Fokus na Hit

Sprookjesbos - written review, video review, and photos of the Dutch edition of Croatian book, Vilin San by Tomislav Tomic

Sprookjesbos (Dutch Edition of Vilin San) – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Sprookjesbos is published and very kindly sent to me to review by BBNC Uitgevers. Sprookjesbos is the Dutch edition of the Croatian book, Vilin San, a comparison post and video of the two can be found here. It is the second book by Tomislav Tomic, illustrator of Zemlja Snova. The title translates to Fairytale Forest. This book sadly only has half the number of images although they are equally, if not even more beautiful than Zemlja Snova. The book itself is 25cm square, paperback with flexible card covers, the cover shows a partially coloured image from inside the book and the inside covers are plain white. The spine is glue and string-bound and seems quite sturdy and durable and with a bit of work it’ll open up pretty flat, especially over time. The book has 68 pages (37 pages of images). The paper is cream, thick and lightly textured, it’s the same paper as this publisher always uses, it’s great for pencils though it can be a bit tricky with oil-based pencils like Faber-Castell Polychromos and Holbeins but Prismacolor Premiers work brilliantly. Water-based pens don’t shadow or bleed though do test in an inconspicuous area because we all colour differently and you don’t want to ruin a picture if there’s one on the reverse. The majority of the pages in this edition are printed single-sided; the double-page spreads are kept that way and therefore 12 of the pages (6 pairs) are printed double-sided but the rest are all printed single-sided meaning that you can use heavier mediums without worrying about bleed through, just pop a protective sheet behind your work to prevent any damage to the proceeding pages. Vilin San had a loose fold-out poster included but sadly, Sprookjesbos doesn’t include the poster or the imagery from it and so you’re only able to get that by purchasing Vilin San. The images themselves are very similar to those found in Zemlja Snova/Dromenvanger so if you liked that book then you’ll love this one too, all of the artwork is original and new to this book (its identical to Vilin San) though it feels familiar because of the content being similar. The illustrations contain fairies, dragons, mushrooms, butterflies, gnomes, birds, sea creatures, mice, palaces and more. The pages are all drawn as scenes and range from underwater scenes to dragons flying, fairies sleeping to hedgehogs being led through a mushroom-lined path, palace scenescapes to fantastical flying birds and so much more. Tomislav has created the drawings very considerately by leaving borders around many and those spanning a double-page having little content near the spine making it much easier to fully colour the page without any frustration of trying to access imagery in the book gutter. The illustrations are all very ornate and really beautiful to look at, this illustrator’s work really is some of the best in the world! As with Vilin San, there are no issues with images being incorrectly paired up, one of the double-page spreads is placed in a different place in the book compared to Vilin San but this has absolutely no impact on the enjoyment of the book.

In terms of mental health, this book is great for those with a good attention span. If you get overwhelmed by busy or intricate images then this won’t be for you but if you love immersive imagery that truly transports you to another place then look no further, this book is absolutely perfect. It offers so much to look at that it’s the perfect distraction for even the most persistent symptoms and it just draws you in to a magical fantastical world filled with mythical creatures, princes and princesses, castles, fairies and more. This book will be ideal for those of you who love fantasy colouring and also nature because so much of it is animal and scene-based so it’s combined two of our favourite things into one incredible book! The smaller number of pages means that it’s less daunting for those wanting to complete a whole book. The line thickness is consistent throughout and remains thin with some spindly thin details. The intricacy and detail levels remain very high throughout so you will certainly need very good vision and fine motor control to enjoy this book if you’re wanting to colour within each outlined section though it won’t need to be quite so good if you’re wanting to colour over some areas and leave the lines underneath as texture. I would highly recommend investing in a T’Gaal sharpener so that you can keep your pencils as sharp as possible! The illustrations are absolutely packed with detail and things to look at and notice, despite having Zemlja Snova for almost two years now, I’m still noticing new things and spot things I’ve never seen before when looking at other people’s finished pages and I’m absolutely certain this will be the case with Sprookjesbos too. The imagery is honestly spectacular, there aren’t many books I’m blown away by now but this one really is incredible, each image is a work of art, there are no filler pages, no random half-finished art, each page has clearly been painstakingly created and each will take hours, if not days to complete. The pages in this book aren’t quick to finish but there are lots of natural stopping points within each image so that you still get a sense of accomplishment without managing to finish a page in one sitting and these all range in size from a tiny bird or gnome all the way up to a forest of trees or giant dragon so you can pick a project of the right size for each colouring session! I adore this book, even just flicking through the pages gets me out of my head and calms my anxiety down and colouring it is just so much fun because you can use any colours you fancy from more natural colours to fantastical colours like blue for tree trunks and oranges or purples for leaves, in a fantasy world the only limit is your imagination and these images will look amazing no matter what colours you choose!

Overall, I can’t recommend this book highly enough, it’s a shame that it’s half the number of pages and even more of a shame that the poster imagery isn’t included this time and that the price doesn’t reflect this and is the same as Dromenvanger but those criticisms aside, the book and the artwork itself is truly perfect and gorgeous in every way. Tomislav’s artwork is some of the best I’ve ever seen and I really hope he’ll continue to make many more books because no matter how many times I flip through the same pages, I’m still as drawn in and transported as I was the first time I saw each illustration and that’s a really impressive feat!

If you’d like to purchase a copy then you can order it from the publisher’s site here or from any of the other Dutch sites below, not all of them ship everywhere so you might have to do a bit research. The easiest way to access these sites if you don’t read Dutch is to access them though Google Chrome and then hit the translate button on each page, it makes it really quick and easy to understand. It’s not currently available to purchase on Amazon UK but the listing can be found here and you can sign up for email alerts to be the first to know if it becomes available – Sprookjesbos
https://www.bbnc.nl/sprookjesbos?search=sprookjesbos
https://www.bol.com/nl/p/sprookjesbos/9200000095550239/?suggestionType=browse&bltgh=imC0m1ReS55T4YWuif5OWg.1.2.ProductTitle
https://www.bookspot.nl/boeken/sprookjesbos-tomislav-tomic-9789045323527
https://www.boekhandelsmit.nl/9789045323527/tomic-tomislav/sprookjesbos/
https://www.libris.nl/boek/?authortitle=tomislav-tomic/sprookjesbos–9789045323527/
http://www.dinternet.nl/Boek/Tomislav–Tomic/Sprookjesbos/9789045323527.html

Video Review and Flip Through

Sprookjesbos vs Vilin San – A Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian Editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Vilin San was published in January 2018 and illustrated by Tomislav Tomic, it’s the second book he’s illustrated and one of the most beautiful colouring books I’ve ever seen. It was published in Croatia by Fokus and has been notoriously difficult to get hold of, it has almost exclusively been acquired through the publisher’s website which my Facebook fan group runs international group orders from. This is no longer necessary for this book because Sprookjesbos will be available worldwide at a really reasonable price and with much cheaper Worldwide shipping and hopefully it’ll eventually be available on Amazon UK (and possibly other places) like Dromenvanger (the Dutch edition of Zemlja Snova) is now. The artwork is the same in both books but there are a number of subtle publication differences between the two editions which I’ve listed and detailed below, there are three very large differences too which definitely affect enjoyment of the book. If you’d rather watch a video version then scroll all the way to the bottom where the video is embedded at the end of this post.

    1. Covers – Sprookjesbos also has a soft-feel cover with glossy accents on the title, artist name and publishing logo. Vilin San has a soft-feel cover with glossy accents on the title, subtext, and artist name. 
    2. Cover Image – The cover images are the same but Vilin San is printed smaller and has a little colour added to the top and bottom. Sprookjesbos has a larger, more zoomed in version of the image with a lot more colour added to it.
    3. Publishing Logo – The publishing logo is bottom centre on the cover of Sprookjesbos and at the top right on Vilin San.
    4. Cover Card – Both books are paperback and both have equally thick card covers.
    5. Back Cover – The back cover of Sprookjesbos consists of the same image as the front cover, again, partially coloured and with the blurb in a ribbon across the centre. The back cover of Vilin San is completely black and white and the blurb is bordered by a frame from the introduction page inside the book.
    6. Inside Covers – Sprookjesbos doesn’t have French Flaps, and the inside covers are blank white. Vilin San has French flaps with black and white artwork and these open out to reveal a bluey-purple and white line drawn illustration front and back.
    7. Spine – The illustrator name and book title are differently ordered on the spines of the different editions, the subtitle is added on Vilin San. They both use completely different fonts. The Publisher logos at the bottom of the spine differ too.
    8. Book Size – Vilin San is slightly wider than Sprookjesbos because of its cover but the pages themselves are exactly the same size.
    9. Thickness – Sprookjesbos is significantly thicker than Vilin San, this is partially due to having thicker paper (more on this later) but also due to much of it being printed single-sided rather than double-sided. Sprookjesbos contains 68 pages whereas Vilin San contains 40 (plus poster).
    10. Binding – Both editions are glue and string-bound.
    11. Language – Vilin san is written in Croatian and Sprookjesbos in Dutch. I don’t read either of these languages so I’m therefore unable to comment on whether the text in each book translates the same, or whether it differs in meaning.
    12. Title – Obviously the titles differ due to language but they also slightly differ in meaning. Sprookjesbos translates as Fairytale Forest and Vilin San translates as Fairy’s Dream.
    13. Publisher – Both editions have been published by different publishing companies (hence all of these subtle differences), Vilin San is published by Fokus Na Hit and Sprookjesbos is published by BBNC Uitgevers.
    14. Paper Colour – The paper in Vilin San is bright white, the paper in Sprookjesbos is cream.
    15. Paper Thickness – The paper in both is quite thick but it’s definitely thicker in Sprookjesbos. Water-based pens heavily shadow in Vilin San but don’t shadow at all in Sprookjesbos. The paper used in Sprookjesbos is, as far as I’m aware, the same paper that BBNC Uitgevers use in all of their colouring books, it’s a little temperamental with oil-based pencils (though others have had great results with these so it may well be my technique or lack of patience) and beautiful for pens and soft pencils like Prismacolor Premiers.
    16. Copyright Page – The information is much more spread out on the page in Vilin San and is contained to the bottom half of the page in Sprookjesbos. The page is at the front, as usual, in Vilin San, but it’s the last page at the back of the book in Sprookjesbos.
    17. Image Order – The images in Sprookjesbos are printed in exactly the same order as Vilin San apart from one double-page spread containing a flying bird which has been moved from very near the end to the centre of the book, all other pages are in the same order. This doesn’t remotely affect the enjoyment or cohesion of the book.
    18. Image Size – The images in both books are exactly the same size throughout.
    19. Image Orientation – The images are spaced slightly differently between the books with a little more or less of the image shown at some edges on some pages when compared to each other, see photos for clarification.
    20. Weight – Vilin San weighs less than Sprookjesbos, it weighs 317g compared to 463g.
    21. Availability – Vilin San is extremely difficult to get hold of outside Croatia and is one of the hardest colouring books on the market to obtain. We have run international group orders through the publisher’s site for the last 9 months but this isn’t easy and has all but dried up recently. Sprookjesbos is easier to get hold of with cheaper shipping from the sites below and hopefully it’ll become easier still if it makes its way to Amazon UK like Dromenvanger has. It’s likely to take weeks or even months to get there but hopefully, eventually, it’ll be easier to purchase.
    22. Poster – Vilin San contains a beautiful 4-page poster that opens out into a huge scene. Sprookjesbos doesn’t include this or the imagery so sadly, you can only get that with Vilin San.
      Vilin San (Fairy's Dream) by Tomislav Tomic click through to read my review, see photos, see my video flip through and enter a giveaway for a copy!Vilin San (Fairy's Dream) by Tomislav Tomic click through to read my review, see photos, see my video flip through and enter a giveaway for a copy!Vilin San (Fairy's Dream) by Tomislav Tomic click through to read my review, see photos, see my video flip through and enter a giveaway for a copy!
    23. Book Layout – Vilin San is entirely printed double-sided. Sprookjesbos is printed single-sided for the majority of the book.

As you’ll have seen, there are a lot of subtle differences between the editions but hardly any of them affect use, in fact the only three that really do are the paper, the printing being single or double-sided and the lack of poster in Sprookjesbos. The single-sided printing really opens up your options for colouring because you can use so many different mediums that can’t be used when printing is double-sided. Although it’s a real shame that the poster artwork isn’t included in Sprookjesbos, and it’s a shame in some ways that the paper is cream, I know a lot of people love crisp, white paper, but this paper is thicker and ideal for water-based pens and pencils and with the (hopefully) increased accessibility, I will now forever be suggesting that people get a copy of Sprookjesbos. This new edition is beautiful and for those of you who already have Vilin San and are wondering about getting this new edition, or a second copy, I’d say definitely get a copy of Sprookjesbos, it’s beautifully produced, the illustrations look lovely on the new paper and it’s so much easier to get hold of and if you’re anything like me, you’ll want a copy of the new edition just because it’s a bit different, I truly am a colouring book hoarder!

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Sprookjesbos, it can be found at these sites:

Amazon UK – Sprookjesbos
https://www.bbnc.nl/sprookjesbos?search=sprookjesbos
https://www.bol.com/nl/p/sprookjesbos/9200000095550239/?suggestionType=browse&bltgh=imC0m1ReS55T4YWuif5OWg.1.2.ProductTitle
https://www.bookspot.nl/boeken/sprookjesbos-tomislav-tomic-9789045323527
https://www.boekhandelsmit.nl/9789045323527/tomic-tomislav/sprookjesbos/
https://www.libris.nl/boek/?authortitle=tomislav-tomic/sprookjesbos–9789045323527/
http://www.dinternet.nl/Boek/Tomislav–Tomic/Sprookjesbos/9789045323527.html

Video Comparison Post

Vilin San (Fairy's Dream) by Tomislav Tomic click through to read my review, see photos, see my video flip through and enter a giveaway for a copy!

Vilin San (Fairy’s Dream) – A Review and WORLDWIDE GIVEAWAY

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Vilin San is published and very kindly sent to me to review by Fokus, they have also sent me a second copy to give away and you can enter my Worldwide Giveaway until 23.59 GMT on the 31st of January by clicking this link and following the instructions. Vilin San is a Croatian book and the title translates to Fairy’s Dream, it’s illustrated by Tomislav Tomic, the illustrator of hugely popular Zemlja Snova (Dreamland) and the Dutch edition, Dromenvanger. This book sadly only has half the number of pages but it does come with an exciting added extra and is equally if not even more beautiful than Zemlja Snova. It arrives wrapped in plastic to keep it protected from damage and to keep all parts together (more on this later). The book itself is 25cm square, paperback with flexible card covers, (these are a little thinner and much bendier than Zemlja Snova’s covers) and two-third French flaps which open out to reveal a white line drawing on a blue/purple background, the cover shows a partially coloured image from inside the book. The spine is glue and string-bound and seems quite sturdy and durable and with a bit of work it’ll open up pretty flat, especially over time. The book only has 40 pages, Zemlja Snova had 84, oddly, it’s less than half the thickness, the publishers have said that the paper is identical in both books however it does seem a little whiter, especially than my original edition of Zemlja Snova (the one with the pages out of order) but paper stocks do visually differ sometimes and it does feel and behave the same way so I’m fairly confident in saying the paper is identical. The paper is bright white, thick and lightly textured, water-based pens shadow heavily and may even bleed through so I’d steer clear of these and stick to watercolours with very sparing amounts of water and mostly pastels and pencils which work really well on this paper. The pages are printed double-sided and are a mixture of single (23) and double-page spreads (7 = 14 pages) and also contained is a loose 4 page fold-out poster which is the same size as 2 double-page spreads joined together end to end (see photos below). The images themselves are very similar to those found in Zemlja Snova so if you liked that book then you’ll love this one too, all of the artwork is original and new to this book though it feels familiar because of the content being similar. The illustrations contain fairies, dragons, mushrooms, butterflies, gnomes, birds, sea creatures, mice, palaces and more. The pages are all drawn as scenes and range from underwater scenes to dragons flying, fairies sleeping to hedgehogs being led through a mushroom-lined path, palace scenescapes to fantastical flying birds and so much more. Tomislav has created the drawings very considerately by leaving borders around many and those spanning a double-page having little content near the spine making it much easier to fully colour the page without any frustration of trying to access imagery in the book gutter. The illustrations are all very ornate and really beautiful to look at, this illustrator’s work really is some of the best in the world! For those who are wondering about the image order, there was an issue with 3 double-page spreads being split up in the first edition of Zemlja Snova, this has since been corrected in subsequent editions and I’m pleased to confirm that there are no issues with image order in Vilin San, all of the double-page spreads are matched up as they should be so there’s no need to worry.

In terms of mental health, this book is great for those with a good attention span. If you get overwhelmed by busy or intricate images then this won’t be for you but if you love immersive imagery that truly transports you to another place then look no further, this book is absolutely perfect. It offers so much to look at that it’s the perfect distraction for even the most persistent symptoms and it just draws you in to a magical fantastical world filled with mythical creatures, princes and princesses, castles, fairies and more. This book will be ideal for those of you who love fantasy colouring and also nature because so much of it is animal and scene-based so it’s combined 2 of our favourite things into one incredible book! The smaller number of pages means that it’s less daunting for those wanting to complete a whole book and the poster is great for those who like to work on a much larger project and display it afterwards as it would look fabulous framed once finished and it easily folds away to be tucked into the back of the book away from any damage which is really handy whilst you’re working on it! The line thickness is consistent throughout and remains thin with some spindly thin details. The intricacy and detail levels remain very high throughout so you will certainly need very good vision and fine motor control to enjoy this book if you’re wanting to colour within each outlined section though it won’t need to be quite so good if you’re wanting to colour over some areas and leave the lines underneath as texture. I would highly recommend investing in a T’Gaal sharpener so that you can keep your pencils as sharp as possible! The illustrations are absolutely packed with detail and things to look at and notice, despite having Zemlja Snova for over a year now, I’m still noticing new things and spot things I’ve never seen before when looking at other people’s finished pages and I’m absolutely certain this will be the case with Vilin San too. The imagery is honestly spectacular, there aren’t many books I’m blown away by now but this one really is incredible, each image is a work of art, there are no filler pages, no random half-finished art, each page has clearly been painstakingly created and each will take hours if not days to complete. The pages in this book aren’t quick to finish but there are lots of natural stopping points within each image so that you still get a sense of accomplishment without managing to finish a page in one sitting and these all range in size from a tiny bird or gnome all the way up to a forest of trees or giant dragon so you can pick a project of the right size for each colouring session! I adore this book, even just flicking through the pages gets me out of my head and calms my anxiety down and colouring it is just so much fun because you can use any colours you fancy from more natural colours to fantastical colours like blue for tree trunks and oranges or purples for leaves, in a fantasy world the only limit is your imagination and these images will look amazing no matter what colours you choose!

Overall, I can’t recommend this book highly enough, it’s a shame that it’s half the number of pages and even more of a shame that the price doesn’t reflect this and is the same as Zemlja Snova but those criticisms aside, the book and the artwork itself is truly perfect and gorgeous in every way. Tomislav’s artwork is some of the best I’ve ever seen and I really hope he’ll continue to make many more books because no matter how many times I flip through the same pages, I’m still as drawn in and transported as I was the first time I saw each illustration and that’s a really impressive feat!

If you’d like to purchase a copy then you can order it from the publisher’s site here. I would strongly advise against ordering from Etsy or third-party Amazon sellers because the prices there seem to be extortionate. The easiest and cheapest way of getting hold of a copy is to join a group order as this reduces the cost of shipping per book to a more reasonable level. I run a FB fan group for Tomislav’s work and there we also organise a lot of group orders to various countries worldwide including the UK, many other European countries, the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, please do join the group if you’d like to sign up to one of these orders or just to share your coloured pages or look for inspiration, we’d love to have you!

Don’t forget, I’m currently running a Worldwide Giveaway for a copy of this book, to enter click here and follow the instructions before it closes at 23.59 GMT on the 31st of January.

Photos of the book can be found directly below the videos.

Unboxing, Flip Through and Review

Silent Flip Through

Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!

Dromenvanger vs Zemlja Snova – A Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian Editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Zemlja Snova was published in 2016 and illustrated by Tomislav Tomic, it’s one of the most beautiful colouring books I’ve ever seen and still vies for the title of my most favourite colouring book ever. It was published in Croatia by Fokus and has been notoriously difficult to get hold of after it was quickly taken off Amazon and has almost exclusively been acquired since then through the publisher’s website which my Facebook fan group runs international group orders from. This is no longer necessary for this book because Dromenvanger will (hopefully) be available worldwide at a really reasonable price (around £12 or $15) with free worldwide delivery from Book Depository, when I originally wrote this post two days ago it was available for pre-order there, it’s currently showing as unavailable however, I’m hoping that this might just be a stock issue and that it will be rectified soon. The website allows you to sign up for email alerts of stock so do click through and sign up to be the first to hear when it’s available to order. The artwork is the same in both books but there are a number of subtle publication differences between the two editions which I’ve listed and detailed below. If you’d rather watch a video version then scroll all the way to the bottom where the video is embedded at the end of this post. This is a long post because there are so many pictures included to illustrate each point but please bear with me because a lot of time and effort has gone into being as thorough as possible. Most of the things I’ve noticed don’t affect the enjoyment or use of the book, they’re just differences but there are a few items that are fundamentally different and do affect use so keep an eye out for those. The publisher has very kindly provided me with an extra copy of Dromenvanger which I’m currently running a Worldwide giveaway for on my blog until 23.59 GMT on the 31st of October, to enter please click here.

  1. Covers – Zemlja Snova has a soft-feel cover with glossy accents on the title and subtext. Dromenvanger also has a soft-feel cover with glossy accents on the title and all of the stars.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  2. Cover Image – The cover images are totally different, Zemlja Snova has a partially coloured image on the front that is similar to the art in the book but isn’t a direct copy of a page. Dromenvanger has a partially coloured image from inside the book.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  3. Publishing Logo – The publishing logo is bottom centre on the cover of Dromenvanger and at the bottom right on Zemlja Snova.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  4. Cover Card – Both books are paperback and both have equally thick card covers.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  5. Inside Covers – Zemlja Snova has French Flaps with black and white artwork and these open out to reveal a purple and white line drawn illustration front and back. Dromenvanger doesn’t have French Flaps, and the inside covers are blank white.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  6. Back Cover – The back cover of Dromenvanger is partially coloured and shows a reverse version of the front cover image. The back cover of Zemlja Snova is completely black and white and the blurb is bordered by a frame from inside the book.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  7. Spine – The illustrator name and book title are differently ordered on the spines of the different editions. They both use completely different fonts. The Publisher logos at the bottom of the spine differ too.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences! Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  8. Book Size – Dromenvanger is slightly smaller than Zemlja Snova. The pages in both copies are the same width (the Zemlja Snova covers extend further), but not the same height with Dromenvanger being approximately 5mm shorter, possibly less.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences! Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  9. Thickness – Dromenvanger is thicker than Zemlja Snova due to having thicker paper (more on this later).
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  10. Binding – Both editions are glue and string-bound, Zemlja Snova is more heavily glued than Dromenvanger.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  11. Language – Zemlja Snova is written in Croatian and Dromenvanger in Dutch. I don’t read either of these languages so I’m therefore unable to comment on whether the text in each book translates the same, or whether it differs in meaning.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  12. Title – Obviously the titles differ due to language but they also slightly differ in meaning. Dromenvanger translates as Dream Catcher and Zemlja Snova translates as Dreamland or Land of Dreams.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  13. Publisher – Both editions have been published by different publishing companies (hence all of these subtle differences), Zemlja Snova is published by Fokus Na Hit and Dromenvanger is published by BBNC Utigevers.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  14. Paper Colour – The paper in Zemlja Snova is bright white, the paper in Dromenvanger is cream.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  15. Paper Thickness – The paper in both is quite thick but it’s definitely thicker in Dromenvanger. Water-based pens heavily shadow in Zemlja Snova but don’t shadow at all in Dromenvanger. The paper used in Dromenvanger is, as far as I’m aware, the same paper that BBNC Utigevers use in all of their colouring books, it’s a little temperamental with oil-based pencils (though others have had great results with these so it may well be my technique or lack of patience) and beautiful for pens and soft pencils like Prismacolor Premiers.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  16. Copyright Page – The information is much more spread out on the page in Zemlja Snova and is contained to the bottom half of the page in Dromenvanger.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  17. Image Order – The pages in Dromenvanger are identically ordered to the correct, later editions of Zemlja Snova, the original editions had three double-page spreads that were split in the book, this issue has been rectified in later printings and in Dromenvanger.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  18. Image Size – Oddly, the first few frames on the ancillary pages at the beginning are larger in Zemlja Snova than Dromenvanger but the actual illustrations of the book are identical sizes on the many images I measured to check.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  19. Image Orientation – The images are spaced slightly differently between the books with a little more or less of the image shown at some edges on some pages when compared to each other, see photos for clarification.
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  20. Weight – Zemlja Snova weighs less than Dromenvanger, it weighs 527g compared to 561g (ish, one of my copies was 565g).
    Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!Dromenvanger and Zemlja Snova, a Comparison of the Dutch and Croatian editions, click through to see photos and read about the differences!
  21. Availability – Zemlja Snova is extremely difficult to get hold of outside Croatia and is one of the hardest colouring books on the market to obtain. We have run international group orders through the publisher’s site for the last year but this isn’t easy. It was looking very hopeful that Dromenvanger was going to be much easier to access because it was listed on Book Depository, however, yesterday it changed to saying it was currently unavailable and some people who’ve pre-ordered it have been given refunds because Book Depository don’t know when they’ll get stock in. I’m really hoping that this issue will be resolved quickly and I will be sure to update this post asap when I know more. You can sign up for email updates about stock at the link below to book depository so that you’re the first to know when it’s back and if you can’t wait it’s available from Dutch site Bol. It’s definitely worth the wait for a copy because Book Depository will have free worldwide delivery and were charging a fraction of the price compared to getting a copy of Zelmja Snova out of Croatia and to your front door. We will still be running group orders for the new book (title unknown currently) and if you’d like to join these and know more then please do join my FB fan group where we will post any information as soon as we know it.

As you’ll have seen, there are a lot of subtle differences between the editions but hardly any of them affect use, in fact the only one that really does is the paper. It’s a shame in some ways that it’s cream, I know a lot of people love crisp, white paper, but this paper is thicker and ideal for water-based pens and pencils and with the (hopefully) increased accessibility, I will now forever be suggesting that people get a copy of Dromenvanger. My fingers are now very tightly crossed hoping that BBNC Utigevers will acquire the rights to the next book by Tomislav Tomic so that it too becomes easily accessible. This new edition is beautiful and for those of you who already have Zemlja Snova and are wondering about getting this new edition, or a second copy, I’d say definitely get a copy of Dromenvanger, it’s beautifully produced, the illustrations look lovely on the new paper and it’s so much easier to get hold of and if you’re anything like me, you’ll want a copy of the new edition just because it’s a bit different, I truly am a colouring book hoarder!

Amazon UK – Dromenvanger 
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/book/9789045321868/?a_aid=colouringitmom
Bol.com – https://www.bol.com/nl/p/dromenvanger/9200000080026444/?suggestionType=typedsearch#modal_open

You can see my videos of unboxing the book, and a silent flick-through of the book if you click on the relevant words.

Don’t forget, I’m running a Worldwide giveaway to win a copy of Dromenvanger by Tomislav Tomic, to enter click here by 23.59 GMT on October the 31st.