner Book after Sam and the Firefly (1958).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Beginner Books number B-18: roughly 9 x 6.5 in., 64 pages, glossy colour pictorial boards, colour illustrated throughout with pictorial endpapers; the book number B-18 belongs on the spine
- As with all Beginner Books, the jacket carries the identification
- First-printing jackets show the '100 Word Vocabulary' box at the Cat in the Hat Beginner Books logo on the front panel, are priced with the price code present at the front flap (unclipped), and list 18 Beginner Books titles on the rear panel — Zielinski's 1960 back configuration 'F' — with Are You My Mother? itself last and the three 'Beginning Beginners' titles included
- Books B-14 to B-18 exist in two jacket states, the earlier reading 'Distributed by Random House' (Beginner Books still independent) and the later 'A Division of Random House' (after Random House's 1960 acquisition); an ABAA-marketplace dealer records the first-edition copy as the 'Distributed by Random House' state with 18 titles to the rear panel
- A rear panel listing more than 18 titles is a later printing
- Publisher imprint reads Beginner Books / Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | P. D. Eastman |
| Publisher | Beginner Books / Random House |
| Year | 1960 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Beginner Books number B-18: roughly 9 x 6.5 in., 64 pages, glossy colour pictorial boards, colour illustrated throughout with pictorial… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Beginner Books number B-18: roughly 9 x 6.5 in., 64 pages, glossy colour pictorial boards, colour illustrated throughout with pictorial endpapers; the book number B-18 belongs on the spine. As with all Beginner Books, the jacket carries the identification. First-printing jackets show the '100 Word Vocabulary' box at the Cat in the Hat Beginner Books logo on the front panel, are priced with the price code present at the front flap (unclipped), and list 18 Beginner Books titles on the rear panel — Zielinski's 1960 back configuration 'F' — with Are You My Mother? itself last and the three 'Beginning Beginners' titles included. Books B-14 to B-18 exist in two jacket states, the earlier reading 'Distributed by Random House' (Beginner Books still independent) and the later 'A Division of Random House' (after Random House's 1960 acquisition); an ABAA-marketplace dealer records the first-edition copy as the 'Distributed by Random House' state with 18 titles to the rear panel. A rear panel listing more than 18 titles is a later printing.

## Is this the true first?
US-only true first: Beginner Books, New York, 1960, distributed by Random House — Eastman's second Beginner Book after Sam and the Firefly (1958). No UK or foreign-language edition precedes it; later British Beginner Books issues are separate editions, not firsts. Caution: Random House later printed 'First Printing' on the copyright pages of reprints, so a printing statement alone does not make a first — the jacket configuration and imprint wording govern.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Beginner Books were widely reprinted for book clubs. Club copies are slightly smaller in format, OMIT the B-18 book number from the spine, and use thinner spines, cheaper cover stock and lower-grade paper; later mass-market reprints carry barcodes the early issues lack.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Are You My Mother?* by P. D. Eastman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/are-you-my-mother
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.