# Is "Big Snow" by Berta and Elmer Hader a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader (The Macmillan Company, 1948) is identified by: Title is properly 'The Big Snow.' Macmillan imprint with the title page dated 1948; note the 1948 date alone does not prove a first printing. The US true first is the 1948 Macmillan issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Title is properly 'The Big Snow.' Macmillan imprint with the title page dated 1948; note the 1948 date alone does not prove a first printing
- The first-printing dust jacket carries no Caldecott Medal emblem on the front panel (the medal was awarded in 1949) and the rear flap advertises only earlier Hader titles
- Publisher imprint reads The Macmillan Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Berta and Elmer Hader |
| Publisher | The Macmillan Company |
| Year | 1948 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Title is properly 'The Big Snow.' Macmillan imprint with the title page dated 1948; note the 1948 date alone does not prove a first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Title is properly 'The Big Snow.' Macmillan imprint with the title page dated 1948; note the 1948 date alone does not prove a first printing. The first-printing dust jacket carries no Caldecott Medal emblem on the front panel (the medal was awarded in 1949) and the rear flap advertises only earlier Hader titles.

## Is this the true first?
The US true first is the 1948 Macmillan issue. Identification rests on the dust jacket rather than the text block, since the title page is dated 1948 across printings.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings add the Caldecott Medal emblem to the front of the jacket; presence of the medallion indicates a reprint jacket, not a first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Big Snow* by Berta and Elmer Hader a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/big-snow
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.