Coloring books for adults are currently all the rage. Books geared specifically towards adults are featured in art and craft stores, bookstores and big box retailers like Target and Walmart. As the holidays draw closer, Amazon has released an impressive selection of coloring books for purchase.
I’ve been a longtime fan of coloring. It’s a wonderful, mindless stress reliever and creative outlet (even for those of us who are artistically impaired). Before coloring for adults became popular, I was forced to use children’s coloring books. However, now that this hobby is becoming so widespread, a whole new world of coloring books has opened up. Unlike children’s coloring books, adult coloring books tend to be very intricate in design, often requiring the use of fine-tipped color pencils. The designs also tend to be repetitive in nature or slight variations of a general theme.
I’m always on the lookout for anything Disney related so I was very excited to see two new coloring books available on Amazon. Disney Princess: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation and Disney Frozen: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation are two art therapy books recently published by Disney Editions. Both retails around $15.99 (but are around $11 on Amazon) which is on par with other high-quality adult coloring books. My initial response upon first receiving these books was surprise. Honestly, the books exceeded my expectations and were much better quality than I imagined. The covers are made from a thick cardboard which is unique to these books. These special covers make for a nice steady surface for coloring when a flat table is not available. The book itself is rather thick, roughly one inch thick — a reflection of the amount of pages and type of paper used to print the designs. I found it interesting that each book contained a one-page introduction that explained the concept of art therapy as well as familiarized the reader with the different types of Disney themed symbols found within the designs.
The over 100 coloring designs are printed on a heavy cardstock but be forewarned that if using markers some darker colors may still bleed through. Designs are printed on the front and back of each page and the designs range from large forms to more intricate prints. I really liked the variation in design as well as background. Some images are printed on white cardstock while others are printed on a black background. As for the designs, the pages seem to alternate between obvious princess references (a whole character or character silhouette) to much more subtle symbols (an apple or spinning wheel). There are a large amount of princesses represented in Disney Princess: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation. Of course the ever popular Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty are present but there are also designs for Tiana, Merida and Mulan. Disney Frozen: 100 Images to Inspire Creativity and Relaxation primarily feature Anna and Elsa but Olaf and Sven do make a rare appearance.
If you have anyone in your life who enjoys Disney and the stress relieving hobby of coloring, these books will make a wonderful holiday surprise. They truly are different variation on the common mandala themed coloring books.