Reading, Writing & Pondering

  One of the ways I like to relax is with some good old-fashioned coloring time. Cozy Life Cute Coloring Book by Jade Summer released today from Tarcher Publishing.  I love the heart-warming, cute designs. There are 45 designs on single-sided pages so you could use markers, colors, colored-pencils or even paints. The pages are fairly thick so most mediums would work.      I received this coloring book from Tarcher Books. All opinions are my own. 

  Do you like to color to relax? I do. I find anything artsy helps me relax if I put my mind into it and release my cares. New Mercies I See by Jennifer Tucker is full of gorgeous inspirational pictures to color. New Mercies I See has 96 pages of one-sided 10 by 10 pictures to color. The pages are thick and with the fact that they are one-sided, they work with markers, colors, or colored pencils. I personally like to use colored pencils the most but whatever medium you enjoy could be employed in this book with the way that it is layed out. It is a beautiful coloring book. There are gold accents on the pages. I like that but it also takes away a little bit of the coloring space, so just something to think about. I like to put on music to relax and just let myself color my cares away.   I received a copy of this coloring book from the publisher through TLC Book Tours. All opinions within this review are my own.

  I don't know about you but I have been a fan of coloring since I was little and could hold my crayon. Coloring God's Love for Me: 100 Devotions to Inspire Young Hearts by Janae Dueck is a quality coloring book that combines coloring with devotionals to inspire children ages 6 to 9--but I think it is inspiring for older children and adults too. Coloring God's Love for Me has brief devotionals written in language that early elementary children can understand and relate to. Each one starts out with a Bible verse and follows with a short reading that relates to every day life today. Along with the coloring pages, there are also a number of activity pages that include journaling, mazes, drawing and more. It is a fun book with readings that could both inspire young hearts to learn and encourage them to grow, as well as help them express a creative side while they do it. Coloring God's Love for Me would also be a great book to use for devotions while Homeschooling.  The p...

  In the days of the times when the Bible was written, Faith was handed down from generation to generation through word of mouth and teachings through the Jewish holy day observations and rituals. Generation to Generation by Yael Eckstein is a book about passing on the legacy of faith to our children in today's world. It starts with an overview of teaching our children and then moves through a series of the holy Jewish holidays talking about teaching our children priorities, knowledge, gratitude, hope, forgiveness, faith, courage and generosity.  Generation to Generation is quite straight forward and easy to understand. On the website, there is a workbook to download to use along with the book that offers a lot of good questions and discussion to help your family understand the Christian principles that you are teaching. The one downfall is that you need to give the organization your email and phone number to get that workbook. There is also a beautiful colorbook that could be...

If there was ever a book that was made for this time in history, it is this one: The Big and Little Activity Devotional by Rachel Swanson. This book has activities for both adults and children to do at the same time. Along with the activities, there is a short devotional to read and think about together. How fun is that? Each of these devotionals is pair for an adult and a child to do together. There is a short devotional reading with a few short questions or something to think about for both the adult and the child. And then there are similar activities that are either for an adult or a child: crossword puzzles, word search puzzles, mazes, search and find pictures, coloring pictures, word scrambles and more. The Big and Little Activity Devotional is a fun book to use with a variety of ages. It gives parents a little one on one time with each of the kids as you sit across from each other and do the activities and the readings together. I think this is a great idea to spend ...

Fall is the season of pumpkin spice. This year the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks will be out the last week in August. Why not get a copy of the new Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice coloring book to relax with along with your latte? The Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice coloring book features 90 coloring designs. There are gorgeous fall drawings, verses and sayings to color featuring pumpkins, fall leaves, apples, harvest dinners and pies, owls, warm beverages topped with whipping cream and lots more. I like that this coloring book has such a nice mix of pictures. Also, the pictures contain a mix of coloring both larger and smaller spaces, but not terribly tiny spaces, which I appreciate. I also like the faith element with Bible verses and spiritually uplifting sayings. The pictures are on both sides of the pages. I would encourage the use of colored pencils over markers in this book to be sure there is no bleed through, although the paper is heavy stock. However, the pages ...

Coloring is still one of my favorite things to do. The Big and Little Coloring Devotional has something to offer both children and adults in one nifty package so both the young and the older can enjoy coloring. This dual age coloring book devotional allows adults to read a short uplifting devotional reading and to relax while coloring a more complex coloring picture. On the opposite page, there is a simpler picture for children to color that is age appropriate for younger ones. The Big and Little Coloring Devotional has 112 pages of uplifting pictures and readings to do together. I love the idea of this intergenerational coloring devotional. I have to be honest and say that I don't have little ones to color with me right now, although I am not above borrowing nieces or neighbor children to color with me with a mom's blessing. However, I still found the readings in the Big and Little Coloring Devotional to be encouraging and fun as an adult. They are short and refreshin...

Here's Some Happy: A Coloring Journal to Lift the Soul by Gina Graham is a large formatted beautiful coloring journal. Gina Graham has designed beautiful and whimsical pictures, some with Scripture verses and some without, in this journal that measure 10.1 inches square. There are plenty of lines amidst the pictures of birds, animals, flowers, adorable people, and other whimsical designs. They are indeed happy pictures to color and they are all on thick paper to minimize bleed-through. I have read that coloring reduces stress and these designs feel especially stress-reducing to me. Journaling also is said to reduce stress. Putting the two together in this gorgeous book should make for some "happy" to think about. People of all ages could enjoy this book too. The designs aren't too tiny for those of us who like larger designs like I do. This is a real feel-good coloring journal that would be fun for anyone who enjoys both coloring and journaling. I highly...

The Big Picture Interactive Bible Story Coloring and Activity Book is a great book for kids who like to color and do activity type worksheets. This large book has more than 200 coloring pages and more than 150 activity pages. This book is 384 pages total. It retails for 6.99 and I honestly thought it was a great buy for all of the fun things to do in this book. Along with the fun, kids are learning about Jesus and the Bible too. The Big Picture Bible Story Coloring and Activity book starts out with a note to parents explaining the goal of this book--to turn our young people's hearts to Jesus. This book is also designed to stand alone or to be used in companion with the Big Picture Bible and related books. The second page of the activity book offers a Parent Connection page to do a devotion and ask questions with your children along with the book. Then this big book is divided into Old Testament and New Testament activities. Besides all of the coloring pages, the activity pages...

The Parables of Jesus coloring book devotional is unlike any other Christian coloring book that I have seen. Besides containing a devotional, this book also contains pictures that are a modern artist's rendition of Bible stories. They remind me of some of the beautiful stained glass windows that I have seen at some old churches with their bold lines and beg to be filled with bright colors. The devotionals in this coloring book all contain a Bible verse(s)followed by reflections on the verses for each devotional and concluding with a prayer or a closing thought/activity/question related to the verse. Because this book contains parables from Jesus, as one would expect, the readings are all from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This large, beautiful book roughly measures 10 inches square and contains 46 illustrations that correspond with each devotional. For coloring purposes, each picture is done on heavy paper with a blank back side making it nice to use for ...

A Giving Heart by Stephanie Corfee is a coloring book created with mothers in mind through and through. This book would be great for any mom who likes to color. Mom can grab a cup of their favorite hot beverage, put on some relaxing music and grab their favorite coloring tools for a little "Me" time. A Giving Heart has 46 coloring pages featuring beautiful pictures of quotes, Bible verses, flowers, and many more things that Moms enjoy. There is a large variety of pictures in this collection. The pictures are on one side with the backsides either blank or with a single printed verse and accompanying tiny design. This is a good book for those who like to color with a heavier hand or to use markers without worrying about page bleed through. Putting an extra piece of paper or cardboard behind the piece you are coloring is also helpful, although these pages are made of a nice heavy stock. This collection of designs in A Giving Heart is made up of drawings with smaller, finer...

The Joyful Inspirations Coloring Book by Robin Mead is a beautifully illustrated coloring book brimming with cheerful, whimsical designs. The Joyful Inspirations Coloring Book has 96 pages of well drawn illustrations to color. I like Mead's renditions of people and animals with cheerful faces and large, bright eyes. I also like her illustrations of  summer beach scenes, churches, flowers, butterflies, birds, sunrises/sunsets, and so much more--many of which have Scripture verses that accompany them. This is just a wonderful coloring book to turn on your favorite playlist and relax with. I also especially like that Mead includes a page at the back of this book that list her favorite coloring products along with tips for using those products to create your best work. She also has a page with ten coloring tips that I found helpful. I tried blending some oranges and yellows to create the ball part of my sun in this picture. I hadn't done that previously. I plan to try that ...

One of the ways I best relax and diffuse stress is by spending time with God and creating. I like that Tranquility: A Prayer and Reflection Coloring Journal offers a way to do that in this beautiful little book. Tranquility has pages designed for uplifting your spirit through prayer and meditation, coloring, journaling, and drawing. In the introduction, you are encouraged to, "take it Slow," and to use the journal in your own way to reflect and connect with God in a creative way that is meaningful for you. I like the journaling prompts, prayers, and coloring pictures in Tranquility . I would encourage everyone to have sharp colored pencils ready for their creative work in this book as the coloring designs are on the smaller side. I also think the pages are too thin to use markers so I would stick with colored pencils. The coloring designs do have a bit of pre-printed coloring already done to them on some of the pages which means you'll want to stay within their c...

Promises For You Coloring Devotional offers 60 days worth of devotionals for discovering God's hope and love. Each page includes a Bible verse (in the New Revised Standard Version) and either a question or something to write about in the journal that relates to the reading for the day. The book also suggests that if you want to write more than the page has room for to get another piece of paper and keep going. Good idea! This book is also not written in any certain order so you can either start at the beginning with the devotions or jump around to the ones that speak to you that day. The last page if this devotional also has a brief page on how to accept Christ and follow Him. The pages in this devotional are made of nice, thick white paper with dark-printed whimsical coloring designs on every one. Because the pages are so thick, markers work fine, along with colored pencils. However, I did test a Sharpie marker in an inconspicuous spot and it bled through, so I would encour...

Many of us do think of our moms when we think of our homes. Home is Wherever Mom Is is a beautiful new coloring book honoring moms. This book is quite eye catching with its foil cover. Home Is Wherever Mom Is has more than 90 beautiful illustrations to color. The pictures are all nice homey type pictures and most are more intricate that some coloring books so you will want to use fine point markers or well sharpened colored pencils for your work in this book. There are a lot of nice Bible verses and quotes relating to moms throughout this book as well. Part of the quotes are to color within the coloring pages and part of them are part of the Hand Lettering tutorial. The front page in the book explains how to learn the hand lettering and it has a practice page in the back of the book. I wish it had about 3 practice pages but you can practice on your own paper too. This beautiful coloring book would make a nice book for mom to use to relax with if she enjoys creative p...

Since I was a child, I have always loved coloring and found it relaxing. The new Christmas Quiet coloring book and devotional provides a way to color, relax and enjoy the season with devotionals that help me keep my "Mary" focus on Jesus instead of bustling about like "Martha." In the preface of Christmas Quiet , Maisie Sparks shares how she made a choice to stop the frantic Christmas rush through the season and discover the gift of waiting for Christmas. Sparks shares how she spends the first Saturday in December gathering with a group of women at a retreat site to collectively slow their pace and relish a day of silence to focus on an upcoming season of peace. Sparks encourages you through Christmas Quiet to also give yourself permission to meditate on the readings in this coloring book and focus on the true meaning of the Christmas. Each of the 25 readings starts with a Bible verse followed by a related devotional meditation and concludes with a questio...

Everything Beautiful:A Coloring Book for Inspiration and Reflection is an exceptionally beautiful adult coloring book. This book is designed for coloring and meditation to remind the user that there is beauty in every day and our Savior is with us, no matter what our circumstances are. Waterbrook also has an Everything Beautiful playlist on Spotify to play while you are coloring. . .or anytime that you would like to be uplifted with this beautiful selection of songs based on this coloring book theme. Thick pages, front side only, perforated for easy removal, and a variety of both verses and quotes make this book exceptional in quality. Everything Beautiful contains original designs from nine different artists and is 96 pages long. There is a wide variety of subject matter in the designs which I especially liked. I also liked that the designs were ones that didn't have a lot of tiny spaces to color, which I prefer. I also appreciate that there is the complete words to a song...

A V ery Blessed Christmas Coloring Book is full of beautiful illustrations to color. This book has over 85 heavy-weight illustrated pages to color. The print is dark and the designs are ea sy on the eyes to color without being too small , but are challenging enough for the adult. I colored two s ample pages using Crayola Twist ables colored pencils. I didn't try markers on this book but the pages may be heavy enough to handle it.  The last few pages of A Very Blessed Christmas Coloring Book have creative craft cutouts to color. The author s uggest that they could be used as gift tags, ornaments, bookmarks or whatever you fancy. Rob in Mead also suggest that you could use other materials to decorate the designs such as ribbon, beads glitter pen or whatever you im agine. These pa ges are done quite well with blank pages behind the desi gns so that you can be crafty in many ways.  Overall, I just think this is quite a nice ly bound book wit...

All is Bright combines beautiful coloring pages with Christmas devotions for every day of the advent season. This beautiful coloring book is designed to help families take time every day to read and reflect on the Christ of the season. It is "a devotional journey to color your way to Christmas." All is Bright contains a devotional reading and an intricate coloring page for each day of December. At the back of the book, All is Bright includes family activities including kid-friendly coloring pages and conversation starters to add meaning to the season. I found the reading to be short and easy to focus on. I plan to put on Instrumental Christmas music to relax while coloring and focusing on God. I thought the pictures were just beautiful all through the book. My only concern is that there were some ornaments to color and cut out in the family pages, but there is a design on the back of the page so I would hate to cut through that design to cut those out. I wish the pag...