“Give them blank paper, not coloring books” is the common advice given to parents hoping to expand their kids’ creativity, but blank paper gets boring. Rosie Flo’s coloring books are a lovely middle ground. Each page has a delicate line drawing of body-less clothes on a simply sketched background. Kids add heads, arms, legs, and details, then color the whole thing in in an explosion of groovy creativity, yow!

Part of the Rosie appeal is the sheer strangeness of the scenes. Beatles suits play guitar on giant bugs, potted plants ride on a seesaw. Designer Roz Streeten clearly has a rather skewed sensibility, and a good sense of what will attract kids. No surprise that she got her coloring book start at home in Bath, England, where she drew fanciful dresses for her little daughters to color in.

The Rosie Flo books are published in the UK, and you can get more of them over the pond. But in the states, Chasing Fireflies has three volumes for sale: garden, animals, and the original Rosie Flo book.

Rosie Flo Colouring Books, $9 each

POSTED IN: Books
TAGS: coloring books, colouring books, rosie flo, rosie flo's