4 Stars

So I'm choosing to review this coloring book first as I just received it for my birthday. Now with coloring books, you can't wait until you've colored all the pages before you can review otherwise I’d never get around to reviewing them.. Well, some people might. But I have massive pile of coloring books. So as I finish an image in each book, I will do a review.

As most of you know, I haven't been around because of a major relapse of my depression. Coloring has helped some with my anxiety. The paper quality of this book isn't great. While for regular books it really isn't that important, for coloring it can make or break. The paper isn't terrible but compared to Brasfords coloring books or some other coloring books, the paper really should be better.  The pictures just come out looking only so so.   On the other hand, the book really is hysterical. I love the pictures and the cusswords. So it really is a lot of fun. I’m only going to post one colored in picture because 1- it’s all i’ve done and 2- I’m worried about copyright issues.

So overall, definitely a fun as hell (had to!) coloring book, but I wish the paper were better quality.  Ug. Can't figure out how to insert the image without having to upload it first. Will post seperately. Sorry

This text is paired with the "What do Authors do?" and follows two artists as they illustrate different versions of "Jack and the Beanstalk." Another great first grade book to introduce the students to what an illustrator is and the hard work they put into the books. We all know that illustration is important at this milestone (first grade) because the children are using the illustrations to help them read the text. By furthering their understanding of the process and importance of the illustrations, they gain a deeper comprehension. After reading this book I would have my class "illustrate" a small book just to check and make sure they grasped the concept.  

Author and illustrator James Gurney, noted for his book Dinotopia, has also done a host of non-dino illustrations. This one was for the National Geographic centennial. He has illustrated animals, scenes from history and fantasy stories. Enjoy checking out his work at his website http://jamesgurney.com/. 

Sylvia L. is a German-born artist and designer who did a number of illustrations for one of my books and has branched out to do greeting cards that are now sold in retail stores and museum shops in the US and Germany. I've been asking her for a long time to do some book-related illustrations or cards and she finally agreed.

Here is her first book-themed card, made specifically for Booklikes, that shows her favorite models Chapman and Lily wondering what to do with a printed book from Santa. It's always a pleasure to see former colleagues go in new creative directions. Best of luck to her and a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season to everyone here at Booklikes!  

For more info, click on the illustration to go to her old website, which is in the process of being upgraded for release in January 2014. She has promised more book-related cards to come soon and is already getting some advance orders from independent bookstores.