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The Mysterious Library: A Coloring Book Journey Into Fables

By: Eunji Park

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a beautifully illustrated coloring book. It was originally published in Korea and is now being brought into the US market. Unfortunately, as Amazon did not sell the original Korean published book, I cannot compare the two. What I can provide is an assessment of the US version.

The illustrations are really beautiful. The artist tells the visual story of a young girl who stumbles into a library, gets locked in tight and then finds herself the main character of the storybook world. The story goes on to show the young girl adventuring some very well know stories, including: Little Red Riding Hood, Gingerbread Man, Pinnochio (misspelled in text, i.e., should have been Pinocchio), Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Thumbelina, Swan Lake, Florence Nightingale, the Sandman, Princess and the Pea, Aladdin, The Red Shoes, The Pied Piper, Town Musicians of Bremen, The Snow Queen, and Alice in Wonderland
The issue I have with the book has to do with the binding. It is glued and is very tight and hard to open flat for coloring. As most of the designs spread across two pages, this makes it difficult to color the parts of the design which merge into the binding area. While it is not unusual for story books designs to spread across two pages, the tight binding is unusual. It is also out of line with what I am used to from this publisher. Hopefully, this is something that can be corrected in future prints of the book but it is the reason I am detracting a star from an otherwise five star coloring book.
Waves of Color is the publisher for this book. They also published the Color the Classics coloring books by Jae-Eun Lee. What I am excited about with this new book is that the publisher has switched from a very smooth paper to one that is ever so slightly rough. It has great tooth for grabbing pigment with colored pencils. The Lee books were okay but this paper is great in comparison. It is slightly less heavy weight than the Lee books but is still what I consider heavier medium weight based on how wet medium worked with the paper.
There are 62 pages of designs with thumbnails of each designs at the end (along with the title of the story represented.) The designs are detailed and have intricate and small spots to color. I am extremely happy with the quality of illustration in the book though it appears that some of the picture may have been cropped and cut out the very edges of designs. I can’t verify that as I don’t have the Korean book (though I will be looking for it elsewhere for the future) but some of the elements look a tad unfinished.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I used for testing this book and which I generally use for coloring.
62 pages of hand-drawn story book designs
Printed on both sides of the page
Paper is warm white, slightly rough, and heavier medium weight non-perforated paper
Glue binding which is too tight to allow book to lay flat for coloring
Designs merge into the binding
Most designs spread across two pages
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the paper
Water-based markers do not bleed through the paper.
India ink pens do not bleed through but dark colors leave a slight shadow on the back of the page
Gel pens do not bleed through and dry in what I consider a reasonable amount of time
Colored pencils work excellently with this paper. The paper has excellent tooth for grabbing pigment from both oil and wax based pencils. I was able to get great color from multiple layers of the same color, layers of different colors, and easily blended colors using a pencil style blending stick.

Princesses and Fairies Colouring Book (Colouring Books)

By: Tomoko Tashiro

Rating: 5 of 5

This is the second coloring book of mostly fairy tales by Tomoko Tashiro. Some of the tales were unfamiliar to me but I loved the artwork regardless of the story. While there is duplication of some of the tales between the first and second book, the artwork is different no duplication of designs. There are 80 pages of designs (including intro pages) with most of them spanning across two pages. The designs are intricately and exquisitely drawn and will require a small point coloring medium, a steady hand, good eyesight to color.

The tales included are: Thumbelina, The Frog Prince, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Real Princess (Princess and the Pea), Cinderella, Princess Minon-minette, The Fairies, The Little Mermaid, The Flying Trunk, The Moon Princess, and Tanabata, The words in the UK version are only in English where the Japanese version had words in English with the majority in Japanese
The UK version has an attached cover (where the Japanese version had a dustcover.) The book is printed on both sides of smooth, white non-perforated paper. Many of the designs span across two pages and the designs merge into the binding. The binding is sewn so you can remove several pages at a time by snipping threads if you wish. I could get the book to open fairly flat. The Japanese version was glued and it was next to impossible to get the book to open flat.
My alcohol-based markers bled through this paper. My water-based markers and India ink artist pen left slight shadows on the back of the page. My gel pens were mixed some bright colors left shadows but most did not. I especially liked the smaller nib Uni-ball Signo (0.28 and 0.38) for the fine detail on this book.
My colored pencils worked were mixed. I could get good pigment with single and multiple coats. I had problems blending colors as the colors smeared more than blended (using a blender stick.) I had the same results with both oil and wax-based pencils. The Japanese version worked better with colored pencils but wet medium bled through a bit more.
There are things that I like and dislike about both versions. I prefer the binding on the UK version but I much prefer the paper (for use with colored pencils) and the dustcover on the Japanese version

Creative Haven Deluxe Edition Artful Quotes Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Lindsey Boylan

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a large coloring book with 63 designs. The designs are built around a quote from a famous person. The designs are mostly flowers (though there are a fish animals as well.) What is different about this book is that some of the pages have white backgrounds and some have black backgrounds. I have a few issues with the black backgrounds that I will detail below.

The designs are very pretty and are quite detailed. Some of the designs have intricate areas that are small and more difficult to color. There is a wide range of individuals who are quoted from Buddha to Abraham Lincoln.
The problem I have with my copy is that on some of the pages that have black backgrounds, one of two different issues arise. On some, there are scattered dots of white in the black. On others, the black is printed unevenly with some parts much lighter than others. This occurs on about one third of the pages. The white based pages seem to be in much better condition. Because of this issue, I reduced my rating to a 4 star.
This is what I saw while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium:
63 Quotes with mostly floral designs
The designs are printed one side of the page
Paper is the usual Creative Haven quality: white (with a mix of white backgrounds and black printed backgrounds), medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.
Glue Binding but with perforated pages so removing a page is fairly simple.
The designs cross slightly over the perforations (nothing essential lost if you remove the pages from the book)
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers bleed through in spots and show colorful shadows on the back of the page
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through when I apply more than one layer of ink.
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to get good color, layer the same color and multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blender. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils with similar results. Hard lead pencils, like Verithins, leave dents on the back of the page.
I suggest either removing pages from the book to color or using a blotter page under your working page. I like card stock as it keeps ink from seeping through and damaging the pages below.

The Dr. Seuss Coloring Book

By: Dr. Seuss

Rating: 4 of 5

I enjoyed Dr. Seuss as a child and have since read them to my children and their children. I was looking forward to receiving my new coloring book with artwork from the Dr. Seuss books. The book is nicely done but is missing some of my favorites (especially Green Eggs and Ham.) There are a good number of designs in the book and there are so many books to choose from that it almost seemed a given that many would not be included.

The designs are detailed but not too intricate. Many of the designs spread across two pages and parts of the design are lost in the binding area. In my copy, the pages line up fairly well. What is a problem is that the binding is a hybrid of glue and sewn. It has many stitches and the glue is heavier on certain pages. Those pages are difficult to lay flat for coloring. While there are not many of those pages, the ones that have the issue will be very difficult to color as even when I break the binding, I have to struggled to get my very sharp pencil point into the coloring elements. For this issue, I dropped my review to four star.
The designs are derived from Dr. Seuss books rather than exact duplicates. According to the publisher, these are the books utilized: And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street, The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hats Songbook, Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?, Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book, The Foot Book, Horton Hears a Who!, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew, If I Ran the Circus, If I Ran the Zoo, The Lorax, Oh Say Can You Say?, Oh, the Places Youll Go!, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!, On Beyond Zebra, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Scrambled Eggs Super, Theres a Wocket in My Pocket!, What Pet Should I Get?, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, and Youre Only Old Once.
This is what I experienced while coloring in the book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
46 Designs derived from a few of Dr. Seuss’ story books.
Printed on both sides of the page
Paper is white, medium weight, fairly smooth and non-perforated
Hybrid glue/sewn binding that is difficult to open to lay flat
Designs reach into the binding area/spine
Many designs spread across two pages and important elements are divided onto both pages
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page. These will leak through and mar the designs on the reverse of the page.
Water-based markers and India ink pens do not bleed through but do leave shadows on the back of the page. These will be noticeable on the designs that are on the reverse of your working page.
Gel pens do not leak through but require additional drying time.
Colored pencils work well with the paper. Though it is smooth to the touch, it still has enough tooth to grab pigment. I tested both boil and wax-based pencils and got good results from layering the same color, multiple colors, and blending with a blending stick.

Color Your Own Star Wars

By: John Cassaday

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my third book in the Color Your Own series by Marvel. In addition to Star Wars, I also have the Civil War and the Young Marvel books. I have really been impressed with the quality of the artwork and the publishing in all of these books. I enjoy Star Wars perhaps best of all three based on my lifelong enjoyment of the films.

The book has many of the characters in a wide variety of scenes. Most of the designs resemble the characters quite well. There are a couple that could have been improved but those are in the minority.
The designs are detailed and, in many cases, have intricate and very small areas to color. There is a heavy use of shading and of black as part of the designs. That has been true of the prior books as well, so it was not a surprise for me here. I’ve learned to embrace the black as part of my overall design and that has worked well.
When there is so much black on the page, I’ve also learned to be really careful if I am using colored pencils. Lighter colors over the black show up. If I use markers, that problem doesn’t happen as the color seeps through instead of sitting on the surface. I use both but am extra careful with I am using lighter colored pencils.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my color medium on the paper:
59 Design pages based on Star Wars
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, white, slightly rough, and perforated
Glue bound but you can easily remove pages at the perforations
Designs cross over the perforation by a very small amount. If you remove pages from the book, you will not lose essential elements.
Easy to color in all corners of the design (though many designs extend to the border of the page on three sides.)
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers, India ink pens, and gel pens all leave colorful shadows on the back of the page.
Colored pencils work well with this paper. I was able to get good color, blend, and layer well with both wax and oil based pencils. Hard lead pencils can dent through the page.
I will either remove the page from the book to color or put a safety blotter page under my working page. That will keep the pages below safe from seeping ink or dents. I like to use card stock or a couple of sheets of heavier weight paper.

Creative Haven Farmers Market Designs Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Marty Noble

Rating: 5 of 5

I own a number of coloring books by Marty Noble. Most of those are either fashions, mandalas, or storybook style designs. I was very curious to see how she would create designs that dealt with a farmers market. I grow vegetables and fruits and shop at our local farmers market, so it was important for me that the book got it right.

It is beautifully done. There are fruits, vegetables, seed packets, jarred/canned goods, herbs, flowers and more (even chickens). The items are portrayed realistically but are elevated by way of Ms. Nobles wonderful style. It is a beautiful book to color in and it takes me to a visit to a farmers market something that I will appreciate more and more as the winter days start closing in.
The designs are detailed and a few contain some intricate and small areas to color. For the most part, they are fairly open and will be easy to color without resorting to tiny nib pens or markers or sharp pointed pencils. As usual, Ms. Noble has provided lots of space for shading and accenting in the designs. I appreciate that as it allows me to either color it as-is or add my own touches to make it unique.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
31 Farmers Market inspired designs by Marty Noble
Designs are printed one side of the page
Paper is white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.
Glue Binding with perforations so you can remove them one at a time.
The designs stop well before the perforations
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper
Water-based markers bleed through with colorful spots and shadows on the back of the page
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through when I use more than one layer of color.
Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to use both wax and oil based pencils equally well. I was able to get good color and to get deeper pigment by layering the same color. I found that I could layer multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.
I generally prefer to use a blotter page under my working page to keep ink from seeping through but you can also remove pages from the book to color. I like card stock for my blotter page but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works as well.

Southern Living Christmas at Home: A Lifestyle Coloring Book

By: The Editors of Southern Living

Rating: 5 of 5

I have bought the Southern Living Christmas holiday guides for years. I always love to look at the beautiful decorations and get inspired for new looks at my home and with my trees (inside and outside.) When I saw that Southern Living had a Christmas coloring book, I was hoping that it would be similar to the guides.

Great news is that it is. In fact, on the inside of the front and back cover, there are some photos of the real decorated rooms which inspired some of the designs in the book. The designs range from fun to elegant and cover a wide variety of design concepts.
There are 62 designs in the book and they portray everything from Christmas trees to fireplaces to table settings to wreathes. I especially like designs which are food related as those have recipes on the back of the page. I like that as the pages are perforated and if you remove pages, the recipe will stay with the design.
The only slight drawback about the book is the thin paper. It is thin enough that it shows through shadows of the designs on the next page. If I could do so, I would drop my rating to 4.5 for this issue but instead, I rounded up (as I always do) to a 5 star rating. Otherwise, the book has exceeded my expectations and I am very happy with it.
Here is what I found while coloring in the book and testing my coloring medium on the pages:
62 Decorative Christmas designs plus 16 recipes
Printed on one side of the page (though recipes are printed on the back of the food design pages)
Paper is very thin, white, somewhat smooth and perforated.
Glue bound
Some designs slightly cross over the perforations but nothing essential to the design would be lost if you remove a page from the book.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper rapidly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots except for the brush end of Tombow dual end markers. Those leave shadows on the back of the page.
India ink pens leave shadows on the back of the page and can bleed through in spots if you apply the ink heavily or in multiple layers.
Gel pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. They do not require additional drying time over what is normal for gel pens.
Colored pencils work well as though the paper is somewhat smooth, it still has enough tooth to grab pigment. I tested both oil and wax-based and had good results with both. I was able to lay down good color, layer the same and multiple colors, and blend easily using a pencil style blender. Hard lead pencils can leave dents through the paper.
I either remove pages from the book or use a blotter page of card stock to keep seeping ink and dents from damaging the pages below my working page. A couple of pages of heavyweight paper works well, too.

Pusheen Coloring Book

By: Claire Belton

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a cute coloring book for any fan of Pusheen. The adorable kitty is up to all sorts of fun activities in this book. There are designs which are easy to color (especially good for children or anyone with vision or fine motor issues) as well as more detailed designs. There is nothing too intricate and you won’t need specialty tip pencils or pens to work with this book.

I like many of the designs in the book. There are lots of mandalas and themed pages. My favorites are the seasonal mandalas extremely cute!
The book is printed on both sides of white medium weight, slightly rough paper, non-perforated paper. The designs do not spread across two pages but the design elements do merge into the binding on most of them. The binding is glued, so you will have to cut pages out if you want to remove them.
I found that alcohol-based markers bled through the page quickly. Water-based markers and India ink pens left slight shadows on the back of the page. Some colors of gel pens also left extremely light, indistinct shadows. What I found that worked best was colored pencils. Both oil and wax-based pencils worked equally well. I was able to layer the same color for deeper pigment, layer multiple colors, and to easily blend using a pencil style blender stick.

Autumn falls (night edition): printed on black paper

By: Ebony Rainn

Rating: 5 of 5

This is one of a few of my coloring books which have utilized black paper. It makes it really interesting as the paper is black front and back and the designs are printed in white ink. I also purchased the regular line drawn (black on white paper) of this same book and it is really amazing to see how much different the same design can look depending on the ink and paper used.

There are 30 designs in this book. Many of the designs are autumn related and a good number are more specific to Halloween. I like both styles. The designs are graceful and fun to color. With lots of pumpkins, acorns, owls, cats, bats, witches and more, there’s a great choice in designs to color. These are my first books by Ebony Rainn; however, I will certainly be looking for more in the future.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing this innovative paper.
30 Autumn and Halloween Designs (plus presentation page) printed with white ink on black paper
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is black (front and back), thin, slightly rough and non-perforated
Glue Bound
Plenty of room to remove designs from book if you choose to do so
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through this paper. You cannot see the bleed through easily but I used a blotter page and it saturated through to the blotter.
Gel pens and India ink pens left slightly discernible shadows on the back of the page in the sense that the paper looked darker but was still black.
Colored pencils worked well with the paper. I was able to get good color, layer, and blend well with both wax and oil based pencils. You need to be careful not to color outside of the lines as it is very noticeably different look than the color on the white ink image. Hard lead pencils can leave discernible dents on the back of the page.
I highly suggest a heavyweight blotter page be used at all times. I use card stock or two sheets of heavyweight paper. You can have ink leak through without noticing or dent through the page and mar the pages below.

Autumn falls: A beautiful fall colouring book

By: Ebony Rainn

Rating: 5 of 5

I purchased this book of designs and also its twin which is printed with white ink on black paper. It’s amazing how different the designs look based on which color of paper it is printed on. It is a fun book of designs that work great both both autumn and Halloween. While the order of designs are slightly different in each version, they both include the same designs overall.

There are 30 designs in this book. The designs are graceful and fun to color. With lots of pumpkins, acorns, owls, cats, bats, witches and more, there’s a great choice in designs to color. These are my first books by Ebony Rainn; however, I will certainly be looking for more in the future.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing this innovative paper.
30 Autumn and Halloween Designs (plus presentation page)
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated
Glue Bound
Plenty of room to remove designs from book if you choose to do so
Alcohol and water based markers bleed through this paper.
Gel pens and India ink pens left shadows on the back of the page. India ink pens can leak through if used heavily or with multiple coats.
Colored pencils worked well with the paper. I was able to get good color, layer, and blend well with both wax and oil based pencils. Hard lead pencils can leave discernible dents on the back of the page.
I highly suggest a heavyweight blotter page be used at all times. I use card stock or two sheets of heavyweight paper. This will keep ink and marring dents from damaging the pages below.