Someone on the Facebook page asked if there were any African coloring books for adults so I have been searching for the ones that have gotten the best reviews.
Coloring Books depicting African Americans
24 Shades of Business
24 Shades of business celebrates the beauty of melanin and black girl magic featuring CEO’s and entrepreneurs.
Click to Order Amazon US, UK or Canada or Worldwide Book Depository
Naturally Cute Coloring Book
This 50-page coloring book includes natural hairstyles including Afros, braids, locks, short fades, curly twist, and more. The illustrations do have some thick black lines and are on the simpler side but there’s lots of detail to the different hairdo’s depicted. *Top Seller 2018*
Naturally Cute Too
Naturally Cute Too has 50 pages that celebrate the beauty of natural hair and the power of sisterhood amongst black women.
Click to Order Amazon US, UK or Canada
Africa Coloring Book
This is the first coloring book from Alisa Calder. It contains African women, animals and other scenes printed on one side of the paper.
African Glamour Coloring Book
There are 31 pictures in the African Glamour that include beautiful head wraps and gowns decorated with patterns in traditional African designs. The background includes animals, plants, and ornaments. The pages are perforated and printed on one side only for easy removal like all Creative Haven Coloring Books.
Click to Order Amazon US, UK & Canada Or Book Depository Worldwide
Back in the Days Coloring Book
Illustrated by Jamel Shabazz depicting his life in Brooklyn in the 60’s.
Click to order Back in the Days
Soulful Colouring Book
I recently received the book Soulful Colouring from the creator Sophia Jackson and it is a nice professionally published book that comes in either hardcover or paperback. Each page has an affirmation or mantra from SoJay along with an illustration that depicts the ideas of the quote.
Color My Fro: A Natural Hair Coloring Book for Big Hair Lovers of All Ages
In “Color My Fro”, 31 big-haired fairies, mermaids, warriors, models, cheerleaders, and fierce divas grace the pages of this coloring book celebrating the beauty of black women and natural hair. At each turn of the page, a new natural hair inspired illustration greets you. Click here to Order Color My Fro Amazon US, UK or Canada
I Love My Hair: A Coloring Book of Braids, Coils, and Doodle Dos
This book has 30 reviews with a 4.5 ranking, click here to purchase
Andrea Pippins is an influencer, an artist, a designer, and an educator with a penchant for cool and a personality as warm as her Brazilian roots. Her work can be seen in magazines and on television, as well as on clothing and stationery.
Andrea teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art and creates digital and screen-printed artwork in which she explores color, pattern, and texture while interpreting her personal experiences as an African American woman. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where you can often find her dancing in her living room with the samba music turned way up. This is her first book.
Great African Americans Coloring Book
This Dover Coloring Book depicts the lives and achievements of notable African Americans spring to life in this carefully researched and finely rendered coloring book. Spanning over 150 years of American history, the volume pays tribute to figures in civil rights, music, sports, politics, literature, government, and other areas. Click here to purchase Amazon US
Forty-five ready-to-color illustrations depict a group of remarkable people — Dred Scott, a slave who sued for his freedom in 1838; Sojourner Truth, a crusader for women’s rights and racial equality; author Toni Morrison; Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and other notables, including Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, W. E. B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, Rosa Parks, Duke Ellington, Muhammad Ali, Marcus Garvey, Jesse Jackson, Eubie Blake, Mother Hale, Thurgood Marshall, Katherine Dunham, Marian Anderson, and many others.
Captions for each illustration document individual accomplishments, making this not only an entertaining coloring book, but also an informative review of the many and varied achievements of African Americans.
Famous African-American Women
The contributions of African-American women to education, civil rights, literature, the performing arts, athletics, and other areas are documented in this carefully rendered coloring book. Forty-five illustrations highlight achievements of such notable women as Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou, Hattie McDaniel, Toni Morrison, Ella Fitzgerald, Leontyne Price, and Shirley Chisholm. Captions. Written by Janet Baine KopitoCal Massey (Illustrator)
Click here to order Amazon US UK or Canada
The Colorful Adventures of Zoe & Star: An Activity and Coloring Book
Illustrated by Crystal Swain-Bates you will meet Zoe & Star, two adventurous African-American girls who just love to have fun! Follow them throughout over 45 fun-filled coloring and activity pages that inspire creativity, promote self-confidence, and celebrate diversity.
Activity pages include fill-in-the-blank exercises (for example, “You are beautiful just the way you are”), thought-provoking questions (“If you could fly anywhere in the world, where would you go?”), and fun pictures to complete (“Design Zoe and Star’s dresses for the ball!).
A native of Atlanta, GA, Crystal Swain-Bates is an author and the owner of Goldest Karat Publishing, a boutique publisher that aims to fill the diversity gap in traditional publishing by providing readers with high quality books featuring characters of African descent. Crystal’s children’s books include “Big Hair, Don’t Care”, “Naturally Me!”, “Supermommy”, “The Colorful Adventures of Zoe & Star”, “The Colorful Adventures of Cody & Jay”, and the natural hair inspired coloring book “Color My Fro”. Crystal holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Florida State University and is an avid world traveler.
Skin Tone Coloring Supplies
Prismacolor Portrait Set of Colored Pencils 24 Colors
LYRA Color-Giants Unlacquered Colored Pencils, 6.25mm Cores, Set of 12, Skin Tone Colors
Derwent Academy Watercolor Pencils, Skintones, Metal Tin, 12 Colors
Crayola 8 Count Washable Multicultural Colors Conical Tip Markers
Coloring Books depicting African animals and scenes
African Designs a Creative Haven book illustrated by Marty Noble
Click here to purchase Amazon US
Thirty-one large, ready-to-color illustrations, all adapted from traditional African designs, reflect the continent’s rich artistic and cultural heritage. Carefully rendered from authentic artifacts are a Moorish textile pattern, an Ashanti carved door panel, an antelope-shaped wooden headdress from Mali, and more. Pages are perforated and printed on one side only for easy removal and display. Specially designed for experienced colorists, African Designs and other Creative Haven® coloring books offer an escape to a world of inspiration and artistic fulfillment. Each title is also an effective and fun-filled way to relax and reduce stress.
Traditional African Designs Coloring Book Illustrated by Gregory Mirow
Click here to purchase Amazon US
African art, with its striking and imaginative themes, has had a tremendous influence on contemporary art and design. The motifs in this rich collection of traditional African designs reflect the vigor and spirit of this dynamic and expressive art form.
Stylized lions, birds, fish, alligators, and other animals; totemic figures; and abstracts, geometrics, zigzags, and border configurations are just a few of the subjects carefully adapted by artist Gregory Mirow from shields, masks, jewelry, textiles, wall paintings, carved panels, fans, rock paintings, leather work, gourds, and other sources. Over 200 designs, boldly rendered in black and white, include authentic motifs and art from many different African countries, among them Dahomey, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Ghana.
African Plains Coloring Book illustrated by Dianne Gaspas-Ettl
This coloring book documents the flora and fauna of the African plains with 41 realistic scenes (including four double-page spreads), meticulously researched and accurately rendered by artist Dianne Gaspas-Ettl, depict a variety of wild animals in their natural habitats.
Click here to purchase Amazon US
Wild Animals Coloring Book illustrated by John Green
This coloring book isn’t strictly African but many of the wild animals depicted are native to Africa. Detailed, accurate, ready-to-color illustrations depict 47 species from around the globe, including the rhinoceros (black, white, and Indian), Grant’s zebra, impala, giraffe, camel (dromedary and Bactrian), European and American bison, llama and vicuña, giant panda, elephant (Indian and African), gnu (wildebeest), chimpanzee, hippopotamus and pygmy hippopotamus, gorilla, snow leopard, yak, Asiatic buffalo (water buffalo), jaguar, bighorn sheep, black bear, polar bear, black-backed jackal, reindeer (caribou), tiger, red kangaroo, giant anteater, and more.
Click here to purchase Amazon US
Vive Le Color! Africa Coloring Adultsor adults illustrated by Abrams Noterie
Each illustration is accompanied by a brief caption describing the habits of the species; many depict the animals as they might appear in their natural habitat — lions drowsing in the heat of the African veldt, a leopard lying in ambush on a limb, a giant panda contentedly munching bamboo, a polar bear and her cub surveying their icy domain, and more. Several double-page spreads depict exciting scenes of predator-prey relationships: muskoxen warily eying a pack of wolves, a mountain lion stalking mountain goats, and others.
- Click here to purchase
- Top-bound coloring pad is perfect for the right- and left-handed
- Detachable sheets make it easy to display your finished work or share pages at coloring parties
- 72 illustrations are printed single-sided on high-quality paper that is suitable pencils, markers, and watercolors
- Compact size is great for travel, and a smaller page is less time-consuming to complete
- Pad has a thick backer board so that you can color with the book on your lap
In Memory of Cecil the Lion – Beloved Friends in Africa
In memory of Cecil, we in Hong Kong gathered a group of artists to create this exquisite coloring book about Africa’s precious animals. Every book you buy is a contribution to their welfare. 10% of every sale is donated to WildCRU, University of Oxford, in support of their continuous efforts towards animal protection.
This book is an ode to creatures like Cecil. It is filled with intricate sketches that soothe as you color them. Best of all, by buying a copy, you have made a difference! You can see more information on their Facebook page here.
Animal Kingdom: Color Me, Draw Me illustrated by Millie Marott
Many of Millie Marotta’s images in “Animal Kingdom” are found on the continent of Africa and this book is one of the best selling of 2015. Enter her captivating animal kingdom, featuring everything from beautiful birds to fantastic fish, delicate dragonflies to elaborately decorated elephants. Give a rooster plumage, adorn a tortoise’s shell, create a backdrop for a ram, and more inspiring creative fun. The high-quality paper makes it perfect for color pencils.
These books are also all available from Dover Publications here or Book Depository here.
If you know of any other Coloring Books that fit this category, please feel free to add them in the comments below.
Thanks very much for this list. I didn’t know these books existed.
You are quite welcome Ingrid, one of the members of the Facebook group asked if there were any African Coloring Books so I went on a quest. 🙂 I’m glad you found us.