Multicultural Coloring Books -- A Relaxing Saturday Review

Disclosure: I was sent these books free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

It has been awhile since I have done a Relaxing Friday review, so today I am sharing three coloring books with you. These books each help teach a bit about cultures. Join us as we take looks at Asia, a Japanese garden and Ancient Egypt. Our first book is A Touch of Asia from Tuttle Publishing. 

This book has over fifty Asian pictures to color. They range in designs, people, animals, flowers and more. The pages are single sided so you do not have to worry about bleeding through. The pages are thick anyway, so bleeding through would not be a problem. 

The picture above I started to color. I love the symmetry and design. Don't you? Hazel did the one below. she used markers that tend to take time to dry and smudge a bit.

We both really like coloring this book .there are details and yet big pictures for quicker coloring as well.

This book is high quality and has many different design styles to color. The pictures are based off actual Asian art--fabrics, paintings and more from all over Asia. There is an index of the pictures and where they came from in the back of the book. The pages are also easy to tear out and can be framed easily.

Our next book takes a look at Japanese gardens. It is In a Japanese Garden Coloring Book and is also from Tuttle Publishing. It has reflections from Lafcadio Hearn's "In a Japanese Garden."  This book has twenty-three coloring pages based on beautiful Japanese artwork. The coloring pages are single-sided. There is also a colored picture of the original artwork. It is then up to the colorer whether to try to imitate the original or make it unique. 

I used watercolor pencils to color the picture above and then used my water brush to give it some flow. I decided to try to make it look like the original one.

The original artwork are labeled with the artist and title and other information. The pages to color are on the right side of the book while the original print is on the left. It makes it easy to use similar colors if one wants to. 

The coloring pages vary in amounts of details and sizes to color. The more detailed pictures are easier to color with finer print pens or pencils. This book is a high quality as well and full of lots of culture and more.

Our final book is Egyptology The Coloring Book by Emily Sands. This book is the perfect companion for studying Ancient Egypt. The left side page shares notes from Emily Sands while on her mysterious trip down the Nile about the picture on the right side page. 

Hazel did this picture of Queen Nerfertiti. I originally requested this book since third grade at her old school studied Ancient Egypt. I am not sure about her new school. I figured it would be fun for her to color and learn more about it while they were studying it. She however is enjoying just coloring in it.

I began coloring this Narmer Palette. As you can see the pages vary and share a bit of culture from Ancient Egypt. This is not just a coloring book. It includes the information about the artwork and culture. This book is a copy of a book that Emily Sands intended for her young niece and nephew to color and learn about her expedition. Unfortunately in January 1927 the entire expedition party disappeared without a trace. No one knows what happened. A manuscript of Emily Sands's journal and this coloring book are what is left. How interesting this book and the other Egyptology books are with this kind of history. 

So take a look at life and culture in other countries with these coloring books and remember to take time to relax!!