by Beatrix Potter
Published by Puffin on August 4th 2016
Style: single page illustrations
Pages: 96
Format: Card cover with fold out, Glue & Stitched
Goodreads
Rediscover the charm of the World of Beatrix Potter with this enchanting colouring book filled with all your favourite characters.
With beautiful pages to colour, this charming colouring book is the perfect gift for any Beatrix Potter fan.
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Beatrix Potter Colouring Book
Do you remember those lovely little books that you had when you were a kid? Full of tales of Peter Rabbit hiding behind a glossy white dust jacket. The illustrations were adorable and the story was cute. Sometimes, a relative would buy you Peter Rabbit tableware or a stuffed toy as well.
In case you would like a reminder, here is a selection of the Beatrix Potter children’s books – note how beautifully colored the drawings are, showing texture and dimension with the lovely pastel combination.
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Receiving my Beatrix Potter book in the mail was like slipping back to childhood. I feel a little teary 
I just adored books when I was a child …and I guess I still do!
Cover & Layout
The cover of this nostalgic book is white with lovely gold foil highlights in abundance on a cutesy woodland scene. There is a pre printed blue for the jacket on Peter Rabbit and the text. The spine is a lovely smooth gold with white printing. The back cover is a slightly different shade being more cream than white. It has a short blurb about the book and some line art with pre printing in peach and blue. The cover has fold out flaps which have the beautiful blue background with white line art. Sadly there is no line art on the inner cover which seems to be a missed opportunity 🙁
It’s amazing the memories that a book can bring flooding back. Beatrix Potter makes me so nostalgic I can almost feel myself slipping into the pre internet era!
Mr Jeremy Fisher – lots of large areas to color. A thumbnail and title on the facing page shows the previous illustration details
In case you have not guessed, I love Beatrix Potter and I love rabbits! This colouring book is like manna from heaven for me.
The book measures 25cm x 25cm (approximately 9.8 in x 9.8 in).
A cute title page is at the start of the book with a lot of adorable elements to color including acorns, Peter Rabbit, bees, butterflies and florals. I am slightly disappointed that the book cover art was not used as the title page, as I always feel that this is a good way to ease into the book. Copyright details are shown on the back of this page.
A nameplate page follows that has been framed with all your favorite Beatrix Potter characters to color. On the rear of this page you will find 12 items that you can find in the book. I usually do not like interactivity when I’m coloring (too much pressure!). I think I should be able to find the items in this book, as it is not as detailed as most interactive coloring books. The guide indicating where the items are has been omitted from the book.
A lovely introduction and reminder follows of the world of Beatrix Potter with a cute little drawing to color as well.
Over page a double page Map of Beatrix Potter’s World is laid out for to color and get your bearings. If you need me, I’ll be at Ginger and Pickles’ Shop!
Map of Beatrix Potter’s World – the only double page scene in the book
On the rear of each page is a thumbnail of the full illustration together with the title. I assume that the idea behind this is to have a visual index of which pictures you have colored as you progress through the book.
The illustrations are printed on white, good quality paper. Excepting for the double page Map scene, all other images are printed one per page. All of the images have been orientated portrait style.
Illustrations
I did not know what to expect from Beatrix Potter’s illustrations when I purchased this book based on a pre order. Would they be a replica of a story from one book from my childhood or a mix of something else? I wish I had my little collection of books that I had when I was a child to compare!
The illustrations feature the characters from the stories together with woodland scenes. The drawings have all been well centered and positioned on the page for ease of coloring. You will find lovely illustrations featuring the Ginger and Pickles Store, Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck and more, as well as many woodland based scenes. I assume, to provide variety, in the book about 12 pages of patterns have been included. Some of them are very cute and fit well with the theme of the book, but a couple of them I think could have been happily excluded from the Beatrix Potter Colouring Book.
Some of the illustrations use the entire space of the page and there are some elements that may be tricky to color being in the spine area of the book. The good news is that the binding of the book makes it easy to lay down flat with only a little bit of pressure. I am sure colorists are building up their muscles all the time pushing books flat and blending layers for hours!
Some colorists may find that the images look too simplistic to color. Whilst the images are simple outlines, without the fine itty bitty details that we see in some coloring books, I feel that this is an advantage. Firstly, it makes the book suitable for colorists of all ages. Secondly, it means that the skilled colorist can transform a piece with their technique into a work of art, similar to what appeared in the original stories. Other colorists may have just as much fun and enjoyment by coloring the illustrations in solid colors. The finished result will still look great no matter which journey you take.
Tom Kitten – surrounded by butterflies
The line art is black. In some illustrations it is very bold and crisp and well defined. In some of the introductory illustrations found on the ancillary pages, the line art looks “hand drawn” and has a sketchy appearance to it.
The line weight is medium and heavy weight throughout making these illustrations extremely bold and well defined. This is great news for those that have visual impairment, as the simple style of imagery and the heavy outline make it a breeze to see.
The majority of the images have larger spaces making it easy to color for those with arthritis or motor impairment.
I could well imagine some of these gorgeous pictures adorning a child’s nursery (or maybe a big girl’s home office?).
In total there are 45 illustrations in the book to color excluding the introductory pages and double page Map. Oddly, in my book I have two images that are the same, “Butterflies, beetles and Bees” is the same as the one labelled “Benjamin Bunny”. I do not know whether this is a design error or a printing error but have contacted the publisher for clarification. Update: a replacement book is being sent to me from the seller without any explanation of why there was a duplication (sigh – I really wish people would answer rather than avoid questions 🙁 ) and the publisher has not responded as at the time of writing.
Beatrix Potter Colouring Book Video Review
Unusually, I posted the written review of this coloring book first because of a printing error. Two replacement books were issued with the same printing error, a duplication of images, I declined to try my luck with a fourth Beatrix Potter Colouring Book 🙁 This is the video review, but please note that there is a duplication of images in the book, which is a printing error.
Where to buy Beatrix Potter Colouring Book
This coloring book has been released in the UK first and will then be released in the US and Canada on 28 February 2017.. In the US you can buy here in the UK here and pre-order in Canada here. You can purchase from Book Depository and get free shipping worldwide – the book is currently available (this is where I purchased my copy from).
Happy coloring x
Lea
I still have a few of the books and based on this sampling it is a hodgepodge of faithful, made up, and re-purposing of images. It is all very much in the spirit of the books and very charming.
oooh I so wish I could come over to your place and look at your books! I wish I still had mine to compare with! It is a charming book and I just hope that I get my replacement copy quickly so I can shoot the video 🙂 I am slightly surprised that they did not include a few colored plates in the book as it would certainly give a sense of nostalgia and inspiration. Happy coloring x
You’d be welcome to look at them, but it would be a long trip. I’m in the U.S. : ) Your public library might have copies.
I’ll bring my pencil collection 🙂 I am going to check out the local bookshop when I next leave my coloring cave 🙂