The bestselling title on Amazon in the US right now is not Harper Lee’s hugely anticipated second novel, Go Set a Watchman, or George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series, or even Zoella’s much-mocked but much-bought young adult hit, Girl Online. Instead, Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford is topping the charts, with her colouring books for adults taking top spots on Amazon.com’s bestseller lists...I purchased an adult coloring book and a set of colored pencils for my elderly mother, who has quite advanced dementia. It has been received with some measure of success.
And it is not just Basford who is reaping the benefits of the hordes of adults who, it turns out, just wanted something to colour in. In the UK, Richard Merritt’s Art Therapy Colouring Book sits in fourth spot on Amazon’s bestseller lists, Millie Marotta’s Animal Kingdom – detailed pictures of animals to colour – sits in seventh, and a mindfulness colouring book sits in ninth. Basford’s titles are in second and eighth place - that’s half of Amazon.co.uk’s top 10 taken up by colouring books for adults.
At independent UK publisher Michael O’Mara, which has sold almost 340,000 adult colouring books to date, head of publicity, marketing and online, Ana McLaughlin, attributes the craze to the way the category has been reimagined as a means of relaxation. “The first one we did was in 2012, Creative Colouring for Grown-Ups. It sold strongly and reprinted, but it was last year that it all really mushroomed with Art Therapy, in June. It really took off for us – selling the anti-stress angle gave people permission to enjoy something they might have felt was quite childish,” she said.
Image from The Colour Therapy Colouring Book (Michael O'Mara Books), found in this gallery.
I am part of a "coloring club". It's great. We meet in coffee shops or places with adult beverages. There is something about the process of coloring that is very calming to me, and I know others feel the same way. I'm not big on the children's books, but I love the more sophisticated ones. Zentangles are also great for the same purpose.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the "Querkles" coloring books? I have to say, I was given one of them as a gift and they're much more engaging than I thought they'd be. We did a few over the holiday weekend with our teenaged son who had the same sense of surprise about them.
ReplyDeleteI discovered this same idea several years ago when I stumbled across these awesome Anatomy Coloring Books, used by med students. http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Coloring-Book-Wynn-Kapit/dp/0321832019
ReplyDeleteI have some of these (an American version) ~ they are great fun and very relaxing!
ReplyDeleteI've kept the coloring book from my anatomy class (over 30 years ago). It was a great learning tool and it was fun to color, too. However, it was difficult to keep my daughter from finding it and "finishing" it for me at the time!
ReplyDeletei don't like coloring books, and i don't paint by numbers, neither! who wants to be told to stay inside the lines all the time, and what colors to use where? don't you people have any initiative, any desire to show your creativity, to paint and color what you want, where you want, and in whatever color you want? unchain yourselves! throw off those shackles, break those bonds!
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This could be a troll, but a troll on the subject of colouring books possibly qualifies as a new species. Quite amusing in its way. I'm picturing it as being about ankle-height, wearing a silly hat, and leaping out from behind a rock a few moments after you've already seen it.
DeleteHe's not a troll. It's more like just adolescent humor.
DeleteLaura
forget it, you guys. you are not getting me to respond to those!
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Loved doing the anatomy coloring book, as well. In my last hospital orientation, we were given coloring sheets and colored pencils, and told that keeping our hands busy would help us listen better. It really made the whole, dull process much more pleasant. I got a rather complex book for myself recently, and it's very calming.
ReplyDeleteI discovered 'extreme dot to dot' books for my daughter and think I like them more than she does. They contain upwards of 1500 numbered dots to connect - for some reason, it's very soothing. Love coloring books too - some things you never outgrow!
ReplyDeleteStan - thanks for the comment about your mom. Mine has moderate dementia and while she really enjoys the activities at the adult daycare she attends 3x per week, when she's home the only thing that gets her vertical and off the couch away from the TV is lunch or snacktime. She only worked on the find-a-word puzzles when the cognitive specialist was sitting right with her. This might be something interesting enough to keep her sitting up for awhile.
ReplyDeleteKay, you may already know this, but there are several online sites where you can create personalized find-a-word puzzles -
Deletehttp://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp
My mother really enjoyed one I made for her that had the names of all her relatives hidden, plus some key words from her life and career.
And you can print it in a large font.
And you can reprint it over and over again; my mom has done hers a half-dozen times.
May I suggest my book, "In the Company of Redwoods" as an example of coloring book for adults (and young adults) who wish to try their hand at coloring actual photographs. The results are quite artistic and relaxing in same meditative way many of the comments here are describing.
ReplyDeleteAfter discovering the Basford books, a friend of mine started a facebook page dedicated to fans of her books, where we trade tips and progress pictures and have informal 'contests' :) It is a delightful community. My friend thought maybe a few local friends would get involved. The page now has hundreds of international members!! :)
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