by Fabiana Attanasio
Published by Sterling Children's Books on October 11th 2016
Style: Contains Extras, double page printing, Poster
Pages: 80
Format: Card cover with fold out, Glue & Stitched
Goodreads
This enchanting retelling of Pinocchio will stimulate your creativity as you color your way through Fabiana Attanasio’s illustrations and make every page unique.
This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the product. If you buy a book using that link, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the price that you pay. Your support is very much appreciated x
Pinocchio Coloring Book Video Review
I hope you enjoyed the video walk through of the Adventures of Pinocchio Coloring Book by Fabiana Attansio, illustrator above.
Pinocchio Coloring Book by Fabiana Attansio
I was so excited when I see that there was going to be a Pinocchio Coloring Book being released.  Even better when I realised that talented illustrator, Fabiana Attansio was drawing this little character.  I knew that this book would be full of character and charm. It also has place of honour in my affections as my first Pinocchio Coloring Book!  Fabiana also illustrated my very first Peter Pan coloring book too!
An Enchanting Coloring Book – Pinocchio with Removable Poster
Pinocchio has been completely absent from the coloring book for adults marketplace.   The little fellow does not seem to appear anywhere! Whenever I think of Pinocchio I remember growing up with the Wonderful World of Disney tv show on a Sunday night.   It was there as a child that I first met Geppetto and the puppet Pinocchio.   Of course, Pinocchio then haunted me for years after because, as a child, I was always told if you lied, your nose would grow 🙂
Fabiana Attansio has certainly picked a lovely fairy tale with Pinocchio to illustrate into a coloring book suitable for all ages.
Cover & Layout
The cover is very cute and attractive. Pinocchio appears on the left surrounded by florals and toy shop paraphernalia.  I love how the title has been presented in an outline form of Pinocchio’s profile which is very cute. White fold out card has been decorated with a collage of illustrations from the book. There is some pre printing in blue, reds and green with gold (not foil) colors. The title has been printed in red and surprisingly the spine is printed in a shade of green.  I have to say, that I would have preferred the spine to be red to match the title, and avoid the similarity with the Wizard of Oz Coloring Book spine cover.  They are different shades of green, but I would have preferred more difference, to make it easier to find on my very crowded bookshelf 🙂
The back cover also contains a collage of pre printed images and a text blurb in green about the book. The collage continues around the book to the french flaps on the inside. I love the images of bunnies on the back and Geppetto.
On the back of the book these flaps protect the folded and glued poster that is also included in the book.
Both the front and back cover and french flaps can be colored in. On the inner cover there is pre printing of black and white line art. The images are gorgeous wooden items that Geppetto has undoubtedly made in his workshop.   You will find clocks, boats, rocking horses, wagons, candles and books.  A few little flowers are also scattered about. This cover is white glossy so you may need to use alcohol markers if you wished to color it in.
The book size is 8.4 in x 10.1 in and all the books in the “An Enchanting Coloring Book” series are the same size and format.
One of the things that I love about this series of books is that there is always consistency in the cover and layout. You will find that all the books contain the same number of pages, a similar amount of double page scenes and single page scenes.  There are always a few pages with backgrounds pre printed in black, always a few patterns to color in and always the gorgeous, giant fold out poster at the end of the book.
Ancillary Pages
A plain title page commences the book (always a good spot to test those mediums). This is followed by a double page spread title page featuring a night scene with pre printed black quarter moon and stars over waves on the water.
A five page abridged story of Pinocchio follows. This has been lightly decorated with images for you to color in including Pinocchio. The coloring book proper then commences.
The only thing that could improve these books, in my opinion, is the addition of a beautiful nameplate page.
Layout
All of the illustrations are printed on both sides of the medium quality white paper. The paper has a slight texture to it, making it ideal to layer pencils on. The illustrations are all orientated portrait style. There are 32 pages that comprise double page scenes in the book with the balance being images contained on one page. All of the double page spreads have line art that runs to the spine of the book. However, the book does lay down flat quite easily with some gentle pressure, making it easier to color in those tricky spots.
Pinocchio Coloring Book by Fabiana Attansio – Image Gallery
Click the image to see more detail of each illustration.
[foogallery id=”3790″]Illustrations
The illustrations in this coloring book tell the story of Pinocchio beautifully. We start in Geppetto’s workshop, the sculpting of Pinocchio and then through the adventures of Pinocchio himself. There is an abundance of imagery in this book.  You will find cute toys to color, animals, fairground fun, sea adventures and workshop life.    Fabiana has managed to instill a range of emotions into these characters, even our little wooden friend.  You will see the concern, love and fun etched on these characters faces waiting for you to add color to them.
The illustrations have been inked in black in varied line weights. Primarily there are medium weight lines, fine lines have been used for texture and dimension and some solid black to define areas like Pinocchio’s hair. There is a lot of open space within the illustrations making the book ideal to color for all ages and skill levels.
Most of the illustrations fill the whole of the page with very little room for background effects if you wanted to add those.  Some pages have simple background effects like stars while others incorporate scenery.  There are a handful of images that would be enhanced with a background color as they are positioned with a lot of white space around them.
There are a couple of images within the book that are not scenery based, but are simpler images of clocks, pears and cat faces.  These types of images can give variety to the colorist from coloring full image scenes throughout the book.
Most of the images, although detailed and have a lot of elements, are not tightly packed. This means that there are not a lot of tiny details in the book to color, making it ideal for those with visual impairment or health challenges that make small space coloring difficult.
There is one page with a pre printed black background on it.
Bonus
One of the lovely things about the “Enchanting Coloring Book” series is that each book comes with a beautiful fold out poster. The poster is printed on white, medium weight paper and measures in at 95cm x 67 cm. This would be ideal for coloring and framing in a child’s nursery or room or coloring as a family project! The poster features a full sized Pinocchio and Geppetto together with your favorite characters.
I would use a warm iron on the reverse of the image to iron out creases before coloring
Where to buy Pinocchio Coloring Book by Fabiana Attanasio
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Ca
Book Depository
Other coloring books by Fabiana Attanasio
  |
  |
  |
  |
Happy coloring x
Lea
Fabiana has such a talent for pulling you in to the story with her gorgeous illustrations. So much so, I find the giant clown head at the carnival terrifying. : )
oooh if you think that clown is terrifying wait until I post the Beauty of Horror – clowns! I felt bad because I had to put Pinocchio on the wooden floor to photograph him – hope he didn’t take it to heart:) I always find clowns creepy and dolls (must be too much Stephen King influence)! I’m trying to choose one to color from the Fabiana selection and I can’t make up my mind! They are all soooo cute! Happy coloring x
Given his origins I think Pinocchio might feel right at home on a wooden floor. : ) Best of luck deciding which picture to color. I’m eager to see Beauty and the Beast which seems to be the next book from what I can gather of Fabiana’s hints.
Beauty and the Beast will be out next year but it is not like her to do just ONE book at a time so I’m waiting 🙂 I was worried the wooden floor may make Pinocchio think he’s going to get a brother or sister 🙂 I still can’t choose which one to color…it’s too difficult! Happy coloring x