by Kanoko Egusa
on 7 January 2016
Style: Contains Extras, double page printing
Pages: 92
Format: Dust Jacket
A beautiful coloring book filled to the brim with adorable, whimsical scenes all illustrated with a fine, delicate hand. The imagination of Egusa Kanoko the artist is breathtaking and magical.
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Rhapsody in the Forest – Coloring Book Review
I love this book except for one thing …..I have no idea who the illustrator is. As you can see from the cover it is not an English book. Unfortunately, I was a bit of a ratbag at school and was asked to leave all the foreign language classes …. I am hopeful, that you will know who the illustrator is and can enlighten me 🙂 If anyone is able to translate it would be very much appreciated 🙂 Update: one of the lovely readers has advised that the artist is Kanoko Egusa. Thank you!
Cover & Layout
Rhapsody in the Forest is a lovely square book. It measures approximately 25cm x 25cm. It has an unassuming buff dust jacket which has pictures of bunnies, butterflies and woodland animals on the front and the cutest kitties on the back. There is a fold out flap with some line art that you could color in. The card cover book underneath has a muddy brown ink with a pattern of various animals. Of course, you could color the dust jacket in but I think it may not be worth it to cover the actual cover of the book. The muddy brown ink may not suit all color palettes.
Illustrations
I adore the illustrations in this book but I am going to be honest with you. This book is badly named. There is very little forest to be seen between the covers which is fine by me. Alternatively, I would love to live in the forest of the artist’s dreams because it is covered in cupcakes and kitty cats, some of my favorite things 🙂
The nameplate page is beautiful which consists of a wreath with little birds on it. I have to say that artists are making the nameplate page on their books absolutely divine nowadays!
The illustrations are presented on both sides of the paper which is white but not bright white. The paper is thin but quite sturdy. As always, I would practice on the title or rear pages to check if there is any bleed through with wet media.
The illustrations are gorgeous but they are not really forest related. You will be taken on a tour that includes cats in rooms, bunnies and budgerigars, animals in dress ups and beautiful birds. Of course, there are also cupcakes. I have never seen so many cupcakes in the forest 🙂
I love the double page spread that has a black background. It’s always nice to see a bit of variety in backgrounds I think within a book. There’s also another double page spread of cats riding unicorns with a lovely grey background. It is a quirky book that makes me smile when I flick through the pages.
The line work in the book is beautiful, crisp, clear and delicate on the whole. There are some illustrations that may be difficult to see if you have visual issues due to the line weight being quite fine. For these illustrations, I’ll need to put my magnifying lamp on.
Many of the illustrations are a double page spread. For these illustrations they go right to the spine of the book. However, the book does lay down flat with some gentle persuasion so coloring should not be to much problem.
Rhapsody in the Forest Coloring Book illustrated by Kanoko Egusa Video Review
Enjoy the flip through review of Rhapsody in the Forest Coloring Book below:
Bonus
At the end of the book, there is another little surprise for you. Printed on Kraft paper of a medium type quality you will find two lovely postcards. Over the page you will find 5 gift tags or ornaments printed on the same Kraft style paper. The tags have been perforated for easy removal and feature a variety of cute animals.
Where to buy Rhapsody in the Forest Coloring Book
International colorists can purchase from Yes Asia here – with free shipping.
You can also buy from etailer here or in the UK here or from Japan here Amazon JP
Other Books by Kanoko Egusa
In July 2016 Kanoko released her follow up to Rhapsody in the Forest. This book is titled Menuet de Bonheur Coloring Book and you can see my review here.
Happy coloring x
Lea
I am having difficulty getting my hands on a copy of this book. I saw a YouTube walk thru and fell in love with it.
Ebay or Etsy often have this book. There is also a shop called Kinokinuya.com (which is where I bought mine from) where you can purchase it from. They have an online store and have branches around the world but not in the UK. Amazon Japan also stock it from time to time. It is not the easiest book to track down. If you go direct to the comments area on my You Tube channel for this video you will see where some people have purchased it from as well.
ItS by a lovely Japanese artist called Egusa Kanoko
What do you think the odds are it will be picked up by a U.S. publisher? Amazon Japan has several Asian authored books that I am considering, but the shipping can be a bit steep if buying only one book. Not to mention there are only a few images to go by.
Hi Luann, I’m not sure what the odds are of the book being picked up by a US publisher. Most publishers are interested in how popular a book/artist is and how well they think the book will be received by the mraketplace. The more people that like it the higher the odds of a publisher negotiating rights. A lot of publishers are picking up books from Japan and other international locales and it seems to be gaining popularity. I am confused by the “there are only a few images to go by” comment as there are images in the post as well as an entire video walk through of the book at the end of the post. Let me know if I have not answered your question sufficiently. Happy coloring x
Sorry, I wasn’t referring to your post when I said that there were only a few images to go by. Your post was really great and detailed. Somehow, part of my post didn’t make it in. I was making a reference to the Amazon Japan website where shipping can be a bit pricey when you can’t see what is in a book. There are several books that I am interested in on their site, but there are only a few images available for viewing and am trying to wait and see if regular Amazon will carry them. I hope this clears my comment up a bit. Happy coloring to you too!
Thanks Luann! It is difficult to find pictures for the Japanese books luckily a lot are being picked up by English publish publishers. No news on this one yet but I’m crossing my fingers. I have a stack of Japanese books here to review but have been delayed with being sick. Check back so you can see inside of these gorgeous books 🙂 Happy coloring x
What kind of magnifying lamp do you use? I need to get one, but can’d decide. Preferably, I’d like one that I can clip on to my lap tray. Thanks
Hi Tammy, I am working on an article that includes my magnifying lamp but it is not finished yet. I bought it from the hardware store and it has a super bright light and a magnifying glass. You can also buy them on Amazon and it looks like this – http://amzn.to/2bVfpR2 There was no choice when I purchased. If I had a choice, like the range available online, then I would have gone with a standing lamp. They also have clip on lamps that are suitable for your lap tray as well. My lap tray comes with a light but it really isn’t strong enough for me. I also purchased a cheap set of glasses, not prescription, that are stronger than my usual reading glasses for when I don’t want to use my lamp. Hope that helps