Robin Mead

This is a coloring book designated to Christmas, so all the pictures are about this special holiday, showing lots of churches, nativity scenes and Christmas decorations. However, the design seems rather simple with comparatively bold black lines and reduced detail. While this can be a good thing for little children and people who don't want to spend too much time on one picture, it may be somewhat disappointing and for experienced coloring book readers.

The book also features some biblical quotes which some may find alluring, others not - me, I was neither bothered nor delighted by them. However, this explains the high number of pictures showing churches, nativity scenes and angels, while anything Santa or 'commercial' is missing completely.

I browsed the pages together with my son, and his favorite pictures were the snowman landscape and the deer, so I guess I'll let him have fun coloring those pages - that way he already has some Christmas gifts for his grandparents ;) and with the bold black lines we can also trace some of the contours. Maybe I'll also use some parts of pictures for decorating Christmas cards or as gift wrapping. So there are still lots of possibilities to put the book to good use, but regarding adult coloring books there are more challenging and satisfying books on offer.

(Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own)