Reference Works on Collectible Children's Books
A curated list of price guides, bibliographies, and collectors' guides relating to children's books. Most of these titles are out of print — search ABEBooks or Biblio for used copies.
Axe, John — The Secret of Collecting Girls' Series Books
2000. Hobby House Press. 112 pages.
Baumgarten, E. Lee — Price Guide and Bibliographic Check List for Children's and Illustrated Books, 1880–1960
1996. E. Lee Baumgarten Books, Martinsburg, WV.
Covers over 10,000 titles, with points of issue and estimated prices.
Bishop — American Boys' Series Books, 1900–1980
1987. University of South Florida.
Blanck, Jacob — Peter Parley to Penrod: A Bibliographical Description of the Best-Loved American Juvenile Books
Covers pre-1926 children's books.
Borden, Bill and Posner, Steve — The Big Book of Big Little Books
1997. Chronicle Books. 120 pages.
Brown, David and Brown, Virginia — Whitman Juvenile Books: Reference & Value Guide
1996. Collector Books. 143 pages.
Clark, Alan — The Children's Annual: A History and Collector's Guide
1988. London, Boxtree. 160 pages.
Dikty, Alan S. — The American Boys' Book Series Bibliography, 1895–1935
Egoff, Sheila and Saltman, Judith — The New Republic of Childhood: A Critical Guide to Canadian Children's Literature in English
1990. Oxford University Press.
Flacks, Erwin — Maxfield Parrish: Identification & Price Guide
1998. Collectors Press. 256 pages.
Greason, Rebecca and Tumbusch, Tom — Tomart's Price Guide to Golden Book Collectibles
Hoyle, Karen Nelson — Girls Series Books, 1900–1975
1978. University of Minnesota Libraries. 130 pages.
Jacobs, Larry — Big Little Books: A Collector's Reference & Value Guide
1996. Collector Books. 175 pages.
Jones, Diane McClure and Jones, Rosemary — Collector's Guide to Children's Books, 1850 to 1950: Identification & Values
Vol. 1: 1996. Vol. 2: 1998. Vol. 3: 2000. Collector Books.
Three-volume series covering children's books from 1850 to 1975.
LW Publishing — Big Little Books & Better Little, Jumbo, Tiny Tales, A Fast Action Story, etc.
1996. LW Publishing & Book Sales. 104 pages.
Meigs, Cornelia (et al) — A Critical History of Children's Literature: A Survey of Children's Books in English, Prepared in Four Parts
1969. MacMillan.
Michaels, Carolyn — Children's Book Collecting
1993. Library Professional Publications. 197 pages.
Postal, Edward S. — Price Guide & Bibliography to Children's & Illustrated Books
Quayle, Eric — The Collector's Book of Children's Books
Quayle, Eric — Early Children's Books: A Collector's Guide
Santi, Steve — Collecting Little Golden Books: A Collector's Identification and Value Guide
2000. Krause Publications. 432 pages.
University of Minnesota Libraries — Girls Series Books: A Checklist of Titles Published, 1840–1991
1992. University of Minnesota Libraries.