The Green Witch’s Coloring Book by Arin Murphy-Hiscock & Sara Richards

subtitled From Enchanting Forest Scenes To Intricate Herb Gardens: Conjure The Colorful World Of Natural Magic.

Whether or not you’re already familiar with Arin Murphy-Hiscock’s Green Witch oeuvre, this is a delightful way to get to know it better. The experienced will love the way this coloring book enhances their existing practices, providing an activity that is both meditative and beautiful. The practical-minded like myself will also adore how functional this book is, as at the end of coloring each page, you’ll have made something beautiful enough to put up in your own home, perhaps as a reminder of your own Green Witch beliefs and ways. Several pages include prayers to go with the symbolism throughout, tho many pages are simply celebrations of the natural world.

This lack of heavy-handedness makes this book perfect for the novice, or even for those who aren’t particularly into this system of belief. There isn’t a ton of text, but the encouragement to open your heart to the magic of the natural world around you makes this an accessible way to learn a little more about what it means to be a Green Witch, even if that path is ultimately not for you.

Regardless of your beliefs in any direction, this is just a magnificent coloring book! The paper used for the interior pages is very good quality, on the higher end of anything on the adult coloring market. The pages don’t have quite the tooth of artist’s paper for colored pencils, but the pure white surfaces hold color well and are suitable for marker use, too. As with the better coloring books, each art piece is printed on the right hand page, with a blank side on the left for accidental ink bleed through or smudging. This also means that you don’t have to worry about sacrificing one image for another if you decide you want to frame a piece.

Speaking of which, each page is also very lightly perforated for ease of removal. If you’re one of those brave souls who wants to color the illustrations in with paint, I strongly believe that the paper could hold up to such as long as the page was carefully removed from the book first (and all other painting precautions are taken keeping the paper quality in mind.)

Sara Richard’s illustrations here are beyond amazing. Not only has she done a terrific job of communicating Green Witch values and symbolism with each page, she’s also done it in a way that invites the reader to add life and personalized choices via color to her outstanding images. A good coloring book isn’t just about pretty pictures: having images that are fun to color in can depend so much on the illustrating artist’s line choices, and Ms Richard’s just knocks that assignment out of the park with her clever use of line weights and spacings. By the end of each piece, as I felt with my own version of Autumn rendered above, I felt like she and I, with Ms Murphy-Hiscock’s guidance, had partnered together to joyfully bring a little bit more loveliness into the world.

I can also vouch for the calming influence of coloring, both as a whole and in this book, as finishing this piece kept me from completely losing my mind while watching the recent roller coaster match between my beloved Arsenal and Manchester United, lol. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys coloring, making art and practicing mindfulness, as well as for anyone interested in expanding their Green Witch practices.

The Green Witch’s Coloring Book by Arin Murphy-Hiscock & Sara Richards was published September 5 2023 by Adams Media and is available from all good booksellers, including