There are so many adult books now for coloring and doodling, that the choices for leitmotifs have exploded. These books are said to help transform your mind and spirit by aiding relaxation and helping to relieve stress. Coloring is touted as a form of meditation. So what theme to choose?

Doodle Lit offers a twist on the usual coloring book by offering outlines and suggestions for what pictures to make. As the author contends:

“There is magic in doodling. when you draw or doodle without planning and thinking you let your creativity reveal itself without your brain getting in the way, so whatever you make has a story to tell you.”

But this book, a collaborative effort by the team that produces books for “BabyLit” (author Jennifer Adams along with illustrator Alison Oliver), does even more. Most double page spreads have a picture or information on one side, and space for your own doodles on the other. It provides samples of doodles by famous writers accompanied by their quotes about doodling; little historical footnotes about doodle shapes (like coats of arms or weather vanes); and spurs to creative thinking, such as: if you owned a shoe store, what would you sell? If you had a diary, what would you doodle as some of the things you saw or did? What would your garden grow?

Evaluation: This book has lots of fun information in addition to equipping you with templates and inspiration for fun and relaxation. For example, you can see the bizarre doodles of Lewis Carroll, a map of Huckleberry Finn’s journeys, and find out about the backgrounds of such authors as Arthur Conan Doyle, Emily Bronte, Mark Twain, and Bram Stoker. You will be encouraged to doodle shapes as diverse as gargoyles, vampires, ball gowns, and Easter eggs.

This would make a fun gift for yourself or others! Be sure to include a package of markers! ( )