# Is "The Day of the Pelican" by Katherine Paterson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson (Clarion Books, 2009) is identified by: Clarion Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) first, 2009. US Clarion first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Clarion Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) first, 2009
- First printing carries a full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; first-issue jacket bears the original price
- ISBN 978-0-547-18188-2
- Publisher imprint reads Clarion Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Katherine Paterson |
| Publisher | Clarion Books |
| Year | 2009 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Clarion Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) first, 2009 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Clarion Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) first, 2009. First printing carries a full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; first-issue jacket bears the original price. ISBN 978-0-547-18188-2.

## Is this the true first?
US Clarion first edition. Written by an American author and first published in the US, so the Clarion printing is the true first; there is no competing prior UK or Canadian edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later reprints and any book-club or paperback issues will lack the number line ending in 1 and may lack the original jacket price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Day of the Pelican* by Katherine Paterson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-day-of-the-pelican
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.