Is My 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

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; the census claim is confirmed. 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.

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 — 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.