Our Lady's Garden and Windows into Christ (Pauline Books and Media)

Coloring has been a favorite activity for kids for what seems like forever. Many kids think they are just having fun, but it actual has numerous benefits. It promotes self-expression, teaches color recognition, hand coordination, motor skills, and it can just be considered relaxing. A recent trend has emerged in the book publishing world - adult coloring books. The main themes of these coloring books are either new age (yikes!) or popular literature (think Harry Potter). However, Pauline Books and Media has recently ventured into this space to bring us two new adult coloring books - Our Lady's Garden and Windows into Christ.

Our Lady's Garden is an adult coloring designed for prayer and meditation. The images in it are primarily flowers arranged in beautiful patterns or forming hearts. In addition to flowers though, there are images of birds, butterflies, fish, and the Blessed Mother. These images surround various prayers to Mary and different words Mary delivered at her apparitions. Some of the prayers included are the Hail Mary; Hail, Holy Queen; and Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And some of the apparitions are Fatima, Lourdes, and Guadalupe. Overall, it is a very beautiful coloring book, but I think it is one that my wife would be better at than I would be as some of these patterns are too complex for my poor coloring skills.

Windows into Christ is an adult coloring book that contains images of the stained glass windows found in the Cathedral of Chartres, France. The images begin with the four major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel) carrying the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). It then walks us through the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, starting with the Annunciation and ending with Pentecost. Each image then contains a prayer or Scripture passage to meditate on while coloring. The images in this book are more simplistic in nature, but they do not lack in beauty. If I were one who wanted to color in a religious coloring book, this is the one I would pick as it looks to be more my skill level.

Adult coloring books are not my cup of tea. In all honesty, I didn't like coloring when I was a child, and I still don't as an adult. However, if one is into coloring, then these books are a welcome Catholic alternative to the new age ones that are out there in the market. I am curious to see how long this trend of adult coloring books will stay hot, but while it does I hope the Catholic publishers use their resources to continue to publish these books and combat the secular society.

These books were provided to me for free by Pauline Books and Media in exchange for honest reviews.