Romeo and Juliet: A Coloring Classic
By: William Shakespeare
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a very well made coloring book which illustrates Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The line drawings are very well done and very pretty. I do wish there might have been a few more designs of the actual characters in the play rather than props, etc. Apart from that little nit, I am happy with the book in other ways.
The cover is in black print on white (with elements you can color) with orange foil highlights on the front. Both covers fold out with pretty patterns that you can color if you choose to do so.
The story is excerpted with many of the most memorable lines included. There is quite a focus on the end where Romeo and Juliet both die, so it is not a sugar-coated version. It stays true to the actual play.
The coloring book has been published by the Doubleday’s Books for Young Readers but it is not a child’s book. The drawings are intricate and detailed enough for any adult to enjoy.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium of the paper.
78 Storybook designs pages (including several of The Apothecarys Shelf of herbs and spices)
Designs are printed on both sides of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly smooth, and non-perforated.
Sewn Binding so you can remove several pages at a time with loss of any of the design elements by snipping a few threads.
Designs merge into the binding area.
A good number of designs spread across two pages with essential elements merging into the binding area.
My copy of the book did not line up extremely well so that the two-page designs were off by a fraction of an inch.
Book can be forced fairly flat by breaking/creasing the spine
Alcohol-based markers bleed through slightly on this paper.
Water based markers (except for brush end Tombows) left the slightest indistinct shadow on the back of the page. Tombow did not leave a shadow.
Gel pens and India ink pens did not bleed through this paper.
Colored pencils did well. Using oil and wax based pencils in various brands, I was able to color with light or heavy pigment, layer and blend. I use a pencil style stick blender for my tests. Hard lead pencils did well and did not dent/score through to the back of the page.