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Beginner Books is the
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
imprint for young children ages 3–9, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife
Helen Palmer Geisel Helen Marion Palmer Geisel (September 16, 1898 – October 23, 1967), known professionally as Helen Palmer, was an American children's writer, editor, and philanthropist. She was a co-founder and vice president of Beginner Books, and was mar ...
. Their first book was Dr. Seuss's ''
The Cat in the Hat ''The Cat in the Hat'' is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by American author Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red bow tie. The Cat shows up at the house ...
'' (1957), whose title character appears in the brand's logo. Cerf compiled a list of 379 words as the basic vocabulary for young readers, along with another 20 slightly harder "emergency" words. No more than 200 words were taken from that list to write ''The Cat in the Hat''. Subsequent books in the series were modeled on the same requirement. Beginner Books had only four titles in their catalog in 1958. Two years later, they were earning 1 million dollars a year. Random House acquired Beginner Books in 1960 and was the largest publisher of children's books in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.


Early contributors


Authors

When Theodor Seuss Geisel illustrated his own stories, he wrote as Dr. Seuss. When others created the illustrations, he used either the pseudonym Theo LeSieg or Rosetta Stone. Other authors of early Beginner Books were Robert M. Lopshire,
Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...
, Al Perkins,
Helen Palmer Geisel Helen Marion Palmer Geisel (September 16, 1898 – October 23, 1967), known professionally as Helen Palmer, was an American children's writer, editor, and philanthropist. She was a co-founder and vice president of Beginner Books, and was mar ...
who wrote as Helen Palmer, Philip Dey Eastman, Stan and Jan Berenstain, Benjamin Elkin and Marion Holland.


Illustrators

Early Beginner Books employed many famous illustrators, including the aforementioned Theodor Seuss Geisel, P. D. Eastman, Stan and Jan Berenstain, and Robert Lopshire. Roy McKie was also an illustrator.


List of Beginner Books


Book Club

*'' Grolier Book Club Beginner Book Series'' *'' Scholastic Book Club Beginner Book Series'' *''Early Moments Book Club Beginner Book Series''


Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners

The following books are for younger children and are technically part of the series. The "BE" designation stands for Bright and Early.


Book Club

*'' Grolier Bright and Early Book series'' *'' Scholastic Bright and Early Book series'' *''Early Moments Bright and Early Book series''


Bright and Early Board Books

Most, if not all, of these books are abridged versions of Beginner Books or Bright and Early Books. These books are not numbered. *''The Alphabet Book'' by P. D. Eastman, additional materials by Peter Eastman *''I'll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words'' written by Michael Frith, illustrated by P. D. Eastman *''Big Dog...Little Dog'' by P. D. Eastman *''Are You My Mother?'' by P. D. Eastman *''Eres mi Mama?'' by P. D. Eastman *''Go, Dog. Go! P.D. Eastman's Book of Things That Go'' illustrated by P. D. Eastman *''Ve, Perro. Ve!'' by P. D. Eastman *''Fred and Ted Like to Fly'' by Peter Eastman *''The Snowman'' illustrated by Raymond Briggs – Note: the only Bright and Early Board Book without any words *''What Time Is It?'' by P. D. Eastman (eBook only) *''The Berenstain Bears: Old Hat, New Hat'' by the Berenstains *''Sombrero Viejo, Sombrero Nuevo'' by the Berenstains (out of print) *''The Berenstain Bears: Inside, Outside, Upside Down'' by the Berenstains *''The Berenstain Bears: He Bear, She Bear'' by the Berenstains *''Summer'' by Alice Low, illustrated by Roy McKie *''Put Me In The Zoo: A Book of Colors'' by Robert Lopshire *''Stop, Train, Stop!'' by Rev. W. Awdry *''Para, Trencito, Para!'' by Rev. W. Awdry (out of print) *''Blue Train, Green Train'' by Rev. W. Awdry *''Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book!'' by Dr. Seuss *''Fox In Socks: Dr. Seuss's Book of Tongue Twisters'' by Dr. Seuss *''Hop on Pop'' by Dr. Seuss *''Ten Apples Up On Top!'' by Dr. Seuss (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Roy McKie – Note: this book is a 1998 recolor edition. *''There's a Wocket in My Pocket! Dr. Seuss's Book of Ridiculous Rhymes'' by Dr. Seuss *''Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!'' by Dr. Seuss *''Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises'' by Dr. Seuss *''The Shape of Me and Other Stuff: Dr. Seuss's Surprising Word Book'' by Dr. Seuss *''Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?'' by Dr. Seuss (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Roy McKie *''The Many Mice of Mr. Brice'' by Dr. Seuss (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Roy McKie *''The Ear Book'' by Al Perkins, illustrated by Henry Payne *''Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb'' by Al Perkins, illustrated by Eric Gurney *''The Nose Book'' by Al Perkins, illustrated by Joe Mathieu *''The Tooth Book'' by Dr. Seuss (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Joe Mathieu *''The Eye Book'' by Dr. Seuss (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Joe Mathieu *''The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites'' by Dr. Seuss


Big Bright and Early Board Books

*''Fast Train, Slow Train'' by Rev W. Awdry *''Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?'' by Dr. Seuss (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Roy McKie *''Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book!'' by Dr. Seuss *''The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree'' by Stan and Jan Berenstain *''Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!'' by Dr. Seuss *''Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?: Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises'' by Dr. Seuss *''Trains, Cranes and Troublesome Trucks'' by Rev W. Awdry *''The Many Mice of Mr. Brice'' by Dr. Seuss (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Roy McKie *''Fox in Socks: Dr. Seuss's Book of Tongue Twisters'' by Dr. Seuss *''Are You My Mother?'' written and illustrated by P. D. Eastman *''Hop on Pop: The Simplest Seuss for Toddlers Use'' by Dr. Seuss *''Go, Dog. Go!: P. D. Eastman's Book of Things That Go'' by P. D. Eastman *''The Big Box of Bright and Early Board Books About Me'' ('' The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites'', '' The Eye Book'', '' The Nose Book'', '' The Tooth Book'') *''The Eye Book'' by Dr. Seuss (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Joe Mathieu *''The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites'' by Dr. Seuss *''Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb'' by Al Perkins, illustrated by Eric Gurney *''The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss'' (writing as Theo. LeSieg), illustrated by Joe Mathieu *''The Nose Book'' by Al Perkins, illustrated by Joe Mathieu *''There's a Wocket in My Pocket!: Dr. Seuss's Book of Ridiculous Rhymes'' by Dr. Seuss *''The Berenstain Bears: Inside, Outside, Upside Down'' by Stan and Jan Berenstain (
Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwe ...
-exclusive) *''The Alphabet Book'' by P.D. Eastman, additional materials by Peter Eastman (Kohl's-exclusive) *''Put Me in the Zoo: A Book of Colors'' by Robert Lopshire (Kohl's-exclusive)


Bright and Early Bath Books

*''One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish'' by Dr. Seuss (only Bright and Early Bath Book)


See also

* Ladybird Books


References


External links


List of the first 50 Beginner Books at Children's Picture Book Price Guide
(catalog download page) {{Dr. Seuss Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Companies based in New York City Random House Publishing companies established in 1957 Children's book publishers Dr. Seuss 1957 establishments in New York City American companies established in 1957