Disclaimer: This review was conducted by Suzy Goodyear. This item was purchased by me as part of my personal collection. Some of the links below are associated with affiliate programs which provide me with a small commission from any orders you may place. This will not affect the price or quality of products you receive but will assist me with the costs involved in running this site. For more details please see our Disclosure Statement.
Artist
- Johanna Basford
Publisher
- Laurence King Publishing Ltd (2013)
- Printed in Netherlands
Book Dimensions
- Approximately 9½ inches x 9½ inches (25cm x 25cm)
- There are 86 pages to colour in the book plus the insides of the front and back covers
- The removable dust jacket that can also be colored front and back.
Quality of Paper
- Very high
- Thick paper that allows for a range of coloring media to be used
- The paper is an off-white or cream color
Single or Double Sided Print
- Double-sided print
Intricacy of Designs
- The designs are very intricate with lots of leaves and flowers included
Types of Pictures
- As the title suggests, the pictures are all garden related: trees, flowers, leaves, insects, birds, squirrels, gates, rotundas, watering cans, etc
- Some are mandala type pictures
Binding
- Tightly bound which can be laid flat
- Glued and stiched
- No perforated / removable pages
Notable Aspects
- Cover of the book is removable and can be colored
- There are a number of hidden items in the drawings to be found and colored
- Some pictures have less detail in them to allow the colorist to add their own details if they want
Pros
- High quality of paper means you can use colored pencils, gel pens and water-based markers without too much fear of bleed through to the back of the page
- Beautiful drawings
- Treasure hunt for secret items throughout the book
Cons
- There are a number of pictures that span two pages and it can be hard to color the picture where the pages join due to the tight binding
- Pictures are printed on both sides of the paper so you do need to be careful with some coloring media such as alcohol based markers eg Sharpies, Bic Mark-its, Copic Markers, and similar types of markers will still bleed through to the back of the page.
- Pages are not easily removable ie no perforations
Price Range
- $$$ – typically AUD $20.01 – $50.00 / US $15.01 – $40.00 / £10.01 – £26.75 / €13.26 – €33.00
Conclusion / Recommendations
The Secret Garden is is one of my favourite adult coloring books. Johanna Basford arguably made adult coloring popular and cool with the introduction of this book. The paper color is wonderful and has a nice feel while coloring. The color of the paper which is off-white or cream, in my opinion, adds to the quality feel of the book.
There is a range of garden related pictures to color. I love to color leaves and there are plenty of leaves in this book!
I have used both very cheap and some artist quality pencils, gel pens, water-based markers so far in this book. Everything I have used has flowed smoothly across the page as I colored. I have had no bleed through issues so far.
If you like intricate designs with a garden theme, then you should find hours of coloring enjoyment with this book.
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