About Peter Pauper Press
Peter Pauper Press has been a family-owned publisher of fine books, journals, planners, and stationery since 1928, when a 22-year-old Peter Beilenson started the press on a hand-operated printing press in his parents' basement in Larchmont, New York. The name captured the company's founding mission: to make beautifully designed books and gifts at prices even a pauper could afford. Nearly a century later the press is still run by the Beilenson family — Peter's grandson Laurence now serves as President and Publisher, with his daughter Hannah working alongside him as an editor — and the company remains headquartered in White Plains, New York.
The company's design credentials go back to its earliest days: one of Peter Pauper Press's 1928 titles was selected among the American Institute of Graphic Arts' fifty best-designed books of the year, and its craftsmanship has been covered more recently by PRINT Magazine's Daily Heller column. Today the catalog spans journals, planners, organizers, stationery, and kids' activity books, all designed in-house. Its Teacher's Planner, now in a second edition informed by direct educator feedback, carries the most complete set of classroom administrative pages of any planner we tested — class rosters, a gradebook, a parent communication log, and substitute-teacher information — validated by more than 2,700 verified Amazon reviews at 4.6 stars.
Brand website: peterpauper.com
What Peter Pauper Press makes
Peter Pauper Press's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Planners
compact weekly planners, family planners, teacher planners, 2-year pocket planners — featured on DeskRated
Journals
guided, artisan, dot matrix, and bookbound journals
Organizers
password logbooks, family & life organizers, travel organizers
Stationery
note cards, address books, note pads, correspondence cards
Arts & crafts
coloring books, sketchbooks, sticker sheets
Kids books & activities
activity books, flash cards, puzzles and games
Why we recognized Peter Pauper Press
The DeskRated Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. Peter Pauper Press earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, used at a real desk, and judged on merit.
Peter Pauper Press products we rated highly
Peter Pauper Press Teacher's Planner 2nd Edition
Refined into a second edition based on direct teacher feedback, this undated planner devotes more supplemental space than any other planner we tested — class rosters, gradebook tracking, parent communication logs, and substitute-teacher information all in one volume. Its 40-week undated format lets teachers set their own start date, and over 2,700 verified Amazon reviews at 4.6 stars back its real-world classroom use.
Read the 7 Best Teacher Planners of 2026 guide →What earned Peter Pauper Press the recognition
- Family-owned and independently run for nearly a century, currently in its fourth generation of Beilenson family leadership.
- Design pedigree that predates most competitors — one of the press's 1928 titles was named among AIGA's fifty best-designed books, and its craftsmanship has been covered by PRINT Magazine.
- The Teacher's Planner reached a second edition by incorporating direct educator feedback, resulting in the most complete classroom administrative section — rosters, gradebook, parent communication log, and sub info — of any planner in our review.
- Validated at scale — 2,700+ verified Amazon reviews at 4.6 stars for the Teacher's Planner alone.
- A deep, in-house-designed catalog spanning planners, journals, organizers, and stationery, giving the brand consistent design quality across formats.