Cosmic Dreams: An Adult Coloring Book for Children at Heart

by Timothy Ashford, Theodore Ashford

One night, a girl had a dream...

Take a journey back to your childhood, when all dreams were possible, and join our heroine on a dreamy adventure through the stars. From star music to magic tea, you won’t run out of new mystical fantasies to indulge in while working through this book. So pick up your pens, pencils, and markers, and start dreaming.

Featuring
• Over 25 images to color and enjoy
• Single sided pages to prevent bleeding
• Color test page included

62 pages, Paperback

Published November 23, 2016

Reviews

[Shoshanah Shear]

This is a colouring book with a difference. I love the way it begins with a story to give the reader / artist permission to enjoy being creative. Creativity and using one's imagination is very important for health and well being and to improve important life skills such as problem solving. It's a wonderful stress release.

I love the fact that the drawings include stars and the luminaries as a means to waken the imagination. The author / artist has given some ideas for those using the drawings to colour in the images provided. The images actually lend themselves to being creative on several levels. It would be rather fun to sprinkle glitter or coloured sand where the stars are, probably after colouring the sky in whatever colour you choose. Use stickers or other crafty items to enhance the picture.

As an Occupational Therapist, I could very much envisage a fun creative group with teenagers or young adults combining drawing / colouring with creative writing, discussion and possibly some mime or drama. What a wonderful way to increase creativity in one's life, or as a warm up for a personal development group.

Some of the images are a little buzy, but the fun of this colouring in book is that you can choose which images to colour or not to. Some images are wonderful just as they are, and still tell the story of this interesting book.

I would certainly recommend this book Cosmic Dreams: An Adult Coloring Book for Children at Heart

[Mette]

This is a Good Book. (Technically, a coloring book.)

If you are a fan of stars, like I am, this is the coloring book for you. There are pages upon pages with magical cosmic dreams and it really does make you feel like a kid again; it takes you back to a time when you wished upon the stars every night and your dreams were hopeful.

The only limit to how magical this coloring book can be is your own imagination. Be bold, be colorful, pick up this book and wish upon the stars again.

[Anthony Stancomb]

Being someone with children too old, and grandchildren too young to have any colouring pencils or paints in the home, I am slightly handicapped when it comes to reviewing this book. And I have to say that a book such as this might not be best placed for reviews in a group such as this – I would suggest the author tries one of the groups devoted to children’s books or illustrative books.
That said, it looks a lot of fun, and I hope my grandchildren will soon be engrossed by this sort of thing.
A word of advice, though. Line drawing has to be spot on (I was in the business) - and faces in particular. Any pictures with faces looking at all strange or out of character should be re-done if the author is looking for any commercial acceptance.

[Heather Murray]

I’d always assumed that the purpose of adult coloring books was to calm and soothe busy minds. In Cosmic Dreams, the Introduction states that the coloring book is meant to help users access their inner child. And indeed the book’s naïve line drawings show moments in the story of a long-haired girl who dreams of stars, collects star reflections in a jar, climbs starry stairs, sleeps holding stars like teddy-bears and finally ends up in a starry kingdom, where she drinks tea with the king and queen. In other words, one purpose in coloring these pages seems to be to enter into a cosmic dream of childlike innocence.

Each page of the book is filled with a simple line-drawing showing one scene from the story. No written text accompanies the pictures, which all contain stars in one form or another.

It’s probably true to say that adult coloring books are more often given as gifts than bought for personal use. If this is your situation, Cosmic Dreams might be a good choice for a more imaginative friend. Although the drawings show a certain level of skill, they are not as polished as those in some coloring books; however even this slight shortcoming still allows considerable scope for the creative colorist.

[Chrys Cymri]

In the introduction, the writer urges the colourist to return to the inner child and allow the imagination to run free. This colouring book provides a careful balance between direction and creativity by providing a bit of a story line but also allowing the colourist to do it her/his way.

My favourite section was when the main character entered a castle, sat down for a cup of tea, and then the tea itself was made of stars.

I did feel that some of the line drawings were of a higher quality than others.

I received a pdf version of this book, which meant that the paper quality was my choice. I can't comment on the paperback version.

[Maggie Larche]

While I don't go in much for "inner child" stuff, I am a fan of good, old-fashioned hobbies. And if coloring/art happens to be your hobby, Cosmic Dreams would be a good pick to try.

This is a solid adult coloring book that follows a whimsical storyline. The illustration selections range from fairly simple to intricate, so I believe it would engage most users, whatever their style preference. Some pictures are humorous; others, otherwordly. There's a nice range. For reference, there are 27 total illustrations, plus a title page that you can also color.

I especially love the picture where she's curled up on her bed cuddling a star. Isn't that the way we should all go to sleep?