# Is "Kenny's Window" by Maurice Sendak a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Kenny's Window by Maurice Sendak (Harper & Brothers, 1956) is identified by: First book Sendak both wrote and illustrated. US Harper & Brothers first, 1956.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First book Sendak both wrote and illustrated
- First printing is identified chiefly by the unclipped first-issue dust jacket bearing the original printed price and the correct first binding (tan pictorial cloth with brown cloth spine)
- Any Harper copyright-page code is a two-letter month/year printing date; a first shows the earliest date consistent with the 1956 copyright and no later-printing code
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Maurice Sendak |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1956 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First book Sendak both wrote and illustrated |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First book Sendak both wrote and illustrated. First printing is identified chiefly by the unclipped first-issue dust jacket bearing the original printed price and the correct first binding (tan pictorial cloth with brown cloth spine). Any Harper copyright-page code is a two-letter month/year printing date; a first shows the earliest date consistent with the 1956 copyright and no later-printing code.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper & Brothers first, 1956.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions typically lack the printed jacket price and may show a different binding.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Kenny's Window* by Maurice Sendak a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/kennys-window
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.