The Big Purple Book of Beginner Books

P. D. Eastman was an author and illustrator who created many children’s books, including Are You My Mother?; Go, Dog. Go!; and The Best Nest. Trained at the National Academy of Design, he published his first Beginner Book, Sam and the Firefly, in 1958. Since then, his books have sold more than fifty million copies, and he has become one of the most beloved children’s book authors in the world.

Michael Frith is a writer and illustrator known for Some of Us Walk, Some of Us Fly, Some Swim; I’ll Teach My Dog 100 Words; The Sesame Street Library: With Jim Henson’s Muppets, Vol. 1, and more.

Helen Palmer is the author of the bestselling The Enneagram, The Enneagram in Love and Work, and The Pocket Enneagram. She codirects the Center for Enneagram Studies and Teaching in Berkeley, California, and regularly conducts workshops and lectures around the world.

Peter Eastman is an award-winning television director and animator. The son of author P. D. Eastman, Peter has written and illustrated three books featuring his father's characters Fred and Ted.