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Amazon.UK and Amazon.com were advertising The Shooting Star and The Crab with Golden Claws with new covers under the title Young Readers Edition printed by Little Brown Books (USA). I ordered both (because they had intriguing covers) and am disappointed to have received The Shooting Star - because it is the standard Edition (USA) (which I will keep anyway in my collection).

However I am wondering if there were earlier editions to the Young Readers? Are these Young Readers editions that are coming out considered First Editions (in time for the movie)? Anyone have information on any previous Young Readers Editions? Is there a website that lists the different printers or printings of Herge books in different countries?

No, these are a new endeavour, so they haven't been out before; however, I think that Little Brown might have used the term generically to describe their children's book range, so that may have given the impression that this was a revival of some sort.

As to "first editions", well, that would be the case, but as it's a mass market release, I'm not sure that that will really add very much to the books' worth, one way or the other.

Thanks Jock

On the covers of the 2 new copies (Young Readers editions) that I have just received from Amazon - is printed on the copyright page:

'Additional Material....First Edition May 2011'

Following page 62 (of The Secret of the Unicorn) is

'The real-life inspiration behind Tintin's adventures'
written by Stuart Tett with the collaboration of Dominique Maricq and Studio Moulinsart.

Interesting also (on the copyright page):
'Not for sale in the British Commonwealth'

I find these differences fascinating for some reason.

I saw a load of Little Brown editions in The Tintin Shop in Covent Garden around a week ago I didnt have a look at them properly my Dad just picked one up and showed me The Blue Lotus and I am sure they had Cigars Of The Pharaoh as well. I believe that Little Brown published:
Tintin In America,Cigars Of The Pharaoh,The Blue Lotus,The Broken Ear,The Black Island,King Ottokar's Sceptre,The Secret Of The Unicorn,Red Rackham's Treasure
Well these are the titles I could find with a Young Reader's Edition cover! In a picture of The Secret Of The Unicorn I found a either sticker or printed red bubble saying
"Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture" The word's certainly spreading round about the upcoming movie!

Henry

Le Figaro has jumped (somewhat belatedly) on the changes made to the covers for the Young Reader editions, making a rather blustering semi-attack (it’s actually a bit too woolly to work as an out-and-out attack) on this attempt to make Tintin work in the U.S.

They fail to mention that the change is primarily a means of distinguishing this as a new series with added material, which to me is no different to the changes made for the Moon books omnibus, or the compact multi-book editions (formerly 3-in-1 books), and indeed to the recent French-language Archives Tintin mail-order series, aimed at the French market (each book being given a solid colour cover with the original cover image inset at a reduced size).

Seems like a storm in a tea-cup!

Who exactly are 'young readers'? Surely Tintin albums appeal to young readers anyway! O tempora o mores!

I’m not certain, but I think it’s readers who are young …? (By which I think, they mean anyone but me) ;-)

Well, traditional western comic sales are tumbling in both the English-speaking and the Francophone world, seemingly as the young go for Manga; furthermore, Tintin has had limited success in the States, so that’s one large collection of young folk to whom the boy reporter hasn’t been appealing, and any publisher would be mad not to try and do things to address that market.

Add to this the fact that the young are also spending their pocket money on things like video games, and apps for their ’phones, and you have a further erosion of the market against which publishers must compete to stay in business.

Seriously, there’s nothing particularly odd about it, is there? The Archives Tintin volumes are aimed at an affluent adult market, and are given supplementary archival material catering to the grown-up fan looking for information beyond the actual album; the young reader editions would appear from what I have read (I’ve not seen them myself, so stand ready to be corrected) are priced for the younger pocket, and contain information about the books themselves. This acts as a nice “come on” to potential purchasers - everyone likes extra material, don’t they? - and will no doubt also have an attraction to collectors such as ourselves (given how sought-after the Making of books are).

It’s apparent from the years I have spent here, and the questions which get asked, that there is a lot in the books which I take for granted which is a closed book to young readers now: pre-decimal currency, dial ’phones and manual exchanges, flying boat services, to name but a few. If even a little of this stuff was included, it would be great for our next generation of little Tintinologists.

Update 20/10/2011: I was in my local Waterstone’s and noticed that the Young Reader versions of Unicorn and Rackham were now on the shelves, from Egmont (these are marked “Not for sale in the United States”). They are paper-back, and in a small format (22.6 x 15 x 1 cm, or so it says on Amazon.co.uk), and have an additional 20-plus pages of extras, talking about Hergé and his sources, laid out in a style similar to the three Tintin and Snowy albums (the set of books which came out in the manner of an annual a few years back). From what I saw, I think these could be quite nice as a set, and would have been an attractive proposition for me as a child (and possibly as an adult, as a couple of pictures were ones I’m not sure I’d come across before, such as a reference for the idol of Sir Francis).

I’m pleasantly surprised and impressed.

You may see them here: http://youtu.be/-njANC20nTA

Thank you Colonel. I do find the change of the covers rather strange but then I'm just an old fogey.

I mentioned this on our Facebook page a day or so ago, but neglected to carry it over to here, so I'm now seeking to address the over-sight!

The web-site The Compulsive Reader has interviewed Stuart Tett about his work compiling the new naterial for the Little Brown "Young Reader" editions.

As I have said elsewhere, I'd have been a very happy camper if, as a small child, I'd come across the mine of information and back-ground material which Stuart has managed to fit in; it's hard to believe in these internet forum days, with books like the Companion on our shelves, DVDs of the cartoons and CDs of music playing as we get information off the web, that as recently as the early nineties there was virtually no data to be had.

Now these books are bringing a comprehensive body of detailed research to Tintinologists, young and old, and I think the effort should be commended. They outstrip the approach of the old "Making of" books, and I look forward to Stuart completing further volumes in the series!