Hobonichi A5 Techo Cover: Leo Lionni - Frederick Colors

Frederick, Leo Lionni's field mouse who gathers sun rays, colours and words while the rest of the colony gathers food, turns 60 in 2027. This Cousin-size cover takes the colours half of the story: the front shows Frederick describing the colours of each season to the other mice in the depth of winter.

The printing is the interesting part: a matte, rough-textured layer over a glossy white enamel ground, so the artwork reads as torn coloured paper laid onto a white page, which is how Lionni made the originals. The pockets carry the story on: mice with grain and nuts on the right, Frederick blushing at his friends' praise on the left, and the book's handwritten endpaper lettering on the back pocket with a single listening mouse tucked inside it.

Features

• Frederick describing the seasons, in the book's 60th anniversary year

• Matte texture printed over glossy white enamel, so it reads as torn-paper collage

• Bookmark charms shaped like the fragments of colour and words he collects

• Illustrated pockets front, back and inside, each carrying part of the story

• 228 x 337 x 3 mm (9 x 13.3 x 0.1 in) excluding the pen holders, about 170 g

• Fits the A5 Cousin, the Cousin Avec and the A5 Day-Free