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| Our new favorite book by Scottish artist Johanna Basford |
My girls love to color and it is an activity that I like to encourage. Coloring is great for working on hand-eye coordination, detail work and even color theory. And kids gain all this practice while completely enjoying themselves. When I purchased this book on Amazon last week, I knew that it would be a winner. At least, I hoped so.
The Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book by Johanna Basford is more than a winner: it is captivating. I was totally blown away by the intricate styling of this book. Every detail is sublime and every page opens up more discovery. It is part treasure hunt, part coloring book, part drawing class and altogether beautiful. And I wanted you all to see it for yourselves…
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| leafy mazes… |
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| botanical wonders, both already blooming and some for you to fill in… |
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| This one reads “Complete the floral pattern & add lots of inky details.” Admirers are invited many times to join in the fun – create your own botanical wonders! Imitation can be a wonderful tool for education in any subject. |
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| …garlands flow over the pages. |
Johanna Basford is a truly gifted artist. I really enjoyed watching her drawing process on Vimeo (see it here). She arrives at some of her botanical inspiration from her time at Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran with her gardening grandfather.
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| My girl could not wait to get a hold of this book! |
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| She loves to fill in the lines, playing with colors as she goes. I just might start on the other page while she works. |
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| One of the many hidden owls peeking out at you! |
I happened upon this video from the publisher, Laurence King. It gives an animated idea of the fun you could have with this book!
This is a beautiful book, whether colored or in black and white. But do not take my word for it: See The Guardian’s review in which they declare it a coloring book worthy of adults. Also, they very nicely offer some free downloads of sample pages like this one to have a try!
Or see forty more glowing reviews on Amazon:
The Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book by Johanna Basford
- The Secret Garden… coloring book! - November 1, 2013
What a great find! We are listening to The Secret Garden on storynory.com and are really enjoying it. This would be perfect for Christmas! Thanks for the review.
So glad you like it, Jesse!
And I honestly had not been thinking about Christmas presents yet. Hmm… good idea for my nieces. Thanks! 😉
Beautiful!!
I saw this book on my last trip to Powell’s in Portland, and I put it in my cart because it was so. dang. beautiful. But I found so many other (deeply discounted) treasures that I ended up putting this (full-price) one back. I’m rather regretting that now, as my girl loves to color, too, and it’s one of the ways she and I bond. So, thank you for reminding me that this book exists and prompting me to go get myself and my daughter a copy 🙂
Ha! Kimberlee, I just added this beauty to my wishlist. It’s amazing!!
You are very welcome Kimberlee! It is a winner with my 7 and 5 year old girls for sure 🙂
Thank you so much for this!! I have just added it to my wishlist on Amazon 😉
Glad you like it Kris!
Thank you, Julie. This may be a Christmas gift for my girlie 🙂
It is a very nice smaller gift. Glad you like it Julie! 🙂
One is never to old to color, and this book proves it!
Amen! I have to remind myself it is my daughters book and not to steal a page…