View source for Gorgeous Colouring Book for Grown-Ups

{{infoboxplain
|title=Gorgeous Colouring Book for Grown-Ups
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=Crafts
|summary=Colouring is the new knitting!  Give yourself a time out, pull out your best colouring pencils, and try to stay inside the lines!
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=No
|pages=128
|publisher=Michael O'Mara Books Ltd
|date=April 2015
|isbn=9781782434467
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782434461</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1782434461</amazonus>
}}
 
So, when I mentioned on Facebook that I had a nice new grown-up colouring book to review, I discovered a secret little group of friends who all confessed (instantly and with glee) that they have succumbed to the new relaxation craze of grown-up colouring!  They had tales of how tricky it was to stay inside of the lines, how long one picture could take, and how relaxing the whole thing is.  I dug out my old tin of pencils and settled down to give it a try.

This particular colouring book is really nicely designed.  It is a nice size, around A5, and so it can slip into your handbook for those lucky days when you actually get a seat on the train to work.  The paper is good quality, no showing through with colouring pencils, though I can’t vouch for what would happen if you coloured with felt tips.  Saying that, you really shouldn’t colour with felt tips.  They never give you as nice a picture as a good colouring pencil!  The designs are leaves and flowers and geometric shapes.  Sometimes the outlines are thin lines, and others have much bolder, thicker edging, giving a variety of styles you can choose to colour in.

I was surprised by how many pages there are in the book, there’s plenty of choice, and the pictures do actually take some time and attention.  Well, they do if you’re trying very hard to be neat!  There is something relaxing about colouring.  I always used to enjoy colouring with my daughter when she was small, and I’ve heard of other parents who would finish off their colouring after their kids went to bed!  I don’t know if it’s the trip down memory lane, or just the fact that you actually stop and sit still to colour, and it’s not in front of a screen, and there are choices you can make in the colours you use and the design you choose, but you don’t have to think too hard.

I think they’ve missed a trick in not giving the pages a nice perforated edge, so you can easily take out your completed masterpieces to display on the fridge.  Still, the design of the book is lovely - it’s beautiful to hold and look at, and I feel strangely proud of my completed pictures.  Put your trendy knitting down and join the colouring bandwagon - it’s very addictive!

You might also like to try [[The Neon Colouring Book by Richard Merritt, Amanda Hillier and Felicity French]] and [[The Big Beautiful Colouring Book by Hannah Davies]].
 
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