# Is "The Wheel on the School" by Meindert DeJong a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong (Harper & Brothers, 1954) is identified by: First edition 1954, Harper & Brothers (New York), title page dated 1954. US true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition 1954, Harper & Brothers (New York), title page dated 1954
- The first printing is identified by the words First Edition on the copyright page with no later-printing statement
- Illustrations by Maurice Sendak; cloth binding
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Meindert DeJong |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1954 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition 1954, Harper & Brothers (New York), title page dated 1954 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition 1954, Harper & Brothers (New York), title page dated 1954. The first printing is identified by the words First Edition on the copyright page with no later-printing statement. Illustrations by Maurice Sendak; cloth binding.

## Is this the true first?
US true first. Awarded the Newbery Medal in 1955; a copy bearing a Newbery seal on the jacket is typically a later printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Harper discontinued its month-and-year letter code after 1949, so no such code applies to a 1954 book. From the 1920s into the 1970s Harper relied on a stated First Edition; a copy lacking that statement, or showing a later-printing line, is a reprint.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Wheel on the School* by Meindert DeJong a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-wheel-on-the-school
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.