Key Children's Picturebooks - First Ed. Identification

Ferdinand (1936)

Ferdinand; written by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson; Viking
Press; 1936

Children's Picturebook Price Guide Value: $5,000 VG+

Essential identifying point
Copyright page: Line with "FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 1936". with no
additional printings listed.

Non-essential
DJ flap price "$1.00"

Background Information
Ferdinand was a national phenomenon in the late 1930's after it's
publication. The anti-fight message struck a chord with a world
infected with war. By 1938, in it's first two years of publication,
Ferdinand was reprinted over ten times. In 1938, Disney released an
animated film "Ferdinand The Bull". Life Magazine, the leading
periodical of it's time, published articles on the book and it's
creators in two separate issues. The Feb. 21, 1938 issue featured a
story titled "Ferdinand, The Bull Who Loves Flowers, Is Now A
Grownups Hero" (Bibliophiles will love the Carl Sandburg cover; the
article, however is about Sandburg singing folk songs?). The Nov. 28,
1938 issue highlighted the Disney film, along with photographs showing
the multitude of toys and other cross-promotional material being
merchandised. The magnitude of merchandising material would be common
place today, however was ground breaking at the time.

Ferdinand was the highlight of author Munro Leaf's career. He was
writer and illustrator for a series of "Can Be Fun" books (i.e.
Manners Can Be Fun, Safety, Grammar, etc...), and did author a
Caldecott Honor winning book, however nothing came close to the
notoriety he garnered for Ferdinand. Illustrator Robert Lawson did
have significant commercial success after Ferdinand, both as an
illustrator and as an author. In 1937, he won a Caldecott Honor award
for his illustrations for Four And Twenty Blackbirds, then won another
Caldecott Honor in 1938 for Wee Gillis, which was authored by Munro
Leaf. Lawson was the illustrator for Mr. Popper's Penguins, which
won a Newbery Honor award in 1938.

In 1940, Lawson won the Caldecott Medal for They Were Good And Strong,
a book he both wrote and illustrated. Lawson was the illustrator for
the 1942 Newbery Medal book, Adam Of The Road. Finally, Lawson won the
Newbery Medal in 1944 for Rabbit Hill, a book he both wrote and
illustrated. (Lawson also did the decorations and endpapers for
Putnam's 1939 publication of T.H. White's Sword In The Stone, which
was later turned into a Disney feature film.)

Ferdinand has been in print since it's publication in 1936, and has
been translated into a number of foreign languages. How many fiction
books published since 1936 have been translated into Latin? The
anti-fight sentiment still rings true today.

On 4 Jun 2006 21:05:36 -0700, "Stan" wrote:

Ferdinand (1936)...

Large amount of snippage

...The
anti-fight sentiment still rings true today.

And you posted this because?


Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On 4 Jun 2006 21:05:36 -0700, "Stan" wrote:

Ferdinand (1936)...

Large amount of snippage

...The
anti-fight sentiment still rings true today.

And you posted this because?


Dave

In his defense, he *did* quickly realize his error and removed
it from Google Groups (thinking that solved the problem).
Obviously, he doesn't understand Usenet. He may, now
(or just be bored by the explanation).

Kris