Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Coloring Book
Coloring and Activity Book
For ages 6 to 8
Tate Publishing, 2009 ISBN: 978-1854378491
For the longest time coloring books were all pretty much the same. The pages were full of black line illustrations on white paper that young people could color in. In the last decade or so coloring books have become more interesting. The creators of these books often put written prompts on the pages in the form of questions or challenges. Instead of only drawing illustrations of scenes or people that need to be colored in, they also create more freeform artwork that leaves a lot to the artist’s imagination.
This coloring book is just such a title. Young artists will find pages covered with scribbles, squares, broken squares, and what looks like white paint splashes on a black background. There are pages of overlapping hearts and overlapping daisies. There are road signs, mazes, cubes, flags, monsters, animals, fruits, flowers, numbers and so much more. The illustrations are large and rough, which means that the artist can let his or her imagination take over. Some of the pages challenge the artist to use his or her knowledge of shapes, numbers or spelling to complete the task that they are given. Sometimes there is a problem to solve, and often the author encourages artists to think about color, space, and design in new ways.
This is a wonderful book to dip into when the perfect moment for a little quiet coloring time comes around. Artists of all ages are going to find that this book offers them hours of enjoyment and creativity.
