Customer Reviews

Scribbles: A Really Giant Drawing and Coloring Book

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As others have no doubt noted, this is not your standard coloring book. The author encourages creativity by requesting you help finish or modify pages as you see fit. My 4-year-old daughter enjoys the book quite a bit. But here are a few *nitpicky* details that some might want to consider before purchasing:

1) The book is thick/heavy, so can be unwieldy to use if you're not at a table. It's also a little tough to get the book to stay open if you're a little one.

2) I tried to remedy some of the above by tearing out pages for portability and ease of use, but many/most of the projects span two pages. So unless you're committed to taping or stapling pages together (I'm not), tearing them out doesn't really help.

3) Finally, to get the most out of this book, the recipient would ideally be able to read. It's not always obvious what you're supposed to do on the pages, and it might be frustrating for a pre-reader (and his/her caregiver!) to constantly ask, "what does THIS say?"

In sum - it's a fantastic book that would be suitable for many ages... I just offer these tidbits in case you're thinking about buying one for a preschooler.

My parents bought me this book as a 32nd birthday present because they know I like to "doodle" in my spare time. The back cover says it's for ages 0-99, and they are correct. This book is enough to stimulate everyone's creativity... My personal favorite is the series of "this is a leopard...draw its spots", "this is a tiger... draw its stripes", "this is a panther...draw its black fur" and they're all the same drawing until you color them in! Another really good grouping is the 4 pages that each have a single vertical line. One says "draw a dragonfly balancing on this pole"...the next one says "draw a sparrow balancing on this pole"... you turn the page and "draw a crocodile balancing on this pole"... and finally, "draw an elephant balancing on this pole"... Talk about having to be creative! :)

What a great find this book is! Scribbles is full of many zany ideas to get kids imaginations flying. Gomi's simple artistic style is appealing to kids and adults alike. Pages have simple instructions that will guide kids without them feeling hemmed in. Gomi often has several pages in a row with the same simple illustrations but with different leaders: a quaint town drawn at the bottom of several pages has the headings: "Its a beautiful day today: draw a bright sunny sky," Today it is not so nice: Draw a dark cloudy sky," and "Today there's a thunderstorm: draw lighting and rain." Or a simple stick drawn on several pages and children being asked to draw a dragonfly sitting on one, a sparrow on another, a crocodile balancing on another and finally an elephant! Kids will love the crazy ideas. There are also masks, mazes, time- telling exercises etc. I prefer the thin line drawings to the thicker more abstract ones but there sheer abundance of ideas makes up for the few that fall short of perfect. A great score for the classroom or the craft table!

This is a really cool book, and I've given it to three children in my family, all who have loved it. HOWEVER, this Christmas I gave it to my nephew who found a page in which the project is to "Color the things you like." The page shows various items, some of which are a whiskey bottle and shot glass, beer cans, and a syringe and spoon. If the publisher reads this, please consider removing those items as I'm sure it is mainly children who receive this book, even though the age range says "up to 99". (Note: This is really a 5-star book, but I rated it as 1-star with the hopes that the publisher is more likely to notice poor ratings.)

This is the best coloring book I've ever seen! My 5 year old son loves to color and this book lets him get creative for hours. I actually colored a couple of pages after the kids were in bed! Almost-blank canvases with just enough of a suggestion to get the creative juices flowing, let you create tons of masterpieces. Some abstract shapes and squiggles or some basic drawings let you add as much or as little as you want. This is a great gift for any child or adult who still has that inner child in them! I highly recommend it!

I bought this for my 3 year old who loves coloring books, as long as they have dot to dots and "design the cookie" type pages. This is perfect for her. She loves it just as much as i thought she would. What I don't like is that some of the pages are landscape style. I mean, they go across the binding of the book which makes it difficult. I tried ripping the pages out, then glueing them to a bigger piece of construction paper. That can olny be done if you have already done the pages on the back sides (unless you want to waste pages out of a 20.00 book, i don't) it would be nice if the whole book were landscape, and the worst thing about this book is the page that says to "draw a dead person." What in the world? I ripped out that page, and good thing i saw it before she did. It has a box that resembles a coffin that you are supposed to draw the 'dead body' in. I would have considered returning the book for that reason alone had she not used over 1/2 the book already,a nd been in love with it. Seriously everyday since she got it, she has done 10-15 pages.

I bought this for my 4 year old and she loved it. Unlike a traditional coloring book which provides the outline and has the child color it in, this book has lots of space for the child to complete the picture themselves or create their own picture based on suggested ideas. This does mean that occasionally, more parental input is needed; you may not always be able to just plop this down and have a young child do it all on their own. My daughter likes traditional coloring books too, but she has a tendency to just scribble some color in (or outside) the line and then get bored with it, not so this book. It's actually fun enough, that I could see giving it as a gift to an adult of the young-at-heart variety.

My son is 4 and really loves this book. I initially bought it for use in the car on long trips but it was too heavy for him to hold and color in his lap. He loves using it at home on the table.

I bought two copies for my 4 and 6 year old granddaughters. The little one needs help reading the instructions but they are simple enough for the 6 year old to handle on her own with occasional help. Both children have enjoyed each page and become engrossed in creating their interpretations. There are no right or wrong ways to complete a page so any effort from them produces a rewarding picture. The instructions are very clever and bring smiles to adults who are viewing the results. Anything can be used - crayons, chalk, paint, pen, pencil, scissors and colored paper, etc.

Okay, I'll admit it. I am buying one of these for myself (and I'm not a child). This is one of the most fun coloring books I have ever seen. I recently purchased one for my 10 year old niece for Christmas and it was a huge hit. In fact it made it into her "favorite presents" category topping playstation 2 games. This coming from a kid who is starting to not want "baby" presents.

Why is it so fun? Because every page has a unique directive on it. Just flipping through the book gets your imagination started. I mean, for a second there I really wanted to steal this from my niece and make the frowny little people happy like the book told us to do..alas it was not to be and now I am back on amazon buying my own copy.

This makes a great gift for children and adults, for anyone who needs a creative, not to serious, release.