This is the delightful story of a family of field mice and how they work all summer to gather in food for the winter - all except Frederick. While the other mice are hard at work Frederick seems to daydream the summer away but, when the dreary winter comes, it is Frederick the poet-mouse who warms his friends and cheers them with his words of summer warmth.

Leo Lionni was an Italian-American writer and illustrator of children's books. Born in the Netherlands, he moved to Italy and lived there before moving to the United States in 1939, where he worked as an art director for several advertising agencies, and then for Fortune magazine. He always viewed himself as an artist and participated in contemporary art circles in New York, including teaching at Black Mountain College. He would usually draw pictures as he told stories to his grandchildren, but finding himself on a long train ride with no drawing materials, he tore out circles of yellow and blue from a magazine to help him tell the story he had in mind. This experience led him to create his first book for children, the Jot stocked Little Blue and Little Yellow in (1959). Lionni became the first children's author/illustrator to use collage as the main medium for his illustrations. He returned to Italy in 1962 and focused on writing and illustrating children's books. Many of his stories deal with issues of community and creativity rendered as fables that appeal to small children. His illustrations are beautifully simple, bold patches of colour and form, perfect to share with children from toddlers to primary school age. He received the Caldecott Award four times throughout his life.

Pantheon, 1995, Paperback, 32pages.