{This is my monthly book review.  Thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts.}

When I was a little girl, I loved to color, and I loved it that my mother would sit and color too. It was fun and creative for me, and we shared the experience making it all the sweeter.

My mother was my first playmate and confidant. She was my teacher and the one who told me about Jesus for the very first time.

As I became a teacher of children, I recall preparing color sheets for wee ones in Sunday school classes many times. If a picture is really worth a thousand words, then maybe coloring can help us remember those words even more.

As I grew up, I replaced coloring with note taking. If I had colored pens to do it, well, even better. I made lists, kept a calendar of events, took minutes of meetings, and wrote in journals. As more years are added to my life, it seems the more words I write.

With that in mind, I was intrigued to receive The Illustrator’s Notetaking Bible from B&H Publishing Group for a couple of reasons. It had wide, lined margins on the pages, with plenty of space to write personal notations during sermons or daily study. I like having room on the page. Some notes I’ve made in my old Bible are scrunched in small areas and often written so small I can barely read them or remember why I wrote them.

The second reason is The Illustrator’s Notetaking Bible has over 600 images and filigree designs for coloring.

The adult coloring book trend is popular, with books turning up for purchase everywhere. One article cites reasons adult coloring can be helpful. It can relieve stress, help one focus, and has been used in art therapy for years.

The Illustrator’s Notetaking Bible “combines two hot trends: Bible journaling and adult coloring. Each Bible spread contains a line-drawn illustration that can be filled in by the reader with whatever colors they choose. Includes three varieties of illustrations: (1) filigree, (2) Scripture quotes, and (3) drawings that illustrate the topic of the corresponding Bible text.”

From the title page to Revelation 22 the opportunity to color abounds in this book, offering illustrations of a story or a verse in creative lettering. Even the Table of Contents can be colored. I especially like the two-page spread for Old Testament and New Testament that incorporates coloring and almost a full page for note-taking.

The plan of salvation is the first thing after the Table of Contents, and next is an Introduction to the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the textual basis for this particular translation. This Bible also includes a concordance and a maps section.

Overall, I found this to be a premium book with its bonded leather cover. (It does come in other covers and translations. Plus, there is a version especially for teens.) It is lovely to look at and lovely to hold. The quality of the pages has a touch of elegance.

Don’t expect a lot of extra notes and explanation of Scriptures. This is not a study Bible with scholarly information throughtout. The purpose of The Illustrator’s Notetaking Bible is this: a place to write your own thoughts and notations, and a place to be creative as you meditate on God’s Word and who He is. The book fulfils its purpose very well.

I think this Bible would make a wonderful gift for someone you know or even for yourself.

NOTE:   I received a copy of the The Illustrator’s Notetaking Bible, provided by B&H Publishing, for an honest review.  The book was free.  The words are my very own.