Dr. Juli Barry

Coloring Books To Brighten Everyone’s Christmas

GIVE THE GIFT OF COLOR

BRIGHTEN YOUR CHILD’S CHRISTMAS BREAK
WITH THIS COOL COLLECTION OF COLORING BOOKS

 

Juli Barry’s dipped into them all and has this to say:

Christmas to Color
by Mary Tanana
(HarperCollins; $15.99, Ages 4 and up)

ChristmastoColorcvr_Looking for a way to keep the peace during holiday gatherings? Or do you need a way to get those eternally bored teens to put down the phone and interact with family members?  Try gathering those cousins around a table and color together! Mary Tanana’s Christmas to Color provides ultra-attractive, over-sized pages of beautiful Christmas scenes to tempt even the grouchiest Grinches of the family! Snowflakes, wreaths, ornaments in detail, and so many other festive designs are sure to add amusement to any family gathering. Tanana cleverly draws some designs that can be cut out and placed in outlined areas on facing pages. “Trim” an intricately decorated tree with colored pens or pencils, then place it in the blank center of a background of poinsettias and mistletoe. Or have the relatives color any of the pages of sleds or stockings, animals and stars and so much more, to create a collage of everyone’s work.

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Bright and cheery stocking colored by Juli Barry from artwork in Christimas to Color by Mary Tanana, HarperCollins, ©2015.
ChristmastoColor
Twinkling toppers colored by Juli Barry from artwork in Christimas to Color by Mary Tanana, HarperCollins, ©2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IHeartColoringFlowers.jpgColoring books are all the rage this year and they come in every size and theme. Lizzie Preston and Jane Ryder-Gray, Jess Bradley, and Felicity French all illustrate a new, smaller (6” X 6”) coloring book series appropriately entitled I Heart Coloring … These make great stocking stuffers and provide fun distractions during those holiday trips in planes, trains, and autos. Specifically, I Heart Coloring Flowers with artwork by Preston and Ryder-Gray includes intricate floral patterns and challenging motifs as well as lighter fare for those just starting out. You can mat and frame your completed pages and give them as presents, or cut out particular flowers and add them to hand-made cards. Use now or save for Valentine’s Day or Easter.

TheNeonColoringBookCheck out the bold, over-sized The Neon Coloring Book with its hints of neon orange and pink adorning pages of animals, skateboards (!!) and other funky objects. Black or neon-colored backgrounds radiate other pages of delights to color. So buy a pack or two of neon markers and join in the fun! Coloring provides both a quiet way to interact with loved ones and a creative break from all the work and stress of the holidays. And Price Stern Sloan has a tempting array of coloring books sure to brighten everyone’s day!

 

 

I Heart Coloring
 by Felicity French
I Heart Cute Coloring
by Jess Bradley
I Heart Coloring Flowers
by Lizzie Preston and Jane Ryder-Gray
(Price Stern Sloane; $9.99 each, Ages 10 and up)

The Neon Coloring Book
by Richard Merritt, Amanda Hillier, and Felicity French
(Price Stern Sloane; $12.99, Ages 5-8)

 

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Off the Bookshelf Coloring Book by Samarra Khaja

OFF THE BOOKSHELF COLORING BOOK
45+ Weirdly Wonderful Designs to Color
for Fun & Relaxation
Illustrated by Samarra Khaja
(C&T Publishing; $14.95, Adults)

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Forget the meditation. Pick up a marker or two!

It’s Quirky! It’s Funky! It’s just waiting for your Imagination! You can’t help but smile as you browse through the new coloring book Off the Bookshelf.

Samarra Khaja — mother, artist, designer, photographer, art director, seamstress…and now, coloring consultant — has added to the re-vitalized mania of coloring books for Adults. Khaja combines the highbrow with the high flyin’ (check out the flying pigs page) to taunt your silly side. She practically dares you to go wild with your imagination just by tapping into hers. So take out those Prismacolors, markers or even watercolors, find yourself a cozy corner and pick out a page!

Interior Artwork Off The Bookshelf
Interior artwork from Off the Bookshelf Coloring Book: 45+ Weirdly Wonderful Designs to Color for Fun & Relaxation by Samarra Khaja, C&T Publishing ©2015 that has been partially colored in by Dr. Juli Barry.

 

I love attention to detail which Off the Bookshelf presents through a variety of topics and themes. The Bookshelf pages provide plenty of fine-line coloring attention on the book spines as well as amusing and intricate tchotchkes mixed among the stacks. Pages of architectural details also provide challenges and choices for the color enthusiast. Talk about attention to detail! Take out your .2 or .3 fineliners here, Artistes!

Khaja plays with myth and make-believe and creates wacky combinations of the everyday to make every page an adventure.   This book is my first venture into coloring maps — of New York City, Paul Bunyan’s travels and more — and I look forward to finally designing my very own car color as well as remembering or re-learning the monuments of the U.S. Arrangements of cultural artifacts are also guaranteed to inspire and amuse! Totems, garden tools and things that go flash and pop (cameras, speakers, cassettes — is that an 8-track in the corner?) allow the mind to wander through a rainbow possibilities.

Off the Bookshelf also devotes pages to animals, both real and imagined. There’s a hilarious page of “rabbit mice” (they have rabbit ears and long tails!) fanning themselves or bowling!!? and many other truly fun critters in this playful menagerie. Khaja’s owl in the Beats and striped t-shirt is just waiting for you to get out your Prismatics and pens! Off the Bookshelf Coloring Book would also be a great introductory gift for those friends who think our new obsession is a bit, well, “Off the Charts.” And don’t forget to include a pack of starter pens (preferably the ones that glitter) to get those skeptics happily coloring alongside you!

  • Reviewed by Dr. Juli Barry, an L.A. local, who has her Ph.D in 20th century American fiction.
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