Daily Archives: March 10, 2017

The Lion Easter Colouring Book

By: Antonia Jackson

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a lovely storybook style coloring book which tells the story of Easter. I thought at first it was a child’s coloring book but after purchasing it and seeing it firsthand, I would say it is a book which someone older would color and possibly present to a child. That is my intent, I am coloring this book to give to my grandchildren.

The designs (by Felicity French) are quite detailed but not intricate in nature. The story is re-told by Antonia Jackson. It is very well done and can be understood by a younger child. The designs match very well to the narrative. While there is a cross, there are no pictures of Jesus on the cross. The story and illustrations start before Palm Sunday and follow through the Resurrection.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
30 design pages (including presentation and title page) which tell the Easter story of Jesus.
Printed both sides of the page
Paper is white, medium weight, slight rough to the touch and non-perforated
Designs merge into the binding and some spread across two pages
Sewn Binding
Soft cover book with a detached dustcover.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens do not bleed through the page. Gel pens take a longer drying time than usual.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils.

ABC (Dover Coloring Books)

By: Anna Pomaska

Rating: 5 of 5

My grandson and I enjoy coloring time together when he comes to visit, so I am always on the look out for coloring books for him. I especially like this ABC book because it has a design page for each letter, has the letter in both upper and lower case format, and shows several items which begin with the letter.

As he is in pre-school and is now learning his alphabet and numbers, this is a great book for re-enforcing those lessons. It is a fun coloring book and my grandson enjoys coloring them.
The book has designs on both sides of the page. I found that markers of all sorts bleed through the page. Gel pens show through on the back of the page but don’t leak through. Crayons and coloring pencils work well and can be layered and blended well. The designs have a lot of room on the sides and are staple bound if you prefer to copy pages for the kids in your life to color.

Island Paradise: An Adult Coloring Book with Tropical Vacation Scenes, Relaxing Beach Themes, and Soothing Nature Patterns

By: Jade Summer

Rating: 5 of 5

The designs in this coloring book make me think of my various vacations to tropical islands, especially to different islands in Hawaii. In addition to scenes which have a vacation feel, there are designs of flora and fauna (including many fish) that bring up an island feel. The designs are very detailed with lots of additional lines so you can use a huge number of colors if you wish. Coloring in the book makes me yearn to plan another tropical vacation in the near future.

While you can have access to .PDFs when you purchase this book, my review is based on the book as it is received from Amazon. That way you will know what the pages look like and how they accept color. I like that the publisher provides the digital version as well so you can choose the paper you wish to use and/or to color the pictures as many times as you choose.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium:
25 x 2 each island designs for a total of 50 coloring pages
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is typical of CreateSpace: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated. The back of the page is printed black.
The designs do not merge into the binding. There is a heavy framing line at the outer edges of the design to give the project a more finished look, especially for framing.
Glue Binding (there is room to cut the pages out if you choose to do so.)
Though you cannot see the bleed-through easily due to the back of the page being printed in black, I recommend the use of a blotter page when working in this book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.