Scholastic, 1999 cover
Cover of the Scholastic, 1999 edition of this book. The Bloomsbury Publishing 2004 cover has not been photographed yet.
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 10 Nov 2026.
Buy a copy: eBay
No sales recorded yet
We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.
Pro members with this book on their wantlist are emailed when it sells under their price.
Our work page covers the Marvin Redpost series, so this entry records the first UK issue of the opening title, Kidnapped at Birth?. The series began in the United States in 1992, published by Random House with American illustrators (Barbara Sullivan, later Amy Wummer). Bloomsbury Children's Books brought it to Britain in 2004 as a run of paperbacks with new pictures by Sue Hellard: Kidnapped at Birth? (94 pages, 20 cm, ISBN 0747562814), Why Pick on Me?, Class President and Alone in His Teacher's House all carry a 2004 London imprint, and A Flying Birthday Cake? followed in 2005. No earlier British edition appears in the UK library catalogues. A Random House imprint or American illustrations mean a US copy. Bloomsbury reissued the series in 2010 with new ISBNs beginning 978140880 (Kidnapped at Birth? as 9781408801703); those are later issues.
Bloomsbury's most collected books, the Harry Potter first impressions, are identified on the copyright page: the first publication year as the only date and a number line running all the way down to 1.
Read the full guide to Bloomsbury Publishing first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.
Bloomsbury Publishing, London, in 2004, in paperback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 10 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
A book club edition is a copy printed for a mail-order club and sold to members, often looking almost identical …
Read the guide →7 min readTo identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …
Read the guide →6 min readBook condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …
Read the guide →