by Miyuki Yoshizawa
Style: double page printing, Instructions - Tips
Format: Dust Jacket
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
Kimagure Cat Travel Diary Coloring Book Video Review
I hope you enjoyed the video review of Kimagure Cat Travel Diary Coloring Book.
Kimagure Cat Travel Diary Coloring Book Review
Kimagure Cat Travel Coloring Book is a Japanese coloring book. As always, I am not completely sure that the translation is correct as I relied on an online translator.
I fell in love with this cat coloring book last December when I seen it online. The cuteness of that cuddly cat on the front cover, with the intense eyes drilling into me, begging me to add him to the cart was too much for me. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, although I fell in love with the book on Amazon Japan, the seller did not ship to Australia. I was crushed. Fortunately, my local Japanese bookstore in Sydney was able to order the book in for me, and it arrived a few weeks ago.
It’s always a risk when buying a book that has just been released, when there are no reviews and no “look inside” feature. You always nervously wonder what you will find inside.
I have to warn you … this coloring book is cuteness overload and has immediately become a fave.
The cats, the drawings, the quirkiness is incredibly appealing and I am totally smitten with this book (and there’s even a few bunnies as well!).
The theme of the coloring book is the cat and his friends go on a travel adventure and this is documented in the coloring book.
Miyuki Yoshizawa is well known in Japan for her quirky cats, ceramics and fabrics as well as other cat based books. She has given these cats the same quirkiness as in her other “cat” art work injecting the cats with such personality that you feel as if you know these cute cats.
Cover & Layout
Travel Cat Diary Coloring Book has a lovely white glossy dust jacket with partially colored line art. You will see pictures of the cat and his friends on the cover with some of the places they travel to in the background.The back cover art features a suitcase packed with a cat 🙂 This image has been completely colored.
The inside of the dust jacket has been printed in bright green with white outline pattern of a cat face.
A white cover forms the main coloring book which has been printed with the front cover art on the front and an extract from another drawing on the back of a cat with a stack of pancakes.
Travel Cat Diary measures 25cm x 25cm (10in x 10in).
Ancillary Pages
Unusually, a colored title page of the five cats that feature in the book is at the start. This is followed by further colored pages, one features Japanese text and pencils and presumably it is alerting the buyer as to what materials to use in the book. The other features the five cats and bird with Japanese text. They are referred to in English as “The Capricious Cats”. I presume the text bubbles next to each cat tell us their name and a bit about them.
Miyuki Yoshizawa as I understand it, also teaches art classes to students. It seems fitting that at the start of the book there are some coloring lessons. Although I cannot read the text there are pictures and you can see different techniques illustrated.
What I really love is that the artist has included two colored pages of how to color the cats. As most readers will know, I am only a colorist on training wheels, so helpful tips on how to color the cats are very much appreciated.
At the end of the book some text in Japanese concludes the book with the cute cats below. Over the page is copyright and author information. These pages may be the best to test out your mediums on.
Layout
The illustrations are printed on both sides the white, medium quality paper. All of the drawings have been orientated portrait style throughout. There are 10 pages that comprise double page scenes but the line art has been cleverly positioned to avoid the spine area. Colorists should not experience any difficulty coloring the art work as it has been centered well and positioned to avoid the spine area.
Kimagure Cat Travel Diary Coloring Book Images and Illustrations
The Travel Cat Diary Coloring Book has been divided into seasons starting with Spring. A page has been devoted to announcing each season with the season being the theme in conjunction with the travel theme for the pages that follow.
The art work is so wonderfully cute in this book. There are five cats and a bird that form the main characters for the book. I assume, that Kimagure is the name of the town that the cats are from, as there is a small map at the end of Spring that shows shops in Kimagure Town.
On each page you will find some deliciously cuddly cats doing all sorts of things. They may be in the kitchen whipping up a storm or relaxing in the garden. The cats are very musical as well and you can see them playing piano when they are not out partying. The artist has managed to give these cats such expressions that you feel that you know what is going on in their mind. There are cranky cats, hungry cats, contented, annoyed and happy cats throughout the story.
In some images the cats have little outfits which of course, increases their cuteness ten fold for me.
It’s not only cats. There are other cute animals in this coloring book including various dogs, bunnies, birds and more.
The theme of seasonal travel works very well as we see the cats in a number of settings including enjoying the beach and building snowmen.
Miyuki Yoshizawa has drawn the images with a crisp, black line which is very easy to see. Most of the imagery tends to fill the page, but within those images you will find lots of elements with large open spaces making it easier to color. This is a coloring book that you can have a great time with just coloring it in and enjoying the cats.
Colorists that know techniques will really bring these kitties to life, but any colorist of any skill levels should be able to enjoy these lovely kitties.
Please click on an image to view more detail
[foogallery id=”7046″]Where to buy Kimagure Cat Travel Diary Coloring Book
| Etailer | Kinokuniya – Australia | Yes Asia – Free Shipping | Amazon Japan |
Happy coloring x
Lea
Hi Lea,
Another great review, thank you! 🙂