- Illustrated by Rachel Curtis
Thanks to IDW Publishing for the review copy!
While I love dinosaurs, I haven’t yet gotten caught up in the adult coloring book craze. This book might make me go out and buy some colored pencils. The DINOSAURS: A SMITHSONIAN COLORING BOOK features the type of super detailed black and white drawings that have become synonymous with coloring books geared for adults. But this book takes it a step further – each dinosaur coloring page is accompanied by a page with information about the dinosaur including how to pronounce the name, what the name means, when and where it lived, and key traits.
From famous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Apatosaurus to lesser known specimens like Therizinosaurus and Dreadnoughtus, this book has an impressive array of dinosaurs to color. There is also a great variety of types of dinosaurs, including long necked, horned, feathered, and meat eating dinosaurs. While my favorite dinosaur is fairly obscure (the Camarasaurus), it was included as well.
Even without colors, the art is gorgeous – so much so that I’d be nervous about messing the pages up with my meager coloring skills. The dinosaurs are placed in intricate environments, giving you ample shapes to fill in and a chance to use different colors. Thanks to the Smithsonian partnership, the dinosaurs are scientifically accurate (at least as far we know presently). For example, the Velociraptors and Troodon have feathers and the dinosaurs are given active poses, leaving the ‘cold blooded, lay in a lake’ treatment behind.
At over 80 pages, the book includes ample pages to keep you busy coloring (and learning) during the cold weather months. While it clearly is intended to fit within the adult coloring book genre, older children should be able to enjoy this book. This book makes the perfect gift for me any dinosaur lover or someone who wants to learn something while they color.
DINOSAURS: A SMITHSONIAN COLORING BOOK is now available.
Have you picked up the issue, and if not are you going to? What were your thoughts on the issue, if you’ve picked it up? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
