Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Exploratorium
A Search and Colour Mission
lEI mELENDRES

LOM Art (Michael O’Mara Books)
14 September 2017/ ISBN 9781910552759
How-To Books/Coloring

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

 

This is a coloring book with a difference, a “search and color mission” to discover the strange creatures that are lurking within its pages. Can you spot Diabito in Candy Land for example, who loves to eat anything fluffy? Or U F Ocean who scours the seas for new species? Plus a selection of other items hiding in the pictures, which need to be ticked off from a list…

There are twenty-eight double page spreads in this 9¾” square book and each is jam-packed with weird and amusing detail. Spotting the four or five different “misfits” in each picture is not easy until you start coloring, and then they gradually appear to the sharp eyed. The paper is average quality, bright white but printed on both sides and yes, the pictures do vanish into the spine. Despite the cartoon appearance which to me at least begs to be brightly colored I would suggest pencils or crayons rather than pens. There are no perforations but this is a book to be enjoyed as a whole rather than taken apart for framing and I can imagine it being kept to be looked at more than once to see if you can spot the misfits. At the front there is also a list of seven things such as dice, cartons, pencils and shurikens with boxes beside them. Each picture has more than one in it, but can you find them all and write the totals in the boxes? The scenes depict lots of amazing creatures in different settings exploring sewers, rafting down a river, out in space, eating in a cafeteria, in a graveyard, at a pool party and many more. It is a lot of fun for adults and children alike and I hope there will be another one at some point. The sort of thing that would make a great gift if you can bear to part with it!

If you cannot find a good range of coloring materials locally try www.searchpress.com for a list of suppliers.

UK Reviewer: Rachel Hyde's work can be found in The Bead Magazine, Making Jewellery and www.craftsuprint.com/rachel-a-hyde/
Reviewed 2017
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