by Ai Kohno
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on December 20th 2016
Style: Contains Extras, double page printing
Pages: 96
Format: Dust Jacket, Glue & Stitched
I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the product or the content of my review.
Goodreads
One evening a girl who wished she could fly turned into a beautiful bird. She took off into the night sky, starting an odyssey to many mysterious planets: a forest planet, a snowy planet, a flower-filled planet, a planet full of sweets, and a magical planet.
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The Mysterious Planets Coloring Book (English Edition) Video Review
I hope you enjoyed the video review above of The Mysterious Planets Coloring Book by Ai Kohno.
The Mysterious Planets Coloring Book (English Edition) Review
When I first seen Ai Kohno’s cover of The Mysterious Planets coloring book it intrigued me. An open book with colorful spheres depicting castles, Christmas and sweets explode from the page. I had to know what was inside so I purchased the original Japanese edition of The Mysterious Planets Coloring Book. You can see that review here.
Purchasing coloring books from Japan can be expensive and time consuming, which ultimately means that fewer colorists can enjoy the book. Thankfully, St Martins Press acquired the rights to imprint The Mysterious Planets Coloring Book as an English Edition.
Cover & Layout
The Mysterious Planets features a glossy dust jacket that depicts colored themed planets erupting from the page. The prettiness of the colors used makes it eye catching and very attractive. The back cover features a topographic view of the planets as a whole. You can see the arrangement of planets around the edge. Although there is some uncolored line art here, the glossy cover would resist most mediums if you wished to color it. The bar code and publisher information has been printed at the foot of the cover whereas the Japanese edition has this information printed on the top right of the back cover.
The spine features the title of the text and author’s name in dark denim blue. A star and a planet icon also feature as well as publisher’s logo. The title is a larger font than that used in the Japanese edition and the details are presented slightly different. Other than that, there are no significant changes in the presentation of the cover of the book.
The inner card cover is brown kraft card with a printed pattern of the individual planets. This is the same illustration that was used on the Japanese edition of The Mysterious Planets coloring book. The only real difference here is that the English edition has a bolder black print which is visually easier to see.
Ancillary Pages
An illustration of the back dust jacket image features as the title page for the coloring book. The only difference between the two editions of the book is that the information is now in English. A two page story opens the book and sets the scene for the colorist as they join the little girl on her adventure. Part of me wishes that the little girl was named (and I had hoped that the English edition would provide the clue). The contrary part of me is thankful that she is not because it allows the colorist to imagine themselves as the little girl on an adventure.
The “Story” page has a slight difference in the positioning of the imagery. In the photo below you will notice that the bottom house has a small attic on the roof in the Japanese edition and in the English edition part of the attic has been removed. This equates to a few millimeters difference in how the picture was arranged on the page and should not make any difference to your coloring enjoyment.
There is a few millimeters difference between the images here
A few mm difference in position of image
A few millimeters difference in positioning of the images which should not affect your enjoyment of the book
Layout
All of the illustrations have been orientated portrait style and are printed on both sides of the paper. The paper in the English edition is bright white as opposed to cool white in the Japanese edition. In the English edition the paper is thicker than the Japanese edition, as you can see from the video comparing the spines of each book.
There are 36 double page scenes where the line art merges into the spine. However, the binding in the English book is far more relaxed than the Japanese book and lays down very well, after just a couple of flip throughs. The binding on the Japanese book is quite stiff and needs some force to push it down, the further you progress into the book.
The Mysterious Planets Coloring Book (English Edition) Images & Illustrations
Ai Kohno takes us on a delightful journey of planets as imagined by her. You will find The Planet of Forests, The Planet of Sea, The Planet of Snow, The Planet of Flowers, The Planet of Sweets, The Planet of Magic and concluding with flying home to Girls Room.
Each planet has been drawn consistently with its theme. You will find that the Planet of Forest will intrigue you with cute animals and quirky forest trees. Elaborate mushroom villages will make you smile as you journey to the next planet.
My favorite planet is the Planet of Sweets. Giant cupcakes, gingerbread houses and lollipops look so enticing!
Ai Kohno has a wild imagination and she has managed to inject fun and a sense of adventure into this coloring book. Colorists will find that this book contains a variety of things to color including food, buildings, animals and nature.
Colorists that have minor visual impairment will be pleased that the English edition uses blacker ink than the Japanese edition making outlines easier to see.
Many of the illustrations have enough white space in the background to add elaborate background effects if you wished.
Please click on the image for more detail.
[foogallery id=”5865″]Bonus
There are two bonuses within The Mysterious Planets, both of which that I am surprised and delighted that the English publishers included. I had thought that due to the expense of including these items that they would be omitted from the English edition. I can only say, I love being wrong 🙂
The first bonus is the insert of printed tracing paper that features a floating crown and a wreath of beautiful jewels and gems. The idea behind this, is that you color the paper and use it to overlay the image of the beautiful bird, or the little girl, thereby creating a new look. It is fun and playful and an adorable feature to have included in the coloring book.
Another bonus is that at the back of the book you will find an elaborately detailed set of alphabet letters to color in. They are beautifully decorated with animals in a pseudo grayscale look. My favorite letter is “S” which features the sleepy pandas – so cute!
The background color that the alphabet is printed on is slightly darker than the Japanese edition. The English edition is more beige whilst the Japanese one is more peach.
In Summary:
- The only difference in the cover is that the English edition has English text 🙂
- The English edition of The Mysterious Planets contains thicker paper than the Japanese edition. It is a medium quality paper.
- Paper in the English edition is bright white as opposed to cool white in the Japanese edition
- Printing in the English edition is a bold, crisp black whereas the Japanese edition was a duller black.
- There are a couple of pages where there is a 2mm difference in positioning of the images – see above
- The binding in the English edition is more relaxed than the Japanese edition making it easier to lay down and color in
- At the back of the book the background color of the bonus alphabet letters, is slightly darker in the English edition.
Where to buy The Mysterious Planets Coloring Book (English Edition)
| Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Book Depository |
Happy coloring x
Lea
Another very interesting book that I would put on my “lottery win” books to buy.
As you maybe can tell, I’m on a mission to catch up on your reviews..lol
I so love reading them
Ty vm Lea
Connie
You are in luck then because I have hardly posted any this week because I managed to wipe out the computer. I guess this is my way of giving you a chance to catch up lol! It is a lovely book! The publishers have done a great job in replicating the original. Happy coloring x