Lovely Little Mermaid coloring book based on original story printed both sides of the page

The Little Mermaid: A Coloring Book (Classic Coloring Book)

By: Hans Christian Andersen

Rating: 5 of 5

I really like the designs in this book. I think that the illustrations are really beautiful and imaginative. However, this is the second coloring book by this publisher that seems to give credit to a famous artist (in this case, Edmund Dulac) but is actually illustrated by a team of artists: Sophia O’Connor, Lorna Scobie, Ian Cunliffe and Shutterstock.) The quotes in the book are from the original story by Hans Christian Andersen but the artwork is not the original.

The book even gives bio information to Mr. Dulac (both on the back page and the inside flap of the back cover) which is also very misleading. While I believe it is completely incorrect to imply that Mr. Dulac’s work is included, the designs in the book are quite beautiful. The publisher should correct the misinformation on the product page. I’m not including this issue in my star rating but I wish that they would cease this practice.
The 96 pages of designs are detailed and many contain intricate and small areas to color. You will need small nib pens/markers and sharp pencils for those areas.
Many of the designs spread across two pages with integral portions of some of the designs being lost into the binding area. In my copy of the book, the pages line up very well.
There are 26 pages (13 designs) which are wall-paper, repeating designs. What’s interesting is that most of these designs are so well done, it is hard to see them as wall-paper. For instance, there is a town scene that is beautiful but repeats itself over the two pages. I still love the design so I won’t have any issues coloring it. This is true of the majority of the repeating designs. The few that have more obvious repeats are still great, though much simpler designs.
This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium.
96 pages of detailed and intricate designs based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.
Printed both sides of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, slightly smooth and non-perforated
Designs merge into the binding
There are many designs which spread across two pages
Sewn Binding. You can remove several pages in whole at one time by snipping several threads. I won’t do that as it will disturb the continuity of the design. The book opens easily to a flat position for coloring.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page
Water-based markers, India ink pens and gel pens do not bleed through or leave shadows on the back of the page. Some gel pens require additional drying time.
Colored pencils work okay with this paper. It is slightly smooth which made blending with a blending stick a little more difficult (slightly smeary.) I was able to get good pigment and to layer colors well. I tested both wax and oil based pencils with similar results.