Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, associated in any way with Dover Press. I just think it would be a better and a sweeter world if we all spent a lot more time coloring. I've already given my psychologically, physiologically, and neurologically valid reasons. We need to draw a little more on th right side of the brain.
Also I have loved Dover since 1980, a year of angst and stress, that was greatly alleviated by the many, many happy hours I spent painting by hand a set of cards I bought from Dover (medieval woodcuts). I've never forgotten how much better the world seemed with Jethro Tull (Songs from The Wood) on the stereo and a paintbrush in my hand. I want to promote them so they'll be around forever.
Children love to color if you let them. Dover gives them something a bit more thought-provoking (and rewarding) to work on than cartoon characters.
If you're not convinced that Dover is any different, go to this link. You can print out samples from their coloring books to color or paint right away.
I listed some of the adult-appropriate offerings in my previous note on Dover press, but since Christmas is coming, I thought I'd list some of their Christmas-related offerings:
These are designed for children:
I actually prefer the many, many non-seasonal designs and it's possible the child you have in mind would as well. There is a whole line of animal coloring books (I love the one on cats), a line featuring angels, fairies, and unicorns, a line of coloring books relating to Native American history and art, a large number of really interesting and unusual history coloring books (e.g., Life in Ancient Polynesia), and---if you want your little one's fashion sense to extend beyond Barbie---an absolutely gorgeous set of coloring books on fashion and costume. Face it, compared to the ladies and men of medieval times or the Renaissance, twenty-first century fashion is both skimpy and drab, and not nearly so much fun to color.
There are also paper dolls. Remember paper dolls? Do little girls---and boys--- today not know how much fun they are? But these are no ordinary paper dolls. There are period fashions, featuring the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties. There are paper dolls who wear only Balenciaga or Christian Dior or Chanel or designs from the Belle Epoque (Worth, Lanvin, and Paquin), Godey's ladies, Gibson girls, 7 dolls modelled after Erte with over 51 costumes. Seriously, it's an embarrassment of riches for any child, with the added value of being educational. Today, Dover paper dolls; tomorrow, costume designer at the Metropolitan opera or on Broadway.
There are some amazing historical paper dolls---a brilliant idea. How about Napoleon and Josephine, Nicholas and Alexandra, Martin Luther King, Queen Elizabeth, Louis XIV and his court, Marie Antoinette, Martin Luther King, or the Dalai Lama? Seriously, did you know that it's even possible to get Dalai Lama paper dolls? A kid who forms a connection with paper dolls of famous characters from history is likely to feel a personal connection with them in later life.
By the way, Dover offers over 1200 free e-cards. Even if you're not in a coloring or coloring-book frame of mind, you'll want to bookmark this site for later use. I'd try to describe the riches on offer, but it's sort of a waste of time, when you can just click this link.
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