About Little Golden Books
Little Golden Books with their compact size, colorful illustrations and shiny foil spines have always appealed to me. As I child I wore out The Little Golden Book of Holidays. I still have that very taped up copy with no front cover and pages soft as butter from frequent handling. It seems I am not the only one with fond memories of a special book. Frequently when an older book sells the buyer comments on how much they loved it as a child and they want to read it to their child or grandchild. I also get lots of questions about the books and I will do my best to answer them here. As new questions come up I will add them.
How long have Little Golden Books been published? The first Little Golden Books were published in 1942. They were 42 pages long and had a 25-cent price. Most of the first 35 titles had blue bindings and dust jackets.
How does the numbering system work? The first LGB's were numbered from 1-600 with The Three Little Kittens being the first and Susan in the Drivers Seat at 600. They were not necessarily published in sequential order and some numbers never had titles. By the 1970's books were published in 100-500 series but in no chronological order. By 1979 the numbering changed again with three digits followed by a dash and two digets. The first digit indicated the assortment, the second two the category and the two digits after the dash the position in the category. In 1997 five digits were followed by a dash and then then one or two digits. Some Disney titles have a D followed by one to three digits. By 2004 numbers were no longer used. The numbering system is helpful in identifying which edition of a title you are looking at but sequentially they have little rhyme or reason.
How can you tell what edition a book is? The very earliest books (1942-46) have the edition number on the first or second page of the book. These usually have blue spines and dust jackets. From 1947 to 1970 the book will have a letter on the lower right side of the last page next to the spine. (Sometimes you have to gently pry the back cover up to see it.) A indicates a first edition, Z would be the 26th edition and AA would be th 27th edition. From 1971 to 1991 the edition is indicated by a line of letters like ABCDEFGHIJK. The letter to the far left is the edition and again A would be a first edition. From 1991 to 2001 the printing date is in Roman numerals. If the Roman numerals are preceded by an A it is a first edition, by an R a revised edition. Beyond the first edition there is no way to determine what edition you have. In 2001 the use of Roman numerals was discontinued and a more standard method of determining book editions was employed. The last number to the right of a row of numbers is the edition: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 is a first edition.
When did the prices change? For the first 20 years the price was 25 cents. The price was then 29 cents until 1968 when it was raised to 39 cents and to 40 cents in 1974. In 1979 the price was raised to 69 cents, 89 cents in 1982, and 99 cents in 1986. Todays books no longer carry a cover price.
How can I tell how much my book is worth? There are a number of price guides available which can give you a relative idea of worth. First editions are obviously the most valuable and condition comes into play. Some books only had very few printings and some have many, the later reprints would be worth far less. These books were meant to be handled by children and finding the oldest ones in really good condition is getting harder to do. I am no expert at grading books. When I sell them I discribe the flaws I see and use a scan or photo of the actual book. I have seen many listings of more recent books using stock photos and the description "good used condition" or "good condition for it's age". That tells you nothing and I would be cautious. When it comes right down to it, the value of a book is it's value to you. It is never a good idea to collect something as an investment. Collect what you enjoy. | 
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