At 1.8 Pounds, This Book About Preemies Weighs as Much as One

One in 10 children in Québec are born prematurely. Préma-Québec, which offers help and support to parents of preemies, published a book to raise funds and awareness. Le livre de 1.8 livre (The 1.8-Pound Book) weighs as much as a very premature baby and includes four different stories about premature births.

Like a preemie itself, the book was scheduled to launch Dec. 17 but arrived a month early on World Prematurity Day, Nov. 17. Created by the agency lg2, the book costs $34.95 with all profits benefiting Préma-Québec.

The idea for the project came from personal experience.

"One of our team members held a preterm child in his arms," say Geneviève Langlois, partner and executive creative director at lg2, and Élise Cropsal, creative director of branding and design. "It was a life-changing experience for him because the child was so small and fragile. We wondered if there was a way to bring this feeling of smallness, fragility and lightness to a population that, for the most part, has never held a preemie in their arms. This is how the idea of a book weighing as much as a very premature baby was born. In French, the word livre means 'book' as well as 'pound,' the imperial unit used to measure body weight in Canada."

The agency produced 7,000 copies after testing paper types, ink quantities, cover art and book size.

The book tells four varying preemie stories. Pico is a bird who hatches too early and takes longer to learn to fly; Gédéo looks at parents of a preemie who find joy in the "kangaroo method"; Flocon (or Snowflake) is a little boy born one winter too early; and Billie tells the story of a godfather in awe of the fight in his newborn goddaughter.

Supporting the book is a 30-second ad, featuring a preemie being placed on a scale and weighing 1.8 pounds. Seconds later, she is being held by her father via skin-to-skin contact.

"We decided to film the video in a children's hospital with an actual premature baby," the pair tell Muse. "We were absolutely delighted when the father of this little heroine agreed to play his own role in the video and represent parents of premature babies."

CREDITS

Client: Préma-Québec / Ginette Mantha / Sophie Chaloux / Daphné Pilon
Vice-President, Creative:  Marilou Aubin
Vice-President, Account Services: Marie-Christine Cayer
Creative Director: Frédéric Tremblay / Geneviève Langlois / Élise Cropsal
Copywriting: Guillaume Bergeron, Jean-Christophe Diaque, Marie-Ève Leclerc-Dion
Art Direction: Marc Guilbault / Tiana Rica
Graphic Design: Sophie Valentine
Account Services Direction: Marie-Julie Cossette
Account Services Supervision: Sarah-Maude Raymond / Samuel Bouffard
Project Management: Simon Boisvert
Publishing house: Les Éditions de la Bagnole, Martin Balthazar, directeur principal, Groupe Ville-Marie Littérature, Sophie Deschênes, coordonnatrice, édition et production
Content: Odile Archambault
Project Management, Production: Emmanuelle Gauthier-Laquerre
Agency Production: Isabelle Fonta / Mélanie Bruneau
Motion Design: Jean-Philippe Guy / Antoine Hallé / Elisa Ferreira
Editing: Olivier Binette
Media: Touché!, Rosemarie St-Amand, Gabrielle Côté, Alexandra Lafontaine
Print and Production Management: Louis Dorval / Mélissa Brisson / Geneviève Demers
Public Relations: alinea / LG2
Mac Artists: Julie Hotte
Director: Nicolas Monette
DOP: Gabriel Brault-Tardif
Production house / Production: Gorditos / Véronique Poulin
Post-production: Post-Moderne
Sound studio / Engineering: Circonflex / Tanguy Meunier
Music: Circonflex
Authors and Illustrators (book): Simon Boulerice et Émilie Leduc, Audrey Borduas et Charles-Étienne Brochu, Stéphanie Lapointe et Mathilde Filippi, Guillaume Corbeil et Cécile Gariépy
Acknowledgements: Touché! / Québecor / La Bagnole / alinea / Circonflex / Post-Moderne