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Going back to your past and reliving your childhood can be a great way to spend time, and I suspect that's why adult coloring books are trending right now.  Recently, I purchased coloring books for the students here, and several have been used (I can tell from the ripped pages) but one idea I had that REALLY turned out great was taking pages and cutting them to bookmark size.  No need to buy more bookmarks and kids were asking for 3 or more.  It was a win all the way around!!

Then I started thinking about the pages of a coloring book and begin looking at coloring pages online.  There are several free sites where you can print pages out:

Beautiful Mandalas to color: http://www.printmandala.com/
Zen and Anti-Stress Coloring Pages for Adults: http://www.coloring-pages-adults.com/coloring-zen/
Art is Fun!  Free Adult Coloring Pages: http://www.art-is-fun.com/free-adult-coloring-pages/

Afterward, I began to think about the what ifs....what if I want to color while waiting in the airport?  How about while waiting on someone to meet me?  How about at night when I'm in bed and need a little de-stresser?  I think there's nothing more stressful than putting not only pages in a folder but having to keep up with all of the markers (or pencils, or colors or whatever!).  It's enough to send me over the edge of Happy Land into the depths of I'm-Going-Nutso Land!  And that brought me to my most used personal device, my iPad!

Bingo!  I hit the motherlode  of coloring pages!  Not only were they online, but they were also amazingly easy to color.  I do love me some technology, and these pages were editable and shareable.  But most of all?  They were relaxing for me!  So here are my top fav apps for adult coloring books, along with the lowdown on them and examples of artwork I colored. There are a TON out there, but I think five is more than enough to satisfy my craving to put color to screen :)






Magic Garden-
Five different books 
Colors: HUGE palette available to use
Menu options: delete, undo, draw any color, auto color fill
Settings: home button, favorites, share via message, email, or social media, save to "my works"
Review: This is by far the most colorful with tons of options!  There are options to purchase extra pages/designs but includes 40 free designs







Color Therapy:
Thirteen different books
Colors: SEVERAL different palettes to choose from.  Basic is free, others you need to unlock via use of social media.  Still others down the line are free to use (like the Fruity palette)
Menu Options: pinch to zoom in or out, undo, return button and share via email and social media.  Save to your photos
Review: Highly intricate, these designs will take a little longer to color.  I recently got a message to download new volumes, but haven't yet.  Saves your completed artwork into a folder on the app.  Another neat thing is that once you share your pic, you also have the option to add effects.  Nice touch! 






Adult Coloring Book:
Eleven different books
Colors: has one major palettes in primary colors, but others can be downloaded for free if you do certain things (like share four pieces of art etc).  There are also paid palettes as well.
Menu Options: A back button taking you to the front of the book, an undo button, ambience button will play certain ambient sounds while you color, a texture button with six options, a more button where you can animate your drawing to saving it on your camera roll to clearing the picture out, and lastly a share button for email and social media
Review: These are great genres and inside each book is chapters, where the first is free and the others you can purchase.  This app had the most unusual option with the ambient noises, but I can see how this would be great in busy places where ear phones are a must have.  The depth of coloring goes from simple to intricate for it will satisfy all types of online colorers.




Coloring Book for Adults:
Has 10 designs
Colors: this has sliding bar of colors
Menu Options: a trashcan to delete, an undo button and a share button for email, social media and to save on your camera roll
Review: This is by far the easiest of the apps and great for quick color.  Doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles but very much satisfies your inner coloring obsession.  Seems like the easier options have more colors and this won't disappoint, although I did get a little aggravated having to slide through colors to get to the ones I used/needed








Colorfy:
Has 12 books with multiple volumes inside each
Colors: has a multitude of colors represented by pencils
Menu Options: three pentagons that hold your last three color chosen, an undo button, a share button to email and social media and a home button
Review: I really enjoyed this one.  Of course, its' a freemium, so some volumes will need to be purchased.  The only caution I would give is that each time you open a design, it asks if you'd like a free trial with a purchase, so be careful with your trigger finger!















 

Some writers always knew that they were destined to tell stories, others came to the craft a little later. That was the case with new author Sharon Chriscoe. Her first picture book The Sparrow and the Trees is a retelling of a native folktale that explains why some trees lose their leaves in winter while others do not.

Find out why Sharon chose to retell this story:

What was your incentive to write this particular book?

I love the Native American folklore, Why The Trees Lose Their Leaves, and it was exciting to base my own story on that wonderful folklore. It was the story I was meant to write. I was thrilled when Arbordale agreed and offered publication.

Do you have any advice for parents of young readers and writers?

Read to your children every day. Make it a fun, memorable experience and they will become lifelong readers. One of my favorite quotes is “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” — Emilie Buchwald.

Get the full interview on the book’s home page, click here!

Don’t forget comment on this post to win a copy of The Sparrow and the Trees. And color to your hearts content with these fun pages.

READ A SAMPLE CHAPTER: Now Available

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When you buy a DVD these days, you expect something extra than what you saw in the store. You expect to see a Director’s Cut, interviews with cast/crew/directors/critics, insider info or jokes, deleted scenes and outtakes. What’s your favorite kind of ancillary materials? What do you buy the DVD for? And how can you translate this to your own book marketing?

As you are writing, think about these extras that you can add on your author website. Here are some things you can do as you write your story:

Stop and Write an Essay. In the midst of writing your novel or picture book, stop and write an essay. We know that stories shouldn’t preach, but should tell a story. So write an essay that delves deeply into the themes of your story. Why does this story hold passion for you? Here’s Kate DiCamillo talking about the super squirrel in the 2014 Newbery award book, Flora and Ulysses. Yes. Think about what you might write for a newspaper article! But strike while the moment is hot, while you are writing the story. Then you’ll be ready when the invitations for featured articles come your way.

Recipes, coloring pages, play lists. What sorts of things relate to your story? If you like to doodle, but you know you’re not ready for prime time, use the doodles to create a coloring page, or a creative coloring page. My current series about aliens on Earth involves recipes and I’m gathering great ones for the launch of that book. Many authors create playlists they listen to when they write a particular story.

Outtakes or deleted scenes. Personally, I think this takes guts! But I am trying this on my new novel, THE GIRL, THE GYPSY AND THE GARGOYLE. I wrote a prologue for the book, even though I knew I probably wouldn’t use it. That’s what we do, we try different directions and try new things. For this story, there’s a Gargoyle Man whose face is scarred and I felt a need to know him better. So, I wrote the prologue about how he and his brother–the Gimpel brothers–discovered a magical stone. Read the outtake and a sample chapter here.

Just out of curiosity, I’d love to see a “Director’s Cut” for a novel, the novel the way the author him/herself might have edited it. Sure, I know that’s probably not possible; and it would be a gutsy thing to do. But it would be fascinating.

A couple bits of personal news:

• My picture book, PRAIRIE STORMS, comes out in August. The illustrator, Kathleen Rietz has done monthly coloring pages, and here’s the July page! Please LIKE the Prairie Storms Facebook Page for monthly coloring pages. And please let your friends with kids know about the monthly nature coloring pages.
  
  

  Coloring Page for July, Prairie Storms. For monthly coloring pages LIKE www.facebook.com/PrairieStorms

NonFiction BookBlast Sunday, June 26, 2011. 8-10 am. ALA Conference in NOLA.

It’s that day of the week again and here’s a new coloring page: Feed the Sharks.

Sharks aside, I have just redesigned my website. Stop by, take a look and stay a while. Let me know what you think of the new home. I have also added lots of new pieces to the Portfolio and added a Sketches area. If during your visit you find a link behaving badly, please let me know.

Hope you and your family have a great week! See you next Monday.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE, PRINT AND ENJOY!
* Please note that all images for the Summer Break Coloring Pages are available for personal and non-commercial use only. If you are interested in purchasing commercial rights, please email me.

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ESPAÑOL:


Otra vez es ese día de la semana y aquí estamos con una nueva página de colorear: Alimenta a los Tiburones

Dejando los tiburones de lado, acabo de rediseñar mi pagina web. Pasen por allí, miren todo y quedense un ratito. Díganme lo que piensen de la nueva casa. He colgado muchas ilustraciones nuevas en el Portfolio y he añadido un area de Dibujos. Si durante su visita encuentran un enlace portándose mal, por favor háganme saber.

Espero que ustedes y sus familias tengan una semana genial! Nos vemos el próximo lunes.

HAGAN CLICK EN LA IMÁGEN, IMPRIMAN Y DISFRUTEN!

* Por favor notar que todas las imágenes del Summer Break Coloring Pages estan disponibles únicamente para uso personal y no commercial. Si estan interesados en compran derechos comerciales, favor de escribirme.

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My kids are way into drawing right now, and I hope it continues forever. At this point, they don’t really wanting me sharing their drawings on the blog, but maybe in the future, I hope. I bought them this book (one of our go-to birthday gifts for friends) but made them promise they would share it with me, too: