.jpeg?picon=3103)
Scribbles, Doodles and Squiggles:
A Really Giant Coloring and Doodling Book
by Taro Gomi
Chronicle Books, 2006 and 2007
$19.99 each, ages 3-99.
Gomi has single-handedly re-energized the coloring book format with three engaging books that will inspire readers' imaginations for trips to come.
Inside each book, children not only color pictures (which are fun and quirky), but draw their own details from whimsical prompts.
On one page, doodlers are asked to put shoes on a giraffe; on another, draw what they think is springing out of a Jack-in-the-Box.
Be sure to bring along colored pencils and a book for each child. (Even good sharers may have trouble sharing this one.)
The Most Amazing Thumb Doodles Book in the History of the Civilized World
by the editors of Klutz, 2008
$14.95, ages 8 and up
That's a lot of hype for thumb prints, but this is one cute doodle book.
Artists get 16 scenes to make their own, from a rock face for finger climbers to scale to a boxing ring for thumb wrestlers to duke it out.
On the left side of every spread are step-by-step instructions for making characters they'd likely see in the scene. For instance, in a castle scene, there's a how-to for a fire-breathing finger dragon, a noble prince and his teary-eyed princess.
There are also handy tips to prevent smudges and to clean up inky finger tips, and to the side of the book are square