Is My Copy of We're Going on a Bear Hunt a First Edition?

The points of issue

• UK Walker Books 1989 first printing: oblong (landscape) quarto in terracotta textured cloth-grain boards lettered in black on the spine, pictorial double-page endpapers that differ front and rear, in Helen Oxenbury's pictorial dust wrapper
• ISBN 0-7445-1135-6
• Dealers describe it as first edition, first printing without citing a printing statement or number line, so identification rests on the 1989 Walker imprint, that ISBN, and the absence of later-impression wording on the copyright page
• Price present at the flap is a jacket point only; a high proportion of surviving copies are price-clipped
• One dealer listing describes the Walker copy as "pictorial boards" rather than terracotta cloth — that copy lacked its jacket, and the better descriptions agree on terracotta cloth-grain boards
• The first American printing (Margaret K. McElderry Books, ISBN 0-689-50476-4, orange/terracotta boards lettered in black) is reported with the full number line on the copyright page and the ISBN on a slip glued to the lower rear cover; that ISBN-slip point appears in only one dealer description and should be treated as unconfirmed until checked against a second copy

How Walker Books, London marked a first edition

• British convention: a first printing carries a complete number line on the copyright page ending in 1 (commonly '2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1' or '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); the lowest digit present is the printing
• Typically NO 'First edition' statement on UK firsts — rely on the complete number line

Full Walker Books, London 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 UK 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?

UK Walker Books, London, 1989 is the true first: Walker originated and commissioned the book, both creators are British, and it took the 1989 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (overall and 0-5 division). The first American edition — Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster), New York, 1989 — followed in the same year, is consistently catalogued by dealers as "first American edition" rather than a first, and was a 1989 Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book. Both 1989 editions are collected and should be named separately. Month-level precedence between the two 1989 issues is not established in the sources consulted.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Walker's 20th-anniversary (2009) and 30th-anniversary collector's (2019, one of 1,000, with signed print) issues, the Little Simon pop-up (2007) and the snow-globe issue are later printings, several of them marketed as a "first edition" of that format — first thus only. Copies stamped "exclusive edition for Premier Direct Group PLC" are a later special-sales printing, not the first. A conventional book-club issue is not separately documented.P-044214

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of We're Going on a Bear Hunt a first edition?

A first edition of We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen (illus. Helen Oxenbury) (Walker Books, London) is identified by: UK Walker Books 1989 first printing: oblong (landscape) quarto in terracotta textured cloth-grain boards lettered in black on the spine, pictorial double-page endpapers that differ front and rear, in Helen Oxenbury's pictorial dust wrapper; ISBN 0-7445-1135-6.

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). UK Walker Books, London, 1989 is the true first: Walker originated and commissioned the book, both creators are British, and it took the 1989 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (overall and 0-5 division).

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

Walker's 20th-anniversary (2009) and 30th-anniversary collector's (2019, one of 1,000, with signed print) issues, the Little Simon pop-up (2007) and the snow-globe issue are later printings, several of them marketed as a "first edition" of that format — first thus only. Copies stamped "exclusive edition for Premier Direct Group PLC" are a later special-sales printing, not the first. A conventional book-club issue is not separately documented.

I have a first edition of We're Going on a Bear Hunt — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.