
2 minute read
Color ing Books
Not Just for Kids Anymore
by Sheryl Jensen
Besides playing with Barbie dolls, coloring was my favorite past time when I was young. And, back in the day, if I received a Barbie coloring book, my world was totally complete. I certainly never expected at this phase of my life, however, that I would find that my favorite hobby is spending hours with my grownup coloring book, Time Garden.
find coloring books for every whim, from cats to cityscapes, Dr. Who to Game of Thrones, there are hundreds of different choices.

“Five of the top twenty bestselling books on Amazon in 2015 were coloring books for adults. Over 2,000 different books have been printed since 2013...”
So, what’s the attraction? Research shows that we are all looking for ways to “de-stress.” For some, that may be doing jigsaw puzzles, scrapbooking, knitting, crocheting, or quilting. According to many thera-
While I have traded my childhood Crayola crayons for the more “sophisticated” colored pencils, the allure is still the same. Making this more special is that my sister is doing the exact same coloring book, and we will swap the books when we are done as a special gift to the other.
We are not, how ever, the only ones obsessed with this return to our innocent childhoods. It has turned into a na tional and even an interna tional craze. Step in side your favorite craft shop or bookstore or go online, and you will pists and psychologists, any activity in which you can engage your hands, as well as the creative half of your brain can be good for you. Many who require multi-tasking, color while watching TV or listening to music.
Publishers are stepping up to try to meet the demands of this phenomenon and are finding they can’t keep up to the requests for many of the most popular books. Colored pencils and coloring markers have become hard to find as adult coloring enthusiasts clamor for larger pencil and marker sets of better quality and more varied color choices.
Five of the top twenty bestselling books on Amazon in 2015 were coloring books for adults. Over 2,000 different books have been printed since 2013 with the number growing every day. Two of the biggest coloring book sensations, Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, have sold a combined 13.5 million copies in 50 countries.
In a world where much is out of our direct control with ugly Presidential campaigns, terrorism, global warming, and stock market plunges, the world of coloring books becomes a private domain where how you fill in each page is entirely up to you. You control the where, when, and how with every color choice.
Coloring doesn’t require many supplies or even much talent. No one is going to judge your work (even if you do occasionally stray out of the lines). Feel like making your trees bright pink or your houses fuschia? It’s your coloring book, go for it!
Like Peter Pan, I won’t grow up — at least not while I have a new coloring book in front of me. Coloring is my version of yoga or meditation. My Zen moments these days are spent with my colored pencils by my side and the worlds on my coloring book pages coming to life in all their brilliant splendor!