Why I Fell in Love with Adult Colouring Books
Updated: Aug. 06, 2019
Looking for stress relief? Sharpen up your pencils and get colouring!
A Decidedly Canadian Colouring Book
With all of these horrible things we see in the news these days and the increasing levels of stress everyone faces in their daily lives, it seems that the simple act of colouring is helping a lot of people cope with it all—and have fun in the process. By now, there’s no doubt that adult colouring books have gone way beyond being a fad and have established themselves as a popular way for adults to decompress and relax. A huge cross section of books have flooded the retail market in the past year or so, but one in particular is of special interest to me—the Canadiana Collection Colouring Book. Admittedly I say that with a certain bias, as this most Canadian of colouring books was conceived, designed and published by yours truly, a resident of Irricana, Alta., and a graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary.
The whole idea sprang from a trip to High Level, Alta., where I accompanied my daughter, Rebecca Burrows, who had recently taken a teaching job just west of there in the Aboriginal community of Chateh. Heading back by myself involved a long and tedious ten-hour bus ride south to Edmonton, followed by a flight to Calgary. Boy, was I ever thankful for the colouring book I had been given at Christmas to help pass the time on the long ride home. It was on this trip that the notion of creating a decidedly Canadian colouring book came to me and I decided to start designing one myself as soon as possible. The timing for such an undertaking was in my favour, as I would be “stuck” at home for at least another two months, helping to care for my husband, who had just had double knee-replacement surgery. Working on the colouring book was my solace during his prolonged recuperation. From this odd, almost random set of circumstances, the Canadiana Collection was born, complete with ducks, beavers, bears, Mounties, mountains, hockey sticks, maple-sugar buckets and everything else stereotypically Canadian I could think of.
My book is different from most others, in that it has an educational component on the back cover, where background information and fun facts about each of the 16 iconically Canadian images within the colouring book are presented. Also, I’ve hidden a tiny mouse—my personal trademark—on each page, just for some added fun!
I’m pleased to say that the book is doing really well. I essentially put it together on a whim for my personal satisfaction, and the fact that it has been so well received makes me feel really great. Canadians don’t always demonstrate their patriotism as vigorously as people in some other countries do, but this book, and its success so far, is a testament to how proud we actually are to be Canadian—beavers, canoes and all!
About the book
While completing the book, I realized it would be Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017—talk about great timing for a Canadiana colouring book! I hope you and your friends and family decide to sharpen up those coloured pencils and give it a try!
- 16 pages of Canadian-themed images
- Printed on heavy-weight cover stock
- Perforated at top for easy page removal
- Pages 11″ x 14,” a standard frame size
- Coil bound on top to make it easier for both left- and right-handed users
- Legend on outside back cover provides details on each of the book’s iconic images
- Brenda’s “hidden mouse” on each page
- Retails for $24.99 (tax not included); fundraising opportunities available
For more details or to place an order, contact Brenda at [email protected]
