Reviews

Color Me Mindful: Tropical, Volume 3 by Anastasia Catris

booksuperpower's review

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5.0

Color Me Mindful – Tropical- by Anatasia Catris is a 2015 Gallery Books publication. I was provided a copy of this book as an XOXpert- The official street team of XOXO After Dark.

I have, like many others, fallen in love with the Adult Coloring Book phenomena. I never realized until I tried it, how relaxing coloring in all these wonderful patterns could be.

I love the patterns in the 'Color Me Mindful- Tropical' coloring book. There are 64 pages and 50 tropical themed intricate patterns. Adult coloring has helped me maintain focus and concentration, as well, as coordination skills, which is especially important at this stage in my life. Sticking with a tropical theme, the shapes including frogs, butterflies, surfboards, palm trees, and seahorses, just to name a few.

This book offers hours and hours of entertainment, fun, and stress relief. I have also had fun with other family members as sit down as a group to color, providing a relaxed atmosphere to visit, and enjoy the company of others.

Map colors, felt markers, or gel pens all work great, but I would advise against certain markers due to the possibility of bleeding through to the next page.

I am really enjoying this adult coloring book which as large shapes and less time consuming sections mixed in with smaller, more intricate patterns and shapes that take longer to complete and require a bit more concentration.

If you are into Adult coloring books, then you know how much fun they are and you will want to add this book to your collection. If you haven't joined in the Adult Coloring Book community yet, this book is an excellent choice to start with since it provides both simple and more challenging patterns. Once you've tried it, you will find yourself feeling more creative, feeling less stress, and will feel much more relaxed as a result.

onceuponabookcase's review

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4.0

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

This is a review of the first three books in the Colour Me Mindful series - Underwater, Birds and Tropical.

I've really been into colouring lately, so when I first heard about the Colour Me Mindful Series by Anastasia Catris, I knew I had to give them a go. Full of such beautiful illustrations, this series will give you hours of entertainment.

Colour Me Mindful Underwater - Coloured
From Colour Me Mindful Underwater

Colour Me Mindful Underwater - Example
From Colour Me Mindful Underwater


This first Colour Me Mindful collection includes Underwater, Birds and Tropical colouring books. Each book starts with an introduction (the same introduction in each book) from Oli Doyle, who is the author of Mindfulness Plain & Simple and Mindfulness for Life. Oli talks about how the rushing about of day-to-day life can cause stress and exhaustion, but focusing on the moment "as it is" will help you to relieve your stress, and bring more happiness to your life.

"As you colour with focus and attention, your stress will start to fade. As you watch closely to stay within the lines, your worries will lessen. And as you lose yourself in the wonders of colour and creativity, your surroundings will come alive and seem a little brighter. [...] Learning to focus and enjoy simple things like colouring once more can lead to the happiness everyone deserves." (p1-2)

I must admit that I do find myself lost in the moment when colouring, my mind devoid of all thought except what colours to use for which section, which shades would be most realistic (which is as I prefer to colour), and time flies by. So there might be something to mindfulness and colouring, however, I wouldn't say that it made my surroundings come alive and seem brighter.

Colour Me Mindful Birds - Coloured
From Colour Me Mindful Birds

Colour Me Mindful Birds - Example
From Colour Me Mindful Birds


The illustrations in the book are wonderful. They're so gorgeous and detailed, it's almost worrying considering adding colour, in case I "ruin" them. There are a range of illustrations, from quite realistic to patterned depending on your mood and - if you're me - what you feel capable of without feeling overwhelmed. I find just looking at some of the detailed illustrations - in any colouring book - cause my eyes to go strange and start to give me a headache because there are just too many details. The simpler illustrations work better for me, but if you like a challenge, there's something for you, too.

Colour Me Mindful Tropical - Coloured
From Colour Me Mindful Tropical

Colour Me Mindful Tropical - Example
From Colour Me Mindful Tropical


I tried giving felt tips a go in Underwater, and I'm not sure. I don't know whether it's the way I colour, or if it's the felt tips themselves, but I just don't think it looks very good, I don't like the affect, hence the picture below being incomplete. As you can see, there's an illustration on both sides of a page, and unfortunately the felt tips I used bled through to the other side a little bit. If you want to use felt tips in these books, make sure you're sure the colour won't bleed through, first.

Colour Me Mindful Underwater - Coloured with Felt Tips
From Colour Me Mindful Underwater

Colour Me Mindful Underwater - felt tips bled
From Colour Me Mindful Underwater


Overall, a really fantastic, gorgeous collection! I'm really looking forward to trying out the second collection, which includes

Thank you to Orion for the review copies.
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