Adult coloring books have exploded in popularity in recent years, spanning age brackets such as teenagers and early 20’s to adults in their 30’s and 40’s.

Taking the time to relax is vital for busy and stressed out college students. Relaxing helps us all maintain physical, mental and emotional health. One of my favorite things to do when I need to relax is to color. There is something serene and calming about putting colored pencils, markers or crayons to a page and filling it with colors of your choosing. You get to create something beautiful with little effort.

My favorite adult coloring book artist is a woman named Johanna Basford. She has published three adult coloring books since 2013 that are filled with beautiful and detailed images and magical scenes that she hand drew herself. In addition, she included hidden images, such as birds, sharks and butterflies, that you can find if you look for them. Each book contains almost 100 pages for coloring including the dust jacket, which can be colored as well.

Basford entitled her first inky adventure coloring book “Secret Garden.” This theme included elaborate trees, charming owls and scenes filled with flowers and birds. Her second book was “Enchanted Forest” with pages of castles, foxes, hot air balloons and mischievous elves. Basford’s most recent book, released in early November, was “Lost Ocean.” This edition has mermaids, friendly octopi, shipwrecks, treasure chests and of course plenty of fish.

Whether you love adult coloring books or haven’t picked a coloring book up since you were a child, I highly recommend any coloring books by Johanna Basford. Her artwork comes to life on the pages and is filled with magic and beauty that can take you away to a happy, mystical place.

Adult coloring books are available at all major bookstores as well as retail stores such as Target and Walmart.