# Is "The Undefeated" by Kwame Alexander (illus. Kadir Nelson) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (illus. Kadir Nelson) (Versify / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019) is identified by: First printing has a number line ending in 1; Versify imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Kadir Nelson paintings; true-first jacket carries NO award seals because the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Honor, and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor were all awarded in 2020, after first publication. The US Versify/HMH 2019 hardcover is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing has a number line ending in 1
- Versify imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Kadir Nelson paintings; true-first jacket carries NO award seals because the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Honor, and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor were all awarded in 2020, after first publication
- Publisher imprint reads Versify / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kwame Alexander (illus. Kadir Nelson) |
| Publisher | Versify / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
| Year | 2019 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First printing has a number line ending in 1 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing has a number line ending in 1; Versify imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Kadir Nelson paintings; true-first jacket carries NO award seals because the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Honor, and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor were all awarded in 2020, after first publication.

## Is this the true first?
The US Versify/HMH 2019 hardcover is the true first. It won the 2020 Caldecott Medal, a 2020 Newbery Honor, and a 2020 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor; the genuine first-printing jacket predates those seals.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings add the medal seals to the jacket. Board-book and paperback formats are not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Undefeated* by Kwame Alexander (illus. Kadir Nelson) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-undefeated
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.