Book Nook: New Artistic Titles from Quarto

Quarto Publishing has a variety of new books, which I loved reviewing!

Draw, Color, and Sticker Creative Lettering Sketchbook was a lot of fun for my older daughter. She loves doodling, and this provided a lot of great prompts and ideas to get her going. The paper was uncoated and a good weight for using nearly any medium (she prefers colored pens and pencils). The stickers were also uncoated, and it was fun for her to color her own stickers to use on envelopes. The art styles would also be appropriate for teens and adults who love to draw and have a little bit of inspiration to get them started.

Brain Bend had the craziest mazes I'd ever seen. It was like two books in one - there was a page of illustration, then a page of the same thing as a maze, then a page of the same thing that could be colored. They were very detailed, so they definitely aren't for younger kids, but more for much older kids, teens, and adults. The paper is heavy, so it will again work for any medium. The pages are also perforated, making it easy to tear a few out of the book at a time instead of trying to hold the book open. Solutions are in the back for the crazy maze designs.

Busy Family Calendar 2018 had fun stickers and a great theme. The illustrations would fit with a variety of decor - retro, outdoorsy, colorful, neutrals, etc. The reminder stickers help highlight events, and the storage pocket is a unique feature not found on many calendars!

My favorite of the bunch was Color for Calm All Year Long. My older daughter loves art, and loves having her own calendar, so this is going to be hers. The designs are pretty, don't take a lot of time, but look very nice when done. The calendar comes with a set of colored pencils that fit right on the stand, so you don't have to look for colors when you decide to work on it.