Macmillan Children's Books is the British children's list of Macmillan, founded in London in 1843, publisher of The Gruffalo (1999) and part of Pan Macmillan under Holtzbrinck.
Macmillan Children's Books is a publisher based in London, founded in 1843. We track 88 editions it published between 1981 and 2024, 37 of them first editions across 88 books. How Macmillan Children's Books marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
Macmillan Children's Books is the British children's list of Macmillan, the London publisher founded in 1843 by the Scottish brothers Daniel and Alexander Macmillan, and it first published Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's The Gruffalo in 1999.
Macmillan has published for children since its early decades: it issued Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book in 1894. Daniel Macmillan's grandson Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister, chaired the company from 1964 until his death in 1986.
The modern trade business took shape after Macmillan became sole owner of Pan Books in 1986; by 1990 Pan and Macmillan's trade division had combined as Pan Macmillan, which includes the children's list. The Gruffalo appeared under the Macmillan Children's Books name on 23 March 1999.
Since 1999 Pan Macmillan and Macmillan Publishers have been wholly owned by the German Holtzbrinck Publishing Group.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Macmillan Children's Books's practice for the year on your title page.
Macmillan has long marked its later printings: a reprint or new edition carries a note of its printing history on the back of the title page, so a copy with no such note is the place to start.
On modern books, look for a number line on the copyright page. If the 1 is present, in any order, the copy is usually a first printing; a line such as 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 shows a later one.
Macmillan has long marked its later printings: a reprint or new edition carries a note of its printing history on the back of the title page, so a copy with no such note is the place to start. On modern books, look for a number line on the copyright page. If the 1 is present, in any order, the copy is usually a first printing; a line such as 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 shows a later one.
We track 88 editions published by Macmillan Children's Books, 37 of them first editions, across 88 books.
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 17 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
