Escape to Oz: A Colouring Book Adventure

This review is taken from my blog where I review adult colouring books from a mental health perspective. More images can be found here - colouringinthemidstofmadness.wordpress.com This book is from my personal collection. This is a wonderful book, essential for fans of the original story, but also for those who love GWAW’s work and who love imaginative and beautiful illustrations. It is the same size and shape as the others in the series at just over 18cms square, it’s a little smaller than other bestsellers but I think this adds to the charm and it means the images are a manageable size and the book is a perfect size for travelling and colouring on the go. The book has a softback cover which is almost all double thicknesses of cardboard as it folds in on itself and when opened up it reveals a beautiful green background with white line-drawn images of flowers and gems. The cover has silvery-gold foiling accents which really add to the luxury of the book and are a lovely bit of extra detailing. The book contains 96 pages of double-sided, borderless images and is glue and string-bound meaning a little of each image is lost into the spine. I found the spine pretty tight when it arrived but with some work it has now loosened up a lot and lies flatter than it did. The images are a mixture of single and double-page spreads and a few of them have black backgrounds which is a really nice feature. The paper quality is very good and hasn’t bled or shadowed at all when I’ve been using water-based fineliners or fibre-tips. The paper is a creamy off-white which adds to the vintage feel of the book and is very lightly textured which I thought would be ideal for pencils but I did find it a little hard to get many layers as the tooth seemed to disappear quicker than I’d have liked or expected. However, it’s not impossible to layer and I did manage to get some nice blending. Do be sure to test the pens you’re using beforehand to avoid any disasters. Alcohol markers are a definite no because they will bleed terribly and ruin the reverse images. The images themselves are drawn in a thin line that is pretty consistent throughout so the difficulty level doesn’t change, meaning this is not a book that will adapt to differing levels of concentration but this does lead to a really cohesive feel to the book. The images are arranged into chronological order to tell the story and a few pages contain quotes from the book to help guide you through. These quotes are helpful for letting you know where in the story you’re at, as well as hinting at what’s in the picture if you’re not quite sure. The illustrations include everything you’d expect from Dorothy and Toto, to the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion, to the Wicked Witch of the West and East, the Wizard of Oz himself, and even the munchkins and flying monkeys. Iconic scenes are pictured including the tornado that transports Dorothy and Toto from Kansas to Oz, the squashing of the Wicked Witch of the East, starting off on the yellow brick road, meeting the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion, arriving at the Emerald City, meeting the Wizard of Oz, arriving back in Kansas, and so much more. In terms of mental health, I found this book great because it’s just so beautiful, charming, and instantly transported me back to my childhood and happy memories of watching the film countless times. The illustrations are very pretty and most are of real things, that have colour schemes that you could copy realistically if you wish, or in any colours you choose. Good Wives and Warriors have done a wonderful job of bringing huge amounts of charm to their illustrations of even the darkest scenes and they’re all dispersed with flowers and other pretty things meaning the book doesn’t feel negative or sad at all and just lifts your spirits, even when the witch is trying to kill Dorothy and her friends! I really enjoyed just looking through the book and reliving the story of my childhood and poring over each image, all exquisitely drawn and waiting to be coloured. The images are quite detailed and intricate but they’re not overwhelming so you don’t need perfect vision or fine motor control, though it will need to be fairly good, and the size of the book means you don’t need really good concentration levels either. If you love The Wizard of Oz, or GWAW’s work then this book is sure to be beneficial to your mental health with its positive content and detailed images filled with hundreds of things to look at and colour. I adore the work of these talented illustrators and squealed with excitement when looking through this beautiful new instalment that they’ve created! I would highly recommend this book, especially to those who are fans of The Wizard of Oz story, or Good Wives and Warriors’ work because this book really doesn’t disappoint, not only is this a beautiful colouring book, it’s also a wonderful pictorial retelling of a classic story that so many of us love. The book is really cohesive and I found it great for my own mental health so hopefully it’ll be just as good for yours too as it transports you back to your childhood and off to the land of Oz.

This colouring book has quickly become one of my wife’s favourites. She recently took up colouring as a way to unwind and de-stress, and Escape to Oz: A Colouring Book Adventure has been an excellent choice. The illustrations are beautifully detailed without being overwhelming, striking a great balance between creativity and relaxation. Each page feels thoughtfully designed and engaging, making it easy to lose yourself in the process and switch off from everyday stress. The paper quality is also very good, holding colour well without excessive bleed-through. What really stands out is how calming and immersive the book is. It’s ideal for anyone using colouring as a mindfulness activity or simply looking for a creative escape. Overall, this is a lovely colouring book that delivers both quality and enjoyment, and it’s easy to see why it’s become a firm favourite in our house. Highly recommended.

The pictures are very attractive and detailed, but the paper in the copy I received is quite yellow. Not what I would call 'creamy', or 'off-white' - I would say yellow. Such a shame as it spoils what would otherwise be a lovely book - I was so pleased to find this, and now feel quite disappointed. The book is quite small at 19cm square. Some of the illustrations look as if they have been cropped too close - as if they'd been designed for a larger page and then trimmed, and you have to colour to the edges of the page. The cover is highlighted with gold and green. The pages are quite thick and the paper is good quality - apart from being yellow. I guess there is some variation between print runs, but I don't know why they decided to print on such yellow paper for this one.

Great coloring book would buy again Fast

I am now the proud owner of all the Good Wives and Warriors colouring books with each one being better than the last! I had very high hopes for this release and it has not disappointed! Oz has been captured magnificently, with a number of 2 page spreads as well as single page spreads on good quality paper, what more could you ask for?! This is the last in the series for puffin but I do hope they continue to delight us with more books based on classic books! I am really looking forward to see what is next for the Good Wives and Warriors duo!

Lovely pictures , only problem is when over 2 pages I cant get to centre parts or use to frame as I often do with good pics

Another of the Escape To series by the Good Wives and Warriors, and I love it. Yes, its small (just over 7 inches square) but perfect for my travels in my caravan. The paper is of medium quality and some illustrations are on single sides of the paper and others are on both sides. It is possible, with work, to get the book to lay reasonably flat, but a little of the picture is lost in the spine. The best results seem to be from gel pens and pencils, and although layering is possible, the paper will not take too many layers. The drawings are lovely and follow the story of Dorothy and the yellow brick road and feature everything I would expect. There are quotes and plenty of little touches to make this a great addition to all the things we love about this classic story. Thoroughly recommended as a great "get away from it all" colouring experience.

Book is lovely inside! Bought as a gift and somewhat jealous i don't have it

I love this series of coloring books. I plan on purchasing the rest.

Diese Escape-Reihe von Good Wives and Warriors ist einfach nur schön. Ich hatte erst das Büchlein über Shakespeares Werke und war so begeistert das ich mir die anderen 3 nun auch geholt habe. Dieses hier, Escape to Oz, ist auch wunderbar umgesetzt, man erkennt die Szenen und es stehen auch kleine Texte dazu. Die Motive sind detailliert und sehr schön. Ich war erst verwundert weil die Bücher doch recht klein sind aber nun finde ich das sogar ganz angenehm zu händeln. Das Papier hat eine gute Stärke und ist glatt und weiß. Für normale Buntstifte und Gelstifte auf jeden Fall gut geeignet, bei Filzer bin ich mir nicht sicher. Die Heftung der Seiten ist auch gut, so kommt man beim colorieren auch gut bis in die Mitte.Ich empfehle dieses Büchlein sehr gerne weiter. Vielleicht nich für Anfänger aber es sind ja auch einfachere Motive dabei. Verpackung und Versand waren gut und schnell.

As described

Je sius folle apres JB et GWAW. Mais contrairement au JB, eux continuent de publier des petites livres incroyables. Merci, jamais déçue.

I own a number of the “Escape” coloring books by Good Wives and Warriors. Each one has been a fantastic and fun coloring adventure. This one, based on “The Wizard of Oz” is another great entry. It is the same size as the others (at approximately 7.5 x 7.25 inches) and has fantastic designs that mostly spread across two pages (though there are a few one page designs included as well.) It is fun to see Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. The “magic” shoes are silver as described in the book rather than the ruby slippers of the movie. In my first project, I did a nod to the movie with the beginning of the tornado down in grayscale and then I moved to color just as the movie moved to color on the other side of the rainbow. The designs are very detailed and, in many cases, intricate with small elements to color. I am choosing to use colored pencils with sharp points as it will be easier to color the tiny parts and because the designs are printed on both sides of the page. The attached cover of the book is well made and is done in shades of green with black lines and also has gold foil. You can color the remainder of the cover (front and back) if you wish. The inside of the cover has fold-outs (front and back) and a white lines on green print which you can also color. The rest of the pages (including title and intro) are designs, so every page in the book can be colored. The binding is sewn rather than glued, so removing pages will require a few snips of threads every few pages. I prefer to leave my together as it tells a whole story as it is but coloring into the binding takes some manipulation of the book. 96 pages of Fantastic Wizard of Oz designs Designs are printed on both sides of the page Paper is heavyweight, cream colored, slightly rough and non-perforated 30 Designs are printed across two pages Sewn Binding More than half of the designs merge into the binding area Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper. If you use these, the ink will mar the design on the back of the page. Water-based markers left indistinct shadows on the back of the page but did not bleed through. The shadows were enough to be noticeable on the designs on the back of the page. Gel pens and India ink pens did not bleed through. Colored pencils work well with this paper – both oil based and water based. I was able to layer and blend well using a blender stick and get a nice deep color with both types of pencils.