by Eriy
on July 2015
Style: double page printing, Poster
Pages: 96
Format: Card cover with fold out
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Romantic Country – The Second Tale
Romantic Country has to be one of my favorite coloring books for 2016.   It’s beautiful, quirky and whimsical – all of my favorite things in one book!  I was delighted when I realised that there were follow up books to Romantic Country being Romantic Country – The Second Tale and Romantic Country – The Third Tale.
At the time of writing, the English version for the second and third coloring books has not yet been released.  They will be released later in 2016.
Cover & Layout
The book measures approximately 24.5 cm x 25cm and has a card cover that has been printed on.   Unlike the original version and the Third Tale, this edition does not have a dust jacket.  My understanding, according to the bookshop I purchased from, is that this book was sourced and printed in a different country.
The card cover folds out and has printed line work on it.  We know we are in for some fun as we are taken to the circus with a variety of animals and playfulness.
The paper is good quality and has a nice smoothness on it. I haven’t tried coloring in it yet but will test my wet media on the handy title page.  The line work is a dullish black, with an overall thick line weight making it easy to see, but without being stark on the page.
Illustrations
At the start of the book, the illustrator familiarizes us again with Cocot the fantasy land of her creation filled with castles.    Eriy, the illustrator creates her line work by dipping toothpicks in ink which gives her work a real “hand made” charm.  We are then given an overview of Sareine Alley and Its Surroundings, The place of Fairies and the Forest of the Witch.   From this Introduction, you can see that this book will take more of a fairy tale theme than the previous book.
The book is presented in story book form with most of the illustrations taking a double page spread.  There are a few illustrations that are contained on the one page but for the most part it is double page scenes.    Unfortunately, some of the line work does go in the spine of the book.  In the video, I had some difficulty pushing the book to lay flat.  Off screen, however, I gave it a firm push and was happy with how it lay flat.
Although, I’m generally not a fan of double page printing in coloring books I can forgive Eriy for this 🙂
The Second Tale is divided into Chapters as was the first book.
The first chapter is A gleam of the Beautiful Old Castles. In this chapter we discover castles, a unicorn, a beautiful carriage and some intricate lady’s dressing rooms.  The final scene in this chapter is a beautiful ballroom scene with ladies in their finest garb under a tent with the moon peeking through. It really is delightful.
Romantic Country – The Second Tale – Ballroom Scene
Chapter 2 is the Magnificent Landscape of Lakeside and Mountains. As you would expect from the chapter title this chapter is full of intricate woodland type scenes.   There is a beautifully detailed image of a young girl playing the piano which doesn’t really fit the chapter theme – but this is a quriky artist!  I love the little church in the woods and the windmills in a field of flowers.  In this chapter, there is a mandala type illustration of a bird with flowers and grapes.  We haven’t seen this type of illustration previously from the artist.  It would be particularly appealing to those that do not like fiddly spaces and prefer larger space illustrations to color in. One of my favorite double page spreads in this section is the series of birdhouses.
Romantic Country – The Second Tale – Countryside and Castle
In this section there is also a cute “Specimen Box of the Sea” featuring a lovely underwater scene with a shipwreck and a display of shells.
Chapter 3 is titled Fairies Living In Nature with a lovely fairy and a trail of flowers leading the way to the pages that follow.  The little duck that we know so well is featured in a garden of flowers opposite an extremely intricate scene of a girl in a room surrounded by objects.  There’s a lovely double page spread of a cobbler fixing a giant shoe, a page of lovely keys and some quirky fairies hiding in the sugar bowl. There are some cute fairy houses in trees and mushrooms but few fairies.   There’s one lovely fairy surrounded by flowers and fruit that is beautiful and a lovely mermaid. I would have liked to see more fairies in this section of the book.
Chapter 4 is titled A Witch and Hidden Secret Forest – it starts with the witch’s house, surrounded by signs of magic potion.  It reminds me somewhat of Hansel and Gretel.  The next page shows our young girl venturing into the forest with the faithful duck and then having tea with the witch. We see the witch’s tools of her trade, herbs and spell book and then venture down the street to the magic shops.  There is a lovely double page spread in this book featuring lanterns, ornaments and decorated eggs – it’s like Christmas meeting Easter.
Romantic Country – The Second Tale Easter Eggs & Baubles
In this chapter there is also a cute Halloween type scene with kids trick of treating.
Chapter 5 finishes the book with Cheerful Scenes in the Town. There’s a lovely picture of a flower cart and a bear at the bookshop.  As always, the duck features on most pages.  I really love the dressmaking scene with a cute page full of dressmaking equipment and individual elements on the facing page like ornate scissors and cute buttons. You will find all the shops that you would expect in Cocot, a pie shop, a post office and of course, because it is Cocot we finish with a circus and a puppet show.
At the end of the book there is a legend explaining the different scenes.  Unfortunately, as this is not in English I am unable to read it.  The back cover also features the fold out card illustration.  This section features hot air balloons and the cute duck on top of one.
Romantic Country – The Second Tale is just as beautiful as the first book in the series.   I love the quirkiness of the images, the detailed drawings and the imagination of an artist that can put these imaginings together in a beautiful coloring book.
Romantic Country – The Second Tale Video Review
I hope you enjoy the video review of Romantic Country – The Second Tale below:
Where to Buy Romantic Country – The Second Tale Video Review
Please note that the Edition above is a Chinese edition of  the book that I purchased in store at a Japanese book shop in Sydney.
Japanese Edition
| Etailer | AZ Japan | Yes Asia – Free Shipping |
English Imprint released in 2016
See my review and comparison of  the English edition of  Romantic Country The Second Tale here.
| Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Book Depository |
Happy coloring x
Lea
Is Romantic Country book 1, 2, or 3 your favourite?
Impossible to answer! I love all Eriy’s books in the RC series and I’m slowly warming to her latest book, but I do find the faint outlines a bit difficult with my old eyes. Happy coloring x