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 The trend has spawned coloring parties and clubs where grown-ups
get together to color and socialize.
"You feel creative and you're like, 'Wow, I didn't know I could
that, that looks pretty good,'" Washington resident Lydia Pesant
said at a city library that hosts coloring parties every month.
With thousands of titles on the market, coloring books emerged as
the most popular category of 2015, according to Publisher's Weekly,
a trade magazine.
Nielsen Bookscan, a data provider, estimates that more than 2,000
coloring books were published in 2015, up from 300 in 2014.
Illustrator Teresa Roberts Logan said many people preferred the
books to scrapbooking or knitting as a way to relieve stress because
of the minimal investment required.
"You could have three or four color pencils with you or use your
kid's crayons," said Roberts, who has produced her own book of
paisley designs. "They're very accessible, they're very portable. I
think they're user-friendly."
The adult coloring books are a far cry from the ones with simple
pictures aimed at children. They often feature pages of complex
black-and-white drawings frequently inspired by flowers, animals and
geometrical patterns.
Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford's 2013 book, "Secret Garden: An
Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book," is often credited with
accelerating the trend. It has sold 11 million copies worldwide.
Coloring books have made their way into online retailer Amazon's
list of best-selling books, often occupying spots in the top 20.
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The books can be found in special displays at bookstores and even in
grocery stores, such as Whole Foods in the United States.
With Neilsen Bookscan estimating 12 million copies sold in the
United States in 2015, the trend shows little sign of slowing. A new
generation of coloring books taking inspiration from pop culture
instead of more traditional designs is expected to hit stores in
2016.
"It's worth saying that whereas several years ago that would have
been seen as something in just a younger market, today these are
very much marketed and pitched towards an adult audience," said John
Purves, deputy director of marketing and publicity at Politics and
Prose bookstore in Washington.
(Editing by Ian Simpson and Bill Trott)
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