Garden City NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc.. (c.1968). First Edition. Hardcover. [ex-library book with typical markings (incl. pocket on ffep, stamps on top/bottom edges), general wear, tape residue on endpapers and pastedowns, etc.; the jacket is fairly presentable, with a tiny piece missing at top corner of front panel, uneven fading to spine, also a "Doubleday Reinforced Library Edition" sticker across the spine and extending into the front panel]. "In stories that range from hilarious to haunting, Joan Aiken once again draws readers irresistibly into her special world -- a world where absurdity is logical, marvelous humor is the mother of invention, and boredom simply hasn't a chance of surviving." (NOTE that this is the "Doubleday Reinforced Library Edition," with pictorial hard covers matching the jacket.) . Good in Very Good dj. (more information)

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Hauppauge NY: Barron's Educational Series, Inc.. 1996. 1st U.S. edition. Hardcover. [beautiful clean copy, as new, with only the slightest bit of handling wear to jacket]. "Its setting is Paris of many years ago. The story belongs to [the young ballerina] Marie, but it's also a story about a very famous artist. Beautifully illustrated with [the author's] watercolors and his reproductions of some of Degas's best known works of art, [the book] is a wonderful introduction to the life and work of a great artist." . Fine in Near Fine dj. (more information)

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New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1945. 1st [U.S.] Edition ("A"). Hardcover. [solid copy, moderate shelfwear to bottom edge, old bookseller's stamp on front pastedown, internally very clean; jacket has some chipping along top edge (affecting title on front panel a bit), minor paper loss at spine ends, one fingertip-size chip at bottom of front panel (see scanned image)]. (B&W silhouette drawings) Children's adventure novel by this popular British author and illustrator, about three runaway boys, "fugitives from an uncongenial home," who make their way to a paradise, "a wild and lovely English forest." The book (it sez here) "may be likened to an English version of Mark Twain's 'Huckleberry Finn.'" Basis for a 13-part British TV series in 1980. (The illustrator's name, by the way, is rendered on the front jacket panel as Denys Watkins-Pitchford, on the front flap as D.J. Watkins-Pitchford, and on the title page as simply Watkins Pitchford; couldn't somebody just make up their mind?) . Very Good in Good dj. (more information)

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Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Pr.. 1964 (c.1962). 1st U.S. ed. Hardcover. [good solid copy with an exceptionally nice jacket; the book itself has several notable flaws (1/4" tear in cloth at top of rear cover; tape marks on both endpapers ( suggesting the prior removal of an old jacket protector); and some soiling/spotting to top edges; the jacket, though, is quite lovely, marred only by some slight bumping at the spine ends, one small chip at top of rear panel (matching damage to book), and two crayoned numbers at the bottom of the front flap; all in all, still an attractive copy]. . Very Good- in Near Fine dj. (more information)

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New York: Doubleday. 1988 (c.1978). 1st U.S. ed. Hardcover. [spine slightly turned, very faint shelfwear; jacket shows mild surface wear, tiny laminate peel at top edge of front panel]. . Near Fine in Near Fine dj. (more information)

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Moscow: Raduga Publishers. 1986. Unknown ed. Hardcover. (pictorial cover, no dust jacket) [rear hinge split, some wear to bottom edge, all corners bumped]. (color drawings) The text of the story itself is in English, although all the publication data (and a 15-page introduction) is in Russian, so I'm not quite sure what to make of it -- whether it's a pirated edition, or just what. The illustrations are odd yet charming. For the Baum/Oz completist. . Good. (more information)

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New York: Dutton Children's Books. (c.2000). First Edition. Hardcover. [nice tight copy, very faint soiling to top page edges; jacket shows the tiniest trace of handling wear]. A sequel to the author's earlier book "The Shakespeare Stealer," this Elizabethan-era adventure has its young hero, a fifteen-year-old orphan boy, go on the road with Shakespeare's troupe as an apprentice actor. . Near Fine in Near Fine dj. (more information)

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Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1946. First Edition. Hardcover. [nice-looking copy, slight fading to cloth along top edges, pencilled gift inscription from 1951 (in child's hand) on half-title page but otherwise unmarked; jacket shows minor wear at edges/corners, a couple of itsy-bitsy tears at top edge]. "Once there was a baron whose whole name was Baron Frederick Charles Henry Maximilian Francis Avoirdupois. But his name was not easy to remember, so everyone called him The Fat Baron -- and he certainly was fat. More than anything else in the world he liked to eat. Then along came Sir Reginald the Fierce, who saw The Fat Baron's plump cows and chickens, and attacked the castle. While Sir Reginald lived off the fat of The Fat Baron's land, the poor besieged Fat Baron grew thinner and thinner -- because there was nothing left in the castle to eat but a few weeds the cook boiled up for dinner." . Near Fine in Very Good+ dj. (more information)

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New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1930. First Edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [worn and somewhat soiled copy, front hinge weak but still a generally solid copy, with some slight fraying at corners and one small nick in spine cloth at front hinge; internally quite decent, with a couple of small edge- and corner-tears; attractive vintage bookplate on front pastedown, plus a one-time owner has neatly written the names of the various characters next to the endpaper illustrations of same; this might also be considered a "misprinted" copy, since the frontispiece and title-page illustrations have been printed in yellow ink only, which of course makes them almost unseeable against the off-white paper]. The author's second "Freddy the Pig" adventure, in which the intrepid porker and his animal compatriots, inspired by their recent trip to Florida, decide to start their own company, Barnyard Tours, Inc. . Good. (more information)

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New York: Harper & Row. (c.1957). Unstated edition. Hardcover. [lovely copy, minor soiling to book covers, light foxing on top edge; jacket shows minimal wear, faint stain on upper front panel]. Exceptional copy; a nice clean example, especially, of a jacket that is easily worn and soiled. (No printing is specified, but the Harper & Row imprint dates this particular book as 1962 or later; the printed price on jacket flap is $1.95.) . Near Fine in Near Fine dj. (more information)

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New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. (c.1950). Unstated ed. Hardcover. (pictorial cloth library binding; no dust jacket) [ex-library w/typical markings (incl pocket on ffep), some paper remnants on front pastedown; binding feels a little loose, but just moderately worn, with bumped/worn corners and a bit of exterior soiling]. . Very Good-. (more information)

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New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. (c.1962). Unstated edition. Hardcover. (pictorial covers; no dust jacket) [the "Putnam Guaranteed Library Binding," although this is NOT an ex-library book; moderate soiling to covers, light bumping/fraying to a couple of corners, internally clean]. (The Wonders of Science Library) Series "There are robots all around us. They do not clank, neither do they resemble the tin woodman in The Wizard of Oz. Many robots are smaller than the home thermostat, which is itself a robot. [The author] describes how man designs robots to control certain anticipated happenings. A robot is not required to think, but it does 'feel' or 'see' or 'hear,' or perhaps possesses a combination of such senses. Its job is to react to the condition which it does sense." (You know, like "Danger! Danger! That does not compute!") . Very Good. (more information)

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New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1956. First American Edition. Hardcover. (pictorial beige cloth; no dust jacket) [moderately worn copy, corners lightly bumped, faint beverage ring on front cover]. "Frederick Fitzherbert Frog lived at Frogmorton Fall in Frobishire. He hunted and shot and fished, and did all the right things. He also smoked a pipe after dinner, put on his carpet slippers, and sat with his feet in the fender and enjoyed life. His old friend Timothy Ptolemy Tortoise lived in a bed-sitting room at the back of a dirty block of flats in London. He spent five and a half days a week in a stuffy old office in the City, smoked very cheap cigarettes, and sometimes had a shilling on a horse which never seemed to come in first. He was very poor and he didn't enjoy life at all." [NOTE that the waviness visible in the scanned cover image is NOT visible on the book itself; it's something to do with my scanner.] . Very Good. (more information)

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Philadelphia: Chilton Book Company. (c.1967). First Edition. Hardcover. [minimal wear to book, gift inscription on ffep; jacket rubbed along top edge, one very small surface-peeled spot on front panel (not affecting illustration or text), heavily rubbed at both ends of spine]. The four tales are "The Hearth Rug Goblin"; "The Rose Colored Spectacles"; "The Strange Ship"; and "Barney Loon." . Near Fine in Very Good- dj. (more information)

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New York: Harper & Row. (c.1966). Later Printing. Hardcover. [the teensiest dent at the bottom of the rear cover, but basically an as-new book, clean and tight]. Lovely copy of this wonderful book, even though not a first edition. (There is no edition statement, and although there is no printed price, it does not appear to be a Book Club edition of any sort; the dead giveaway to it being a later printing is the inclusion of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (published in 1970) in the list of Dahl's other titles--plus the bar code printed on the rear jacket panel; they weren't doing that in 1966, were they?) About as nice a copy as you're going to find; completely suitable for gift-giving -- and it's the lucky child who gets Dahl in his/her Christmas stocking. (This edition is out of print, I believe.) . Fine in Fine dj. (more information)

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New York: Atheneum. 1966. 2nd printing. Hardcover. [ex-school library, very little wear and with minimal markings (just a small stamp on the half-title page and the remnants of a removed label on the rear fep); jacket unevenly sunned along spine, otherwise just a tiny bit of soiling]. "Spencer is not much of a horse. His ears don't stand up straight and he has a sway back. He lives in the town of Grum, where everybody talks to everybody else. Spencer's best friends are Roland a raccoon, Simon a Siamese cat, Fred a dog, Gunther a plow horse, Mr. White a father, Mrs. White a mother, and Peter a boy. They all live together on a farm and have very satisfying adventures." First book by this actress/author. . Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. (more information)

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New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. (c.1979). First Edition. Hardcover. [some spotting/foxing on top edge, bookplate on front pastedown, decorative stamp on ffep; jacket rubbed/scuffed at extremities, minor chipping at top of spine, small abrasion at upper right edge of front panel, small closed tear at bottom edge of rear panel; NOT an ex-library book]. (B&W photographs) Photographic chronicle of a horse named Hannon, one of twenty Tennessee Walkers acquired by the New York Police Department, and his adaptation to police work and to life in the big city. . Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (more information)

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New York: Crown Publishers. (c.1978). First Edition. Hardcover. ["Christmas 1978" noted on front pastedown, otherwise a nice clean copy; jacket has a couple of dark smudges near spine, one small closed tear at lower left front panel]. "A poem about the mind of a child as he hunts the animals of the world with a pop-gun and the snare of his imagination. What emerges is beautiful on the surface and powerful beneath. It is an imagistic celebration of a child's ability to become one with the exuberance of the animal kingdom; it is an evocation of the links that embrace both the mind of the child and the experience of all who love." (Ah, but will the kid grow up and still join the NRA, I wonder?) . Near Fine in Very Good+ dj. (more information)

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Philadelphia: Macrae Smith Company. (ca. 1920s). Unstated printing. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [much exterior wear (bumping/fraying at corners, rubbing to gilt lettering on spine and front cover), but still a reasonably attractive copy; the paste-on color illustration on the front cover is just a tiny bit rubbed near the edges; some spotting to the title page and the color frontispiece, all other color illustrations present and unblemished]. (color frontispiece, 6 color plates) . Good. (more information)

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New York: Farrar & Rinehart. (c.1936). Presumed 1st. Hardcover. (paper-covered boards, no dust jacket) [worn at corners (boards a little exposed), spine externally reinforced with masking tape (I didn't do it!), some markings on rear cover, one-time owner's name on half-title page]. Starts out with "Hickory, dickory, dock," but soon veers away from that old standard to narrate the exploits of a lonely little mouse. Like all of these authors' early books, this one is quite scarce. . Good. (more information)

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New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. (c.1960). First Edition. Hardcover. [ex-library book, markings confined to ffep (with pocket) and title page, previous owner's name also on ffep, general shelfwear but still a solid copy; jacket flaps glued down, jacket protected by a somewhat scuffed plastic protector, small call number label on spine]. Juvenile "biography" of the legendary title character, "as true as life and history and imagination can make him." . Very Good- in Very Good- dj. (more information)

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Chicago: Albert Whitman and Co.. 1940. First Edition. Hardcover. [mild soiling/foxing to page edges, covers bowed outwards a bit, name/address of original owner (child) scrawled in orange crayon on ffep and again on half-title page, rest of book unmarked; jacket has some soiling/spotting along edges, chipping and dog-earing (no pun intended) along top of front panel, some paper loss in vicinity of both spine ends, a couple of minor ink lines on rear panel]. "A deliciously amusing vignette about a wire-haired terrier nicknamed Rookie. He is energetic, playful, wayward, and exasperating; and his antices while always interesting are a source of constant annoyance to his master." The author was the brother of renowned illustrator James Montgomery Flagg, whose lively pen-and-ink drawings of the frisky terrier accompany the text of this classic dog tale. Scarce in dust jacket. . Very Good in Very Good- dj. (more information)

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New York: Platt & Munk Co. Inc.. (c.1942). Later Printing. Hardcover. [moderately worn, light spotting to cloth, two small tape marks on each pastedown, bottom corner of ffep torn away; jacket edgeworn but quite presentable, small piece missing from bottom right-hand corner of front panel, old tape reinforcement across both ends of spine, two small tape marks on each jacket flap]. (color frontispiece; no illus. in text) The story of Sammie and Susie Littletail, "two little bunny rabbits who lived with their Uncle Wiggily [and] were good little rabbits, and they had wonderful fun and adventures with their Uncle Wiggily." This title is the last of 8 Wiggily titles listed on the rear jacket panel, so I assume it to be an early printing -- but not a first, since it has only the color frontispiece and not the 5 color plates present in other copies; no printed price on jacket flap, although there is a price written in pencil (.85). . Very Good in Very Good- dj. (more information)

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London: Puffin Books. 1982. 11th printing. Softcover. [moderate wear, some creasing to covers; inside clean]. Trade PB "This dramatization of Roald Dahl's hugely popular book can be staged in school, acted out at home, or simply read together by a group of friends." . Very Good. (more information)

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New York: The Macmillan Company. 1945. Unstated edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [solid copy, some bumping and minor wear at corners, light soiling to covers, previous owner's signature on front pastedown]. (B&W and color drawings) Beautifully-illustrated seagoing children's story, centering on the adventures of a ship's carpenter and his pet cat. . Very Good. (more information)

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Garden City NY: Doubleday & Co.. (c.1971). First Edition. Hardcover. (pictorial boards; no dust jacket) [ex-library w/typical but not overdone markings/stamps (incl. stamp on top edge, residue from neatly-remo ved pocket on ffep); both ends of spine bumped/worn, minor soiling to covers]. . Very Good+. (more information)

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San Diego/New York/London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. (c.1989). Later Printing. Hardcover. [book is flawless; jacket shows only faint surface wear]. Modern re-telling of the traditional African-American folktales, originally presented by Chandler as "Uncle Remus" stories, narrated by his (invented) slave character -- who is now out of the picture. This volume includes "The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story." . Fine in Near Fine dj. (more information)

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New York: Hawthorn Books Inc.. (c.1964). First Edition. Hardcover. [nice copy with some scuffing/wear to bottom edges of boards (would rate Fine but for that); jacket very clean, with just minimal edgewear]. "This delightful little book traces the story of bells through the ages, from the ancient Crotal, ancestor of modern sleigh bells, to the electronic carillon. It includes a little history, a quantity of factual information about the nature and manufacture of bells, and some noteworthy legends." . Very Good+ in Near Fine dj. (more information)

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Sacramento: Calif St. Dept. of Education. 1969. Unstated ed. Hardcover. (pictorial hard covers; no dust jacket, as issued) [nice clean copy, covers slightly bowed and ffep ripped out, but no markings of any kind; apparently never used]. . Very Good+. (more information)

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New York: Macmillan. (c.1994). First Edition. Hardcover. [nice tight copy, agency label on ffep, mild wear to bottom edge; jacket shows minor handling wear, slight bumping/wrinkling at top of spine]. Mystery set in colonial Massachusetts; the title character is a young girl who is determined to prove her friend Goody Willson innocent of a charge of witchcraft. . Near Fine in Near Fine dj. (more information)

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