This season marks some big anniversaries for classic children’s books: from the adventures of beloved comic strip characters to picture books that have provided the stepping stones for readers of all ages through the decades. Publishers are celebrating these milestones with redesigned editions, including never-before-seen bonus material, and notes from some prolific authors. Read on to find ways to reconnect with old favorites.
Peek-a Who?
Chronicle celebrated the 20th anniversary of this classic interactive board book with a 20-book Instagram giveaway, which lasted eight days. Colorful pictures and simple rhyming texts help children guess what’s peeking through.
Frog and Toad Are Friends: 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition
A half-century of Frog and Toad’s story of friendship is contained within this commemorative picture book edition of the first book, originally published in an I Can Read format, featuring bonus material such as sketches, archival photographs, and the manuscript.
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest (30th Anniversary Edition)
With an updated cover and an author’s note, including additional resources for budding environmentalists, this story about the importance of trees in the Brazilian rain forest remains as timely as its first publication in 1990.
Stuart Little
The classic story by Newbery Honor author E.B. White, about one small mouse on a very big adventure, celebrates 75 years in print. This new edition features a foreword by Sara Pennypacker and black-and-white illustrations by Williams.
Trumpet of the Swan
Telling the tale of a swan who overcomes obstacles and encompasses the joy of music, this 50th edition features a foreword from actor John Lithgow and black-and-white illustrations by Marcellino.
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret
This special edition, featuring a deluxe faux-leather embossed cover, pays tribute to a groundbreaking classic 50 years after its publication.
A Charlie Brown Christmas Pop-Up Edition
Charlie Brown and his friends discover the true meaning of Christmas in this deluxe pop-up edition of the holiday classic.
Imogene’s Antlers
The whimsical story of a girl who wakes one morning to discover she has grown antlers has delighted children since it was first published 15 years ago. Celebrating its 35th anniversary, this edition comes with a new look and a note from Caldecott winner Small.
The Polar Express: 35th Anniversary Edition
The story of a boy who is welcomed aboard a magical train to the North Pole celebrates more than three decades in print with this new edition, including a fresh jacket design and an expanded interior layout, as well as an author’s note and downloadable audio read by Liam Neeson.
Nancy Drew Diaries 90th Anniversary Collection
The iconic teen sleuth gets a collectible boxed set with all-new covers for the first 10 books in the series.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
First appearing in 1965, loveable neighborhood crocodile Lyle stars in a new board book edition. The classic storybook has been lightly abridged and the artwork colorized in the author’s style for the youngest child.
The Iron Knight
Kagawa creates a fantastical world of dangerous faeries, wicked princes and one half-human girl who discovers her entire life is a lie. This 10th anniversary edition of Kagawa’s fantasy novel includes the bonus novella Iron’s Prophecy and an exclusive excerpt from her forthcoming Iron Fey book, The Iron Raven (Feb. 2021). The first book in the series, The Iron King, was reissued in May 2020, followed by The Iron Daughter in July, The Iron Queen in October, and now The Iron Knight.
Anna and the French Kiss Collector’s Edition
Anna can’t wait for her senior year in Atlanta, so she’s less than thrilled when her father unexpectedly ships her off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Etienne St. Clair. The only problem? He’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her crush back home. This 10th-anniversary edition features a custom patterned edge, new cover art accented with gold foil, bonus content, and more.
The Princess Diaries
Mia Thermopolis is back and ready to reign. In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Princess Diaries series, the first three books will be reissued with a new cover and in paperback for middle grade audiences.
The Shrinking of Treehorn
A small boy finds himself shrinking and no one seems to know how to make it stop. Originally published in 1971, the book has been repackaged in a 50th anniversary edition, and includes a foreword by Caldecott Honoree Lane Smith and an interview with Florence Parry Heide.
Una larga travesía hasta el agua (A Long Walk to Water)
Publishing for the first time in Spanish after 10 years, Park’s acclaimed novel follows a girl on her two-hour walk back home from fetching water from a pond, and a refugee boy who searches the African continent on foot for his family and a safe place to stay.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Curtis’s Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honor-winning novel, about a Black family’s road trip to the South during a crucial moment in the civil rights movement. To mark the milestone, Random House has released a special edition of the book, featuring a new foreword and afterword from Curtis, and essays and tributes by authors Kate DiCamillo, Varian Johnson, and Jacqueline Woodson. See our In Conversation between Curtis and editor Wendy Lamb, in which they discuss the book’s legacy.
Matched Deluxe Gold Edition
The 10th-anniversary edition of Condie’s modern dystopian classic about love and free will includes a never-before-seen map of the Matched world, and a bonus story, “Green Girl in a Green Dress.” See our story on the anniversary here.
