Adult Coloring Books For The Stressed Family Member In Your Life

The perfect holiday distraction? A coloring book.

Katherine BrooksSenior Arts & Culture Editor, The Huffington Post.

Posted: 11/25/2015 

 

Imagine you're arguing with your uncle, again, over who knows more about the upcoming election. Or a fight breaks out between your brother and mother, again, because a certain child refuses to answer his parent's phone calls. Instead of hammering home your views on Bernie Sanders' campaign -- or stepping in between a monumental yell fest betwixt mom and son -- what if you just pulled out a coloring book and went to town? It sounds childish, but, so does your 35-year-old sibling right now.

For the adult set, coloring has been growing in popularity over the past year or so as a sort of coping mechanism, used to counter the pitfalls of busy, everyday life. Take the advice of psychologists -- who recommend coloring as a stress-relieving technique and an alternative to mediation -- and seek refuge this holiday season in a few black-and-white pages begging for adornment. Who knows, maybe you and Uncle Fred will find middle ground in your shared love of coloring inside the lines.

Here are the 13 best adult coloring books out there:


Meanwhile at PW more on the same subject:

The Coloring Craze: Adult Coloring Books, 2015

Coloring books for adults are this year’s surprise smash hit category, and they’re gaining steam heading into the gift-buying season

By Jim Milliot |  PW

Nov 13, 2015

The adult coloring book craze that started at the beginning of 2015 shows no sign of slowing down. Lost Ocean, Johanna Basford’s newest book (and her first published by Penguin), sold more than 55,000 copies in the first week after its October 27 release, according to Nielsen BookScan. Her first two books were published by Laurence King: Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest have sold more than 453,000 copies and 350,000 copies, respectively, so far this year.

Since adult coloring books don’t have their own BISAC code, they appear in different categories in BookScan, but most titles are grouped under art, and coloring books dominate that list (Basford’s books appear on the juvenile nonfiction list). A list of some of the biggest sellers to date shows that 10 of the most popular books have combined to sell about 1.5 million copies at outlets that report to BookScan, which captures about 80% of print book sales. And many publishers note that they have done very well in nontraditional outlets that do not report to BookScan

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