Adult colouring book get librarian's seal of approval

Anna McVey’s daughter Lauren bought her an adult colouring book for Christmas. “It is a great excuse to do nothing, it is a mindless and relaxing activity that is very satisfying,” she says. Pictures by Liam Clayton

Avid reader and librarian Sally Dalrymple is on the adult colouring book bandwagon, after receiving one for her birthday in September.

Mrs Dalrymple says she finds her colouring book relaxing.

“They are in complete contrast to electronic devices — they are very old-school and retro, and retro is fashionable.”

She says the rise of hard-copy sales and adult colouring books, against competition from online sales and e-readers, might have a simple explanation.

“Book stores are pleasant, social places and human beings are social by nature. We are tactile, we like to feel and touch things — like turning the page.

“The adult colouring books also have that coffee-table book appeal, they are aesthetically pleasing. We like to revisit old things and memories and colouring books are a sideline like that — you can go back and look at an old picture you completed.”

Mrs Dalrymple has been the librarian at Lytton High School for 12 years. She says new-age blockbuster movie and television adaptions, starting with Harry Potter, led to a definite resurgence in reading.

“Harry Potter made books cool again. Now we have series like Twilight, Maze Runner and Game of Thrones. Other series like Divergent and Hunger Games also cross over into the adult age group too.

“The spin-off has been that more people are reading and as a result, things like colouring books have been up-dated and made cool again too.”

Mrs Dalrymple reads on average six novels a month. You can find her recommendations at Paper Plus, featuring “staff pick” stickers.