About the Book
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Authors:
- Rick Riordan
- Keith Robinson
Cover Story: With (Mostly) Flying Colours
Arty Art: Heroic
Colour Me Radd: The Man Boy, The Myth, The Legend; Like a Stone; I’ll See You in Hades
Colour Me Badd: Feeling Blue
I See Your True Colours: It’s Not You, It’s Me
Source Material
Title: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)
Author: Rick Riordan
Published: 2005
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Cover Story: With (Mostly) Flying Colours
My recollection of The Lightning Thief is extremely fuzzy, but I don’t think this happened in it? Makes for stunning imagery, though.
The Deal:
It’s the colouring book version of the novel that started it all! For the uninitiated, 12 y.o. Percy Jackson discovers that he’s a demigod — as in, he has a Greek god for a parent. And then, y’know, chaos ensues. But as a colouring book! (And fortunately more faithful than some other visual representations that shall not be named.)
Arty Art: Heroic
Rick Riordan’s covers are gorgeously illustrated by John Rocco, so Keith Robinson had big shoes to fill — and he pulled it off. The artwork fits right in with the rest of the Riordanverse, echoing Rocco’s style without being an exact imitation.
However, the physical book itself isn’t optimal for actual colouring. The illustrations are printed on both sides of the pages, and many also extend very close or right to the binding.
Colour Me Radd: The Man Boy, The Myth, The Legend
It’s always fun to see what characters that you’ve read so much about would look like. Although I did agonize over what the Yancy Academy colours are supposed to be. (I even checked if it was ever mentioned, before just picking something that wasn’t orange or purple (for Camps Half-Blood and Jupiter, of course).)
Colour Me Radd: Like a Stone
Even just flipping through the pages was a fun refresher of memorable scenes from The Lightning Thief, like this one at Aunty Em’s Gnome Emporium.
Colour Me Radd: I’ll See You in Hades
Not only are all the key moments included, but everything seems true to the descriptions. Here’s Percy’s first impression of Hades (which I did not consult prior to choosing my colours):
He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn’t bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.
Colour Me Sadd: Feeling Blue
As much as I love the spotlight on Sally Jackson’s blue food, I had to exhaust all the blue colours in my arsenal to finish this page.
I had to.
I See Your True Colours: It’s Not You, It’s Me
Book, your illustrations are beautiful, but I’m a colourer of simple tastes. I know I don’t have to, but I’d need to spend a lot of time colouring to be worthy of your masterpieces. That’s not what I’m looking for in a colouring book (I don’t need instant gratification, but maybe like half-hour gratification?), but I have no doubt that you’ll make plenty of other people very happy.
Literary Matchmaking
There are several other colouring books based on popular book series, like The Lunar Chronicles Coloring Book by Kathryn Gee.
Michelle Volansky’s illustrations in Boss Babes have fewer intricate details, as well as bonus feminism.
If you want to colour but not have to pick the colours, I like Gareth Moore’s Ultimate Dot to Dot, although you’d have to connect the dots first.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Disney Hyperion. I received neither money nor gelato for writing this review (dammit!). The Percy Jackson Coloring Book is available now.
