The Aviary

by Claire Scully (Illustrator), Richard Merritt (Illustrations)

Make every day a delight for avid colorists and bird lovers the world over. These detailed and stylish bird portraits are simply crying out for your own unique splash of color. From majestic eagles to personality-filled puffins, to graceful hummingbirds drawn in such detail you can almost hear their wings flapping, every page gives coloring fans the chance to pick and choose the perfect colors for each of their exquisite creations. Once you've finished coloring them, it's easy to pull the pages out, display or frame them, and give as gifts since each page is also perforated. Intricate and intriguing designs pull you in, engrossing you and entertaining you for hours on end as you delve deeper and deeper into the magical world of "The Aviary."

Genres: Colouring Books

64 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2016

Reviews

[Cat Strawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book in a local store some time ago now, along with two other colouring books. I had no idea The Aviary was available but I couldn’t pass the chance of buying it after owning and loving The Menagerie: Animal Portraits to Colour! I think I love this book even more than The Menagerie, especially because of all the different birds.

The book is square in size and the same size and thickness as The Menagerie which is slightly taller and wider than books like Millie Marotta’s and Johanna Basford’s. The book is filled with many different images of birds. The pages are crisp white and nice and thick. Pencils work very well and pens will work well too as each images is printed on only one side. The pages are not perforated but I’ve had no problems in colouring these images into the spine as the birds are usually in the centre of the paper.

Each bird design is very detailed and I’m amazed at how beautiful and realistic so many of the birds are. You can colour in each tiny segment separately or splash larger areas with colour but I’m somebody who loves the little intricate sections so I really love this book. As I said there are lots of different birds and each of them have a realistic look or outline and I particularly love the baby penguin, it’s so fat and cute! 🙂

I can really recommend this book. There are tiny areas that have a bit of colour in them on the pages, but this is usually just some leaves or flowers in the background, and it doesn’t spoil your enjoyment of colouring in the birds which I’m still amazed at how realistic and cute they all are!

I’ll leave you with a list of all the birds that are in this book, some I have to admit I hadn’t heard of before! (the list appears in the front of the book): atlantic puffin, barn swallows, indian peafowl, macaw, grew crowned crane, bald eagle, swallow-tailed humming bird, mallard ducks, brown pelican Welsummer chicken, lovebirds, southern cassowary, south American great horned owl, red-billed toucan, swan, blue jay, emperor penguin chick, Victoria crowned pigeon, greater flamingo, queen Victoria’s riflebird, raven, white-capped albatross, common kingfisher, common ostritch, great blue herons, Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, long-legged buzzard, red-bellied woodpecker, hoopoe, pheasant, blue-footed boobies.

[Michelle Ryles · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a mesmerising metallic blue jay on the cover, I couldn't wait to turn the pages of The Aviary and get my colouring pencils out. There is such an excellent variety of birds in this colouring book and each drawing is so highly detailed that it will always result in the most breathtaking finished picture.

Within the book, there are 31 birds to colour: Atlantic puffin, barn swallows, Indian peafowl, macaw, grey crowned crane, bald eagle, swallow-tailed hummingbird, mallard ducks, brown pelican, Welsummer chicken, lovebirds, southern cassowary, South American great horned owl, red-billed toucan, swan, blue jay, emperor penguin chick, Victoria crowned pigeon, greater flamingo, Queen Victoria's riflebird, raven, white-capped albatross, common kingfisher, common ostrich, great blue herons, Major Mitchell's cockatoo, long-legged buzzard, red-bellied woodpecker, hoopoe, pheasant and blue-footed boobies.

There really is something for everyone in The Aviary; whether your favourite is the wise owl, colourful peafowl, majestic eagle, or the comical blue-footed boobies. I chose the Indian peafowl as my first bird to colour and, due to the amazing attention to detail in the drawings, I found that I could really let my imagination run away with me. I found that, although I started colouring in the traditional colours of the bird, the drawing was crying out for something a bit more unusual. I'm not the most imaginative of folk, but out came the pink, purple and red pencils and I'm delighted with the result.

I'm relatively new to adult colouring books, but I certainly find it to be a very relaxing and rewarding activity on a cold and wet summer's day in the North East of England. The only limit in The Aviary is your own imagination.

I received this book from the publisher, Michael O'Mara Books, in exchange for an honest review.

[Prue ColouringBookReviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is it about birds that makes them so very special to colour?
I guess it's all these things and more - colour, shape, light, texture in feathers and of course the huge variety of species and environments. Every bird is a different challenge.
This is the first book out this year by these two artists and the next one, The Aquarium, is due out in September. There are some birds in here that I've never heard of before so that brings in the research element which I love in a colouring book. Yes, I'm going to learn something! Now I know what a boobie and a hoopoe look like!
For the full review and video flip through see here - http://goo.gl/DE1m34

[Lotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love they way the birds were designed