Artist Mari Ichimasu's backpacking cats started out as creatures of her imagination. Sometimes she would turn a human friend into one of the cats, and as her artwork increased in popularity, her fans requested that she paint their cat next. Initially, the characters came from her imagination and gradually developed into collaborations with other living souls.) Mari would illustrate each character in clothing and accessories appropriate to their personality. Viola, for example, wears binoculars ready to watch the whales. Maka is barefoot with a guitar and a bottle of beer peeking out of her pack. Jake dons snowshoes, a thick sweater, and a scarf as he heads to snow country. These adorable illustrations are accompanied with a simple sweet poem that hopefully tells of each cat's journey. Meet all 45 travel cats in this debut collection.