Best Notebooks to Fit Your Notebook Cover

I’ve received a lot of questions about which notebooks to use with the North Pond Notebook Cover…

I designed it in two sizes, the larger for composition notebooks and the smaller size for journals and sketchbooks (like large Moleskine notebooks). These are fairly common and easy to find in the US, but some of my friends in the UK and Australia have been unfamiliar with these types of notebooks or their names. I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of notebooks that will work in your North Pond Notebook Covers…

(Some of these are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission when you buy these notebooks through my links. Thanks!)

Best Notebooks to Fit Your Notebook Cover:

Notebooks in the US:

Composition Notebooks – These fit in the larger size notebook cover. You should be able to find these at any drug store or big box store for less than $2. And you can usually stock up on them for less when school supplies go on sale! This is the cheapest option and great for kids.
Hard Cover Large Moleskine – This is a basic hardcover lined journal, which could be used for many purposes. Choose the hard cover if you want it to last longer. This fits perfectly in the small notebook cover.
Soft Cover Moleskine Cashier Journals – These are my favorite small journals. These ones have lines, but there are versions with blank pages for sketching too. This fits into the small notebook cover as well.

Notebooks in the UK:

Composition Notebooks – These fit in the larger size notebook cover. I looked to see if these were available at Asda. I didn’t see any on the website, but I would expect them to have something similar. Staples had a few online, but they all had movie characters on them. This is the cheapest paper option and great for kids.
A4 Exercise Books – You can use hard cover A4 notebooks and make size adjustments as indicated in the appendix. I assume these are available in most supermarkets and stationary shops. A4 paper is quite a bit taller than a composition notebook, so you’ll need to add about 2″ to the height and about 3/4″ to the width of the pieces. It’s a pretty easy adjustment, but double check the measurements on your own notebooks to be sure.
Hard Cover Moleskine Notebook – This is a basic hardcover lined journal, which could be used for many purposes. This fits perfectly in the small notebook cover, no adjustments needed.
Soft Cover Moleskine Journals – These are my favorite small journals. These ones have lines, but there are versions with blank pages for sketching too. This fits into the small notebook cover as well.
A5 Hardback Books – It looks like you can probably find these at most supermarkets too. Any A5 book will fit in the small notebook cover with an easy adjustment. You’ll just need to add 3/4″ to 1″ in width (depending on the thickness of your book) to your pattern pieces.

Notebooks in Australia:

I’m less familiar with stores in Australia, so I’m relying on google to help me here. If you have more suggestions, leave them in the comments!

Botany Book – This notebook is very similar size to the composition notebooks and would fit into the large notebook cover. You would need to reduce the height of the pattern by 3/4″ and the width by 1/2″. I like this one because it has blank pages between the lined pages, but you can also get regular 9 x 7 books.
A4 Exercise Book – You will need to make the some adjustments. A4 paper is quite a bit taller than a composition notebook, so you’ll need to add about 2″ to the height and about 3/4″ to the width of the pieces. It’s a pretty easy adjustment, but double check the measurements on your own notebooks to be sure.
A5 Kraft Notebook – This is very similar to the Moleskine notebooks I love. You’ll just need to make the A5 adjustments to the small size- add 3/4″ to 1″ in width (depending on the thickness of your book) to your pattern pieces. Double-check the measurements using the appendix before you begin.
Large Moleskine Notebooks – These are available and will fit the small cover perfectly. The price seems high to me, but maybe you know where you can get a good deal on them!

Hope this helps you shop for the right size notebooks!