on November 2015
Style: double page printing
Pages: 96
Format: Dust Jacket, Glue Binding
Join Cato the cat and his friends and follow his adventures, travels and Christmas celebration
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Cato Friend Coloring Book Video Review
I hope you enjoyed the video review of the Japanese coloring book, Cato Friend.
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Cato Friend Coloring Book Review
If you know me, you’ll know those kitties on that front cover transfixed me. I was not completely sold though because I didn’t know what lurked within. Every time I looked at it, sitting in my “save for later” section of the shopping cart I bypassed it so I could purchase something else I was more sure of. Perhaps, I needed a review of it to make a commitment earlier 🙂 I looked at this book on and off for months before I finally hit submit on the credit card payment 🙂 Thankfully, I’m so glad that I did! It wasn’t quite what I expected and that’s okay 🙂 What it is, is a lovely coloring book that features a cat and his friends. What makes it special is that the artist has managed to incorporate such a lovely variety of scenes and animals in the one book.
Cover & Layout
Cato Friend has an unusual title and I think something may have been lost in translation 🙂
The cover is a lovely white glossy dust jacket with fold out flaps. The gloss resists grubby fingerprints which is always a bonus with me! The cover art has the appearance that it was created with pencils and instantly makes me feel that I too could achieve this look! The design wraps around to the back cover.
There is text in Japanese on the front fold out flap and ads for other books on the back.
The inner dust jacket has been pre printed with a lovely black background and white line art. However, it is glossy so it would really only be suitable for coloring with some lovely gel pens.
The coloring book proper is a matt card and features two cats on it to color in.
Ancillary Pages
A reproduction of the card cover art (not the dust jacket) serves as a title page for the coloring book. On the reverse there is a cute bow to color and some text in Japanese. Either this page, or the copyright page at the end of the book would be the places to test out your mediums and see how they react with the paper.
Layout
Line art has been printed on both sides of the off white paper. The paper is a medium quality with a light texture to it.
The bulk of the book does contain double page scenes where the line art does merge with the spine. Some of the images could have been slightly better positioned in order to avoid this area. On the positive side, the binding is very good and the book is laying down well. Hopefully, with further use it will loosen more making it easier to color in.
Cato Friend Coloring Book Images and Illustrations
This coloring book offers such a variety of scenes and objects to color in. There are animals in abundance including cows, dogs, cats, birds and bunnies. There are also some animals that we don’t often see like a cute pig, penguins and even a giraffe. Ocean creatures have also been included with two lovely double page ocean scenes.
Gem lovers will love the page of gems to color in.
As well as all the animals there is an abundance of flowers. They may be in the background, in a vase, planter or even a shoe.
This book includes more than nature images though. There are some gorgeous interior shots like the cat on the chair, chandelier and portrait gallery. There are so many gorgeous images in here that it would probably be the book that I would grab if I was going to a dessert island. There’s something for most of my moods in here including a quirky mandala.
The line art is black, crisp and fine. Although it is fine, it is still easy to see. The artist has also added many texture lines to some images.
Many of the pages are quite busy and filled with detail so they may be too challenging for colorists that have a minor visual impairment. There are really only a handful of images that have larger open spaces that are easier on the eyes.
At the end of the coloring book you will also find all letters of the alphabet beautifully decorated.
Please click on an image to view more detail
[foogallery id=”9875″]Detail Level
Where to buy Cato Friend Coloring Book
| Amazon US | Amazon JP |
Happy coloring x
Lea
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