National Coloring Book Day
When it comes to coloring, Dover Publications is a company of firsts. It all started in 1970 when we did something really unique — we created the first coloring book targeted at an adult audience, Antique Automobiles. Take a look at our many coloring book milestones:
1970— Antique Automobiles, the first coloring book aimed at adults, is published.
   
1971— Adult coloring books flourish, and we publish American Wild Flowers, The Illuminated Alphabet, Edward Lear, Middles Ages and North American Indian Designs, (most of these still in print!).
   
1971— We also began publishing coloring books for children: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Aesop's Fables and Alice in Wonderland.
   
1972— Stained Glass Windows, our first Stained Glass coloring book, is published.
   
1979— Write Your Own Story Coloring Book, the first interactive coloring book, is published.
   
1982— Our Fairy Tale Hidden Picture Coloring Book was the first book to combine coloring and puzzles.
   
1982— Still popular today, the Human Anatomy Coloring Book was the first science coloring book.
   
1983— The First Cookbook for Children was praised for its educational qualities in addition to the hours of coloring entertainment it offered.
   
1986— Our first truly educational coloring book was released: Fun with Letters Coloring Book.
   
1992— We published the first coloring books to help teach foreign language vocabulary — Spanish Alphabet Coloring Book, French Alphabet Coloring Book.
   
1994— Our coloring books become translated into other languages. The first were all in Spanish — Cuento de Pedro, el Conejo (Peter Rabbit), Cascanueces ("The Nutcracker"), Sirenita ("The Little Mermaid") Belle Durmiente ("Sleeping Beauty").
   
1996— Our Color Your Own Art Masterpieces series marked the first time well known fine art was licensed for use in coloring books.
   
1997— The first fashion coloring book was Tom Tierney's Civil War Fashions Coloring Book, which was published after seeing the popularity of similar books with uniforms and costumes.
   
1997— Coloring is not only creative, but it can reinforce concepts in an instructional guide. Ballet Class Coloring Book helped teach basic positions in ballet.
   
2002— We began focusing on an even younger audience when we released At the Zoo, the first of a series that was the first aimed at a pre-K to K audience.
   
2004— This year we partnered with the American Museum of Natural History to create the Exploring the American Museum of Natural History coloring book, our first museum collaboration.
   
2005— When we first released Country Scenes to Paint or Color it was a precursor to our Creative Haven® line — printed on one side only on heavier stock.
   
2010— Build a Poster Coloring Book--Farm & Zoo was our first poster book, where the pages can be taped together to make a larger scene.
   
2010— Dover published its first series of 3D coloring books, complete with 3D glasses.
   
2011— Build a Window Stained Glass Coloring Book took our popular Build a Poster concept, and adapted it for use in windows.
   
2012— Dover introduced Creative Haven®, today the most comprehensive line of coloring books for adults.
   
   
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