Fall Harvest Mini Coloring Book by Gaynor Carradice

It has been a draining year, y’all. There have been so many high points (Arsenal winning the league! My babies starting another year of school!) but also so many low points (my mysterious ongoing health issues, creeping fascism, and now the death of actual angel Dolly Parton included.) I’ve had to let so many things, primarily artistic, fall by the wayside. So far this year I’ve done a grand total of two art classes, when I used to do them almost weekly.

So when the lovely publicist at Adams Media (hi, Cindy!) offered me this title, I jumped at the chance! Something small and low pressure like this seemed like the perfect way to ease myself back into a regular creative practice. And now that I’ve had the chance to try it out, dear reader, I can assure you that this has been absolutely therapeutic in allowing me to enjoy making art once more.

The book itself fits the Cute ‘n’ Cozy name of the series perfectly. At about four inches square, it’s compact and easy to throw into an art kit. The forty-five black and white line illustrations inside feature both bold patterns and more intricate designs, all revolving around the theme of autumn and the harvest. Gaynor Carradice has drawn some lovely little scenes here, featuring the charming anthropomorphic animals that she’s especially good at.

The illustrations are each on the single side of a page, both to avoid bleed through and to make it easier to tear out pictures you particularly love for decoration elsewhere. That said, the paper quality is so high that I didn’t have bleed through at all when using my usual roster of Posca paint and Faber Castell markers. I also used Faber-Castell colored pencils, and while the tooth of the paper is pretty smooth, I didn’t have any trouble putting down or layering color. The smaller size of each illustration — as well as the linework that allowed me to do as little or as much decorative work as I fancied — made it so that I felt extremely accomplished after finishing even just one page, tho I definitely sat and colored in two pieces in far less time than it might have taken me to complete an actual art lesson. It was such a nice, fast, easy way to remind myself that I am still a creative person who is capable of making beautiful things, even if I’m constantly lacking in the time and energy that I really want to pour into art nowadays.

I’ll admit that I was a little taken aback by the price tag, as the MSRP of USD9 does seem a little on the high end. But the quality of the product is so high, with such delightful art, that it’s definitely worth every penny, especially if you’re looking to jumpstart your creative juices right as fall comes around the corner here in the Northern Hemisphere. If you’re elsewhere or elsewhen, this also serves as a lovely reminder of autumn coziness, in addition to being a charming and compact creative spark.

Fall Harvest Mini Coloring Book by Gaynor Carradice was published today August 25 2026 by Adams Media and is available from all good booksellers, including