Coloring book is a type of book that contains linear graphics, where you need to add color with crayons , markers, paints or other artistic media. Traditional coloring pages are printed on paper or a card. Some coloring pages have perforated edges, so their pages can be took out of the books and used as single sheets. Today, many children's coloring books contain popular cartoon characters . They are often used as promotional materials for animated films. Coloring pages may also include other activities, such as connecting dots , labyrinths and other puzzles . Some also use stickers .
Painting books and coloring books have appeared in the United States as part of the process of "democratizing art", inspired by a series of lectures by the British artist Joshua Reynolds and the works of the Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and his student Friedrich Fröbel . Many educators came to the conclusion, that everyone, regardless of origin, uczniowie odnieśli korzyści z edukacji artystycznej jako sposobu na zwiększenie ich konceptualnego rozumienia rzeczy materialnych, developing cognitive abilities and improving skills useful in finding a profession, as well as the spiritual upbuilding of children. Bracia McLOUGHLIN są uznawani za wynalazców kolorowanki, kiedy w latach osiemdziesiątych XIX wieku wyprodukowali The Little Folks painting book in collaboration with Kate Greenaway . They published coloring pages until the 1920s, kiedy bracia McLoughlin stali się częścią Milton Bradley Company .
Kolejnym pionierem tego gatunku był Richard F. Outcault . W 1907 year he wrote a book painterly painting by Buster , przedstawiającą postać Bustera Browna , which he invented by w 1902 year. It was published by Stokes. This started the trend of using coloring pages to advertise a wide variety of products, including coffee and pianos. Until the 1930s, books were designed with the intention of painting instead of coloring. Even when the crayons became widely used in the 1930s, books were still designed in this way, so that they can be painted or colored.
