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Following on from Tangle
Wood and Tangle
Bay (both reviewed on this site), here is Tangle
Magic, a book filled with magical creatures and a lot of imagination.
This title matches the other two in shape and size, being
square in shape and having a slightly shiny cover you can
color in. Like Tangle Bay, the paper is a good quality
smooth bright white, suitable for water-based pens but lacking
the tooth many pencil users prefer. Pictures are printed on
both sides, but unless you want to use paint or permanent
markers, this is not a problem. The lines are black and fine
and the drawings mostly on the intricate side, so aimed at
colorists with good eyesight. Having said that, the lines
are also very visible and clear with no fuzziness or pixilation
– these are all hand drawn images. All of them are highly
imaginative and not scenes from classic stories, but straight
out of the author’s own mind which is a bonus. Grandly
dressed dogs attend a dance in the woods, chickens ride on
a penny farthing, a peacock flies on a broomstick and a teapot
sprouts flowers. In a few cases there are tweaks on existing
works, such as the owl and the pussycat on a watery moon and
a crowned dog sleeping in a four poster stacked high with
mattresses, while hares dance under fantastic trees. At the
front there is a page (advertised on the cover) showing how
to create the look of a shiny gem if you have good quality
artist’s pencils and a “this book belongs to”
page to write your name in. There are hidden charms to hunt
for and a couple of pages – most notably a blank crystal
ball – you can add drawings to, but this is not really
a feature here. This time no pictures vanish into the spine
and, as with the last title, on the back cover is a message
that you can bend and flatten the book as much as you like.
Looking at it I can see that it has a special construction
and this seems to work well. This is another gorgeous and
inventive book that is sure to give colorists a lot of pleasure.
May there be many more in this series!
If you cannot find a good range of coloring books and materials
locally, try www.searchpress.com
for a list of suppliers.
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