Joshua Mowll, author of Operation Red Jericho, submitted his original manuscript in a cardboard box franked with code numbers and confidentiality warnings, and fastened with a two-inch-diameter seal of red wax. Within the box, along with the text of the novel, were maps, documentary photographs and a letter pronouncing Joshua to be new president of the Honourable Guild of Specialists. In making the book, we were trying to create something that held on to the spirit of excitement and curiosity that gripped everyone who opened that original cardboard box. The typography and design mimicked that of the period setting of the book, and allowed for the inclusion of footnotes, text sidebars and lengthy captioning to reinforce the “evidence” presented by the detailed plans, sketches and photographs.

Shows that children’s books (or at least young adult books) can be typographically and graphically sophisticated. In the emergent genre of faux historical documents, Red Jericho manages to avoid the trap of kitsch and instead works as an appealing and engaging novel that seems certain to make young readers stop and take note of its many smart design decisions.