Is My The Lion & the Mouse a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, New York, 2009, large format (roughly 9.5 x 11 inches) in pictorial boards with pictorial endpapers and the priced pictorial dust jacket, price present at the front flap and unclipped
• The copyright page of the first printing carries a complete number line including the numeral 1
• The decisive jacket point is chronological: the book was published in September 2009 and the Caldecott Medal was not announced until January 2010, so the first-printing jacket carries NO Caldecott medal printed on the front panel — dealers describe first-printing copies specifically as having no award medal on the jacket
• Later printings have the gold medal printed into the jacket and board artwork and add 'Caldecott Medal Winner' to the title
• An applied foil award sticker can be stuck onto any copy at any time and is not evidence of printing either way

How Little, Brown Books for Young Readers marked a first edition

• From 1940 onward: Little, Brown adopted an explicit statement, printing 'First Edition' OR 'First Printing' on the copyright page of a first printing. Presence of that phrase, with no overriding later-printing line, deno…
• Late 1970s onward: Little, Brown added a descending number line to the copyright page. Per the trade-house standard, the first printing is present only when the line still contains a '1' (e.g., '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); t…

Full Little, Brown Books for Young Readers first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

US-only true first: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, New York, September 2009 (ISBN 9780316013567) — the census claim is correct. The first British edition followed from Walker Books, London, in 2010, retitled 'The Lion and the Mouse' (ISBN 9781406332049), and is a year later; it is not a precedence contender. Note the title styling: the US first uses an ampersand, the Walker issue spells out 'and'. Later Caldecott-badged US printings are the same edition, not a separate one.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No hardcover book-club issue is documented. The tells that matter are printing tells, not club tells: the printed Caldecott medal on the jacket front panel and the 'Caldecott Medal Winner' line added to the title both mark post-January-2010 printings. Scholastic book-club and Walker paperback issues are reprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Lion & the Mouse a first edition?

A first edition of The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) is identified by: First printing: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, New York, 2009, large format (roughly 9.5 x 11 inches) in pictorial boards with pictorial endpapers and the priced pictorial dust jacket, price present at the front flap and unclipped.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). US-only true first: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, New York, September 2009 (ISBN 9780316013567) — the census claim is correct.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No hardcover book-club issue is documented. The tells that matter are printing tells, not club tells: the printed Caldecott medal on the jacket front panel and the 'Caldecott Medal Winner' line added to the title both mark post-January-2010 printings. Scholastic book-club and Walker paperback issues are reprints.

I have a first edition of The Lion & the Mouse — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.