- Greenwillow was an imprint of William Morrow from 1974 until HarperCollins bought Morrow in 1999.
- From 1973 Morrow printed a number row on the copyright page. A row that includes 1 marks a first printing, and the lowest number in the row gives the printing.
Publisher
Greenwillow Books
Greenwillow Books is the children's imprint Susan Hirschman founded at William Morrow in 1974, publisher of Kevin Henkes and the Amelia Bedelia books and part of HarperCollins since 1999.
- Editions tracked
- 92
- First editions
- 75
- Books
- 91
- Years
- 1975 to 2019
Greenwillow Books is a publisher active from 1975. We track 92 editions it published between 1975 and 2019, 75 of them first editions across 91 books. How Greenwillow Books marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Greenwillow Books
Greenwillow Books is an American children's book imprint that the editor Susan Hirschman founded at William Morrow in New York in 1974, publishing picture books, poetry and fiction for young readers.
Hirschman had been editor-in-chief of Macmillan's children's department and left in October 1974 in protest when Macmillan laid off a large part of its staff. Morrow offered her an imprint of her own, and she took managing editor Ada Shearon and art director Ava Weiss with her, with a senior editor joining soon after. The first list appeared in 1975. The name blends willow (for William Morrow) with Elizabeth Coatsworth's picture book Under the Green Willow.
Its authors and illustrators have included Kevin Henkes, Arnold and Anita Lobel, Sid Fleischman, Donald Crews, Ann Jonas, Robin McKinley, Jack Prelutsky, Peggy Parish (the Amelia Bedelia books) and Diana Wynne Jones (Howl's Moving Castle). Henkes won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon, and Lynne Rae Perkins won the Newbery Medal for Criss Cross.
Greenwillow passed to HarperCollins in 1999, when HarperCollins bought Morrow, and has been run there as a largely independent imprint. Hirschman retired in 2001 and Virginia Duncan, executive editor since 1997, became vice president and publisher; she still led the imprint at its fiftieth anniversary in 2024.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Greenwillow Books's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Greenwillow Books first editions
Authors
Books
Published by Greenwillow Books
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Greenwillow Books first edition?
- Greenwillow was an imprint of William Morrow from 1974 until HarperCollins bought Morrow in 1999. - From 1973 Morrow printed a number row on the copyright page. A row that includes 1 marks a first printing, and the lowest number in the row gives the printing.
How many Greenwillow Books books does MyVolumes track?
We track 92 editions published by Greenwillow Books, 75 of them first editions, across 91 books.
Where these facts come from
- Greenwillow Books Celebrates 50 Years, Publishers Weekly, 2024 (publishersweekly.com)
- Hirschman to Retire, Publishers Weekly, 2001 (www2.publishersweekly.com)
- Susan Hirschman, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Happy Thirty-Fifth Birthday to Greenwillow Books, Upstart Crow Literary, 2010 (upstartcrowliterary.com)
- First Edition Identification by Publisher, ILAB (ilab.org)
- Identifying First Editions, Pt. 2, IOBA (ioba.org)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 3 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.