UK

30 Days of Creativity – A Comparison between the UK and US Editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.

30 Days of Creativity is the latest book by Johanna Basford, it’s being published imminently and I have been lucky enough to be sent a copy of the UK and US edition by Johanna Basford in order to write this comparison post for you all. Every time Johanna releases a new book there are huge online debates about which edition is ‘best’ to buy, what the similarities will be and what will be different and so I’m here to tell you about each and every difference so that you can make an informed choice. I have reviewed the UK edition here and the US edition here.

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. If you’d prefer to watch a video where I talk through and show all of the differences then scroll all the way to the bottom of the post where it’s embedded. 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, they’re summarised at the bottom. Some of the very noticeable differences include the cover design, book size, binding and paper type, so here goes with the most comprehensive list of similarities and differences that you’re likely to find online!

If you want to just skip ahead to the most crucial differences then look at points 1, 7, 9, 10, 17, 27, and 29, and the summary section at the bottom.

Book Size – Both books are rectangular and not square (the same size as How to Draw Inky Wonderlands and Ivy and the Inky Butterfly), they are each the same height as all of Johanna’s other titles published in the same country. The UK edition is almost half a centimetre smaller in both directions than the US edition.
Cover Design – Both editions have the same floral pattern with art supplies interspersed centrally but the UK edition has much more empty space around the corners and edges whereas the US edition has more floral pattern filling these gaps. This also means that 2 of the butterflies are placed slightly differently on the covers.
Cover Colour – The books are both a beautiful pale blue colour but they’re not exactly the same, the UK edition is a slightly purer blue and the US edition is a slightly purpler blue.
Penguin Logo – The US edition has the Penguin Publishing logo subtly placed on the left in the middle. The US edition is published by Penguin, the UK edition is published by Ebury Press.
Foiling Colour – The foil colour is gold on both but it’s ever so slightly yellower on the US copy.
Foiling Aspects/Amount – Both editions have the same aspects foiled apart from at the very bottom where on the US edition a flower on the left is foiled and on the UK edition a flower on the right is foiled.
Spelling – As ever, this is one of the most noticeable differences and it’s a really easy way to identify which edition you’re looking at because of the spelling of the word “colour” in the subtitle. Throughout the book there are various different spellings between the US and UK editions including favorite/favourite.
Blurb – The UK and US editions have very slightly different blurbs with half a sentence extra on the US edition compared to the UK edition. The text is formatted into more paragraphs on the UK edition.
Spine – Usually the book spines are black in the UK and white in the US. This time (as with Ivy and the Inky Butterfly and How to Draw Inky Wonderlands), both are white with black text, it’s printed a little blacker on the US edition. The fonts for the text are different on each and the US title is written in capitals whereas the UK edition has capitalised words. The UK edition has the subtitle written on the spine too but the US edition doesn’t. The text is much larger on the US edition than the UK and the font remains consistent throughout the spine on the US edition whereas the subtitle is written in italics on the UK edition. Finally, the UK edition has the Ebury Press logo and the US edition has the Penguin Books logo.
Binding – The UK edition is stitched and glue-bound whereas the US edition is only glue-bound. This makes the US edition less durable and can lead to pages falling out. The spine of both editions has to be worked in order to get the book to lie flat and if you work the spine too much, the US edition may fall apart whereas the UK edition will be much more durable.
Thickness – Due to the paper in the US edition being thicker (see point number 17), the book is thicker overall too.
Weight – The UK edition weighs less than the US edition at 402g vs 432g. A 30g difference.
Dust Jacket – This is usually one of the biggest differences between the editions, with the UK edition usually having a removable dust jacket and the US edition having it attached. This time (as with Johanna’s Christmas, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly, How to Draw Inky Wonderlands, and Worlds of Wonder), neither of them have removable dust jackets. This is probably a very sensible choice as they’re prone to getting damaged and with this being an activity book that’s meant to be worked in, you need to be able to work in it unhindered, however, I’m personally a little sad because I do really love the removable dust jackets but at least it’s one fewer thing to have to choose between when deciding which edition you want to purchase. The covers are made of thick card folded into ½ French Flaps inside. The card used for the UK cover is a little thicker and less bendy than the card used for the US cover.
French Flaps – Both editions have ½ size French Flaps, they have the same illustrations at the front and both have pictures of Johanna’s previous titles on the back flap but these are printed fully black and white in the US edition and with colour where the gold foil accents are in the UK edition.
Cover Attachment – The covers are attached to a little more of the first and last page on the UK edition compared to the US edition, this makes it a little harder to get the UK edition to lie flat at first but this eases up over time.
Inside Cover Images – The illustration on the inside covers is printed the same size on both editions so there is a little extra shown on the US edition than the UK edition.
Paper – This is one of the biggest differences between the two editions. The paper is not identical and is unique to each country. Johanna changed papers when Magical Jungle was published and her specially created ivory paper that was named after her is in all US copies of Magical Jungle, Johanna’s Christmas, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly, World of Flowers, How to Draw Inky Wonderlands, Worlds of Wonder, and now 30 Days of Creativity. In the UK we have a whiter ivory paper which Johanna and her team scoured the globe for and this is in all UK editions of the books previously listed. The UK paper is a similar thickness to the paper in Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest and significantly thicker than the paper in Lost Ocean, it has a little tooth but does burnish after a few layers of Polychromos and Prismacolor Premiers. The US paper is ivory but a more cream colour though it’s still paler than the cream colour of Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. The paper is the thickest yet and has a more visible tooth, it takes far more layers for blending. In both editions water-based pens behave the same way and the paper in both is beautiful to colour on with pens as they glide really well with no feathering or spreading at all. For drawing, I tested out the Staedtler Pigment Liners that Johanna recommends and uses herself. They worked well on both papers however they seemed to spread a little on the US paper. My partner and I tried it in case it was user error on my part and we both experienced the same thing. Pencil erased well in both books but was significantly easier to erase in the US edition.
Title Page Image Size – The floral border in the US edition is 0.5cm larger than the UK edition.
Copyright Page Information – There is different information on the copyright pages in each of the editions and they have different ISBNs. This information is also laid out differently.
Printing Location – The UK edition is printed in China, the US edition is printed in the USA.
Language Differences – A few words are written differently across the editions e.g. popsicles (US) vs ice lollies (UK), cup measurements (US) vs grams (UK), self-rising flour (US) vs self-raising flour (UK).
Tips Bee/Butterfly – The bullet point illustrations are identical in each edition apart from point 4 where in the UK edition the bee picture is repeated whereas in the US edition there is a butterfly.
Image Size – Some of the images are printed larger in the US edition than the UK edition but the amount of variance isn’t consistent throughout and only ranges up to a maximum of 1cm in each direction. Many are just a few millimetres if that.
Happy Quote Page – In the text in the US edition on this page the word ‘like’ is missing from the sentence “If it feels ‘like’ trudging through honey, stop.” It isn’t missing in the UK edition.
Every Child is an Artist Quote Page – On the UK edition quote page, the quote is attributed to Picasso and his name is there and able to be coloured. It is not present on the quote page in the US edition.
Pencils page – In the UK edition this page has a much larger space for the gutter of the book, than the US edition which therefore shows a little more of the repeating pencil pattern.
Page Ink Permanency – The ink is pretty permanent on both books. There was no movement of pigment in the UK edition with a Caran d’Ache Blender Pencil but there was a little movement using the same on the US edition so do be a little careful on the colouring pages.
Publication Date – The US edition publishes on Tuesday the 26^th of October, the UK edition publishes on Thursday the 28^th of October.
Availability – Normally it’s very easy to get hold of whichever of these editions you wish to purchase and I’m hoping that will return to being the case. However, currently, at least in the UK it’s only possible to get the UK edition because the US edition isn’t listed on Amazon UK and it’s currently unavailable on Book Depository here. I’m hoping that this will change soon and if it does, I’ll be sure to update this post but currently the US edition is proving difficult to get hold of outside America and Canada.
Treasure Hunt – This isn’t a difference between the books but it is different from Johanna’s earlier titles. There is no treasure hunt contained within this book. Though of course you could create your own with the drawing skills that you’ll have learnt!

Although there are a lot of differences, the ones that will affect your enjoyment and therefore impact your decision are the paper, the binding and having a matching set. This book matches the previous titles less than usual and so it will stick out a little on the shelf anyway as it’ll only directly match Ivy and the Inky Butterfly and How to Draw Inky Wonderlands. I think both papers are equally lovely but because of my issues with slight spreading of ink on the US edition, I would recommend the UK edition. I would also highly recommend the UK edition for the binding after numerous reports of US editions of previous titles falling apart. Mostly though, I’d advise getting whichever copy is easiest to get hold of because very few of these differences will hinder enjoyment or use enough that you wouldn’t want a copy.

Please do let me know in the comments section below which edition you’ll be purchasing and why!

UK Edition
Amazon UK – 30 Days of Creativity
Book Depository Worldwide – https://tidd.ly/2YV2lVE

US Edition
Amazon UK –
Book Depository Worldwide – https://tidd.ly/3vRrhJJ

Video Comparison

How to Draw Inky Wonderlands – A Comparison between the UK and US Editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
How to Draw Inky Wonderlands is now released worldwide and I have been lucky enough to be sent a copy of the UK and US edition by Johanna Basford in order to write this comparison post for you all. Every time Johanna releases a new book there are huge online debates about which edition is ‘best’ to buy, what the similarities will be and what will be different and so I’m here to tell you about each and every difference so that you can make an informed choice. I have reviewed the UK edition here and the US edition here.

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. If you’d prefer to watch a video where I talk through and show all of the differences then scroll all the way to the bottom of the post where it’s embedded. 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, they’re summarised at the bottom. Some of the very noticeable differences include the cover colour, book size and paper type, so here goes with the most comprehensive list of similarities and differences that you’re likely to find online!

If you want to just skip ahead to the most crucial differences then look at points 1, 9, 14, 17, 20, 31, and 38, and the summary section at the bottom.

Book Size – Each edition is the same height as the previous titles from the same country but they are not the same size as each other. This time they’re rectangular (like Ivy and the Inky Butterfly) and the US edition is 25.5cm by 21.5cm and the UK edition is half a centimetre smaller in each direction.
Cover Design – The cover design is very slightly zoomed in on the UK edition so the US edition has a little extra detail on 3 out of the 4 sides, at the bottom it appears to have been shifted slightly up on the UK edition and so it has a little extra image there.
Penguin Logo – The US edition has the Penguin Publishing logo subtly placed in the top right corner inside the seahorse image. The UK edition has a swirl design in its place. The US edition is published by Penguin, the UK edition is published by Virgin Books an imprint of Ebury.
Foiling Colour – The foil colour is gold on both but it’s ever so slightly yellower on the US copy and it’s shinier and smoother on the US copy too, it feels a little rougher on the UK edition.
Foiling Aspects/Amount – Both editions have completely different aspects of the cover foiled, with the UK edition having significantly more foiling than the US edition.
Coloured Background – The UK edition has a beautiful pink background behind the title, the US edition has a lovely duck egg blue background behind the title.
Coloured Accents – Both editions have different aspects coloured and both have different colours, the UK edition only has pastel shades ranging from green to pink and the US edition has a much wider range of colours including pastels and more vibrant shades. There is much more colour added to the US edition though this is limited to the bottom right corner of the cover whereas the UK edition has small coloured accents scattered all over.
Pencil on Cover – The pencil lines on the UK edition are printed much darker than on the US edition.
Spelling – As ever, this is one of the most noticeable differences and it’s a really easy way to identify which edition you’re looking at because of the spelling of the word “colour” in the subtitle. Throughout the book there are various different spellings and sometimes completely different words are used due to the language differences between UK and US English. Examples of this include: Autumn/Fall, Sweets/Candy, Greaseproof Paper/Baking Parchment.
Blurb – The UK and US editions have completely different blurbs. There is far more text and information on the US edition than the UK edition.
Cover Colour – The UK cover is whiter than the US cover, neither is cream but the UK edition is very white.
Back Cover Images – The illustrations and tutorials on the back cover are printed much larger on the UK edition than the US edition, probably because there’s more space due to less text. There is also an illustrated tutorial at the bottom of the US back cover that isn’t shown on the UK edition however it is included in both books, just not on both covers.
Spine – Usually the book spines are black in the UK and white in the US. This time (as with Ivy and the Inky Butterfly), both are white with black text, it’s printed a little blacker on the US edition. The UK spine has two foiled drawings on it, the US spine has no foiling. The motifs differ too with the UK edition having a seahorse and a key and the US edition having a pen. The text is much larger on the US edition than the UK and the font remains consistent throughout the spine on the US edition whereas half of the title is written in italics on the UK edition spine. Neither edition has the subtitle printed on the spine this time. Finally, the UK edition has the Virgin Books logo and the US edition has the Penguin Books logo.
Binding – The UK edition is stitched and glue-bound whereas the US edition is only glue-bound. This makes the US edition less durable and can lead to pages falling out. The spine of both editions has to be worked in order to get the book to lie flat and if you work the spine too much, the US edition may fall apart whereas the UK edition will be much more durable.
Thickness – Due to the paper in the US edition being thicker (see point number 20), the book is thicker overall too.
Weight – The UK edition weighs less than the US edition at 474g vs 511g. A 37g difference.
Dust Jacket – This is usually one of the biggest differences between the editions, with the UK edition usually having a removable dust jacket and the US edition having it attached. This time (as with Johanna’s Christmas and Ivy and the Inky Butterfly), neither of them have removable dust jackets. This is probably a very sensible choice as they’re prone to getting damaged and with this being a drawing book that’s meant to be worked in, you need to be able to work in it unhindered, however, I’m personally a little sad because I do really love the removable dust jackets but at least it’s one fewer thing to have to choose between when deciding which edition you want to purchase. The covers are made of thick card folded into ½ French Flaps inside. The card used for the UK cover is significantly thicker and less bendy than the card used for the US cover.
French Flaps (Images and Layout) – Both editions have ½ size French Flaps, they have the same illustrations but a very different layout with the UK edition having an image on each flap and the information from the US blurb about Johanna’s social media accounts on the back flap, and the US edition having both illustrations on the front flap and images of most of Johanna’s previously published titles on the back flap.
Inside Cover Design – The illustration on the inside covers is differently orientated with more of the image being printed in the US edition than the UK edition.
Paper – This is one of the biggest differences between the two editions. The paper is not identical and is unique to each country. Johanna changed papers when Magical Jungle was published and her specially created ivory paper that was named after her is in all US copies of Magical Jungle, Johanna’s Christmas, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly, World of Flowers and now How to Draw Inky Wonderlands. In the UK we have a whiter ivory paper which Johanna and her team scoured the globe for and this is in all UK editions of Magical Jungle, Johanna’s Christmas, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly, World of Flowers, and How to Draw Inky Wonderlands. The UK paper is equal in thickness to Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest and significantly thicker than Lost Ocean, it has a little tooth but does burnish after a few layers of Polychromos and Prismacolor Premiers. The US paper is ivory but a more cream colour though it’s still paler than the cream colour of Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. The paper is the thickest yet and has a more visible tooth, it takes far more layers for blending. In both editions water-based pens behave the same way and the paper in both is beautiful to colour on with pens as they glide really well with no feathering or spreading at all. The UK paper seems like it will shadow faster and more easily than the US edition and while I didn’t experience any shadowing in either, the UK paper did seem like it might with very dark colours if not using a light touch. I personally prefer the colour of the UK paper but the US paper is much easier to use pencils on and is less likely to bleed with water-based pens so I have to recommend that one.
For drawing, I tested out the Staedtler Pigment Liners that Johanna recommends and uses herself. They worked well on both papers however the 0.2 size pen seemed to spread a little on the US paper. My partner and I tried it in case it was user error on my part and we both experienced the same thing however it was mostly just with that pen and not the other two sizes I tried so it’s possible it was just a dodgy pen but I don’t have a spare to test. Pencil erased well in both books but was significantly easier to erase in the US edition.
Title Page Image Size – The title page image is printed 1.5cm larger in the US edition than the UK edition.
Copyright Page Information – There is much more information on the copyright page in the UK edition than the US edition.
Copyright Page Design – The design on the copyright page is printed much larger in the US edition and therefore a little less of the design is shown, despite the larger page size.
Printing Location – The UK edition is printed in China, the US edition is printed in the USA.
Grammar – There are several grammatical differences between the two editions. Different punctuation for quotes, the UK edition has apostrophes, the US edition uses standard speech marks (quotation marks). Due to different text justification, the US edition has a number of hyphenated words that cross two lines, there are none in the UK edition. In various places dots have been used and between the editions these are spaced very differently and a different number of dots are used. Oxford commas are used in both editions but fewer are found in the UK edition. A few words are written differently across the editions with some being two separate words, some one word and some hyphenated e.g. Facedown (US) vs Face Down (UK), Claw Like (US) vs Claw-like (UK), Mega Doodle (US) vs Mega-doodle (UK), straightaway (US) vs straight away (UK).
Tip Layout – In the UK edition, the tip is spaced much closer to the main body of text and the title is written in the same size font. In the US edition there is a larger space between the tip and the main body of text and the title is written in a larger font and the text justified differently. This is the same throughout the editions.
Web Address – This is printed in normal text in the UK edition and in bold in the US edition.
Missing Intro Text – On the Blooms and Ship Ahoy! pages, the introduction text is missing and there is just an empty space. This information isn’t important and therefore it’s not a big deal that it’s missing, it’s just something I noticed as a difference and it’s not clear why this is the case on just these 2 pages.
Grey Numbered Circles – In the US edition there is much more contrast in the colour of the grey compared to the black whereas the contrast varies in the UK edition and changes from lighter grey to darker grey and back again.
Posies – There is an extra sentence in the last UK instruction, it’s not hugely important but a little strange.
Image Size – Some of the images are printed larger in the US edition than the UK edition but the amount of variance isn’t consistent throughout and only ranges up to a maximum of 1.5cm in each direction. Many are just a few millimetres.
Image Layout/Orientation – On all pages where the design reaches the edge of the page, the layout and orientation of the design differs between the editions.
Seaweed Tangle Fish Image – In the US edition the fish image next to the instructions is placed much higher on the page than in the UK edition.
Mention of Page numbers – On the Seashells and Woodland Garland pages in the UK edition, it mentions using the technique on page 26, there are no printed page numbers in either edition and no mention of this in the US edition.
Layout of Text on Last Page –The text on the last page is laid out differently with the UK edition having more paragraphs than the US and the information being identical but differently ordered.
Page Ink Permanency – The ink is pretty permanent on both books. I tested both with a Derwent Blender pencil and a Derwent Burnisher pencil, there was no movement of pigment on the UK edition and very little movement on the US edition. Due to this not being a colouring book this is likely to have little to no effect on your enjoyment of the book, it’s just something I always test.
Publication Dates – The US edition published on Tuesday the 15^th of October, the UK edition published on Thursday the 17^th of October.
Availability – Normally it’s very easy to get hold of whichever of these editions you wish to purchase and I’m hoping that will return to being the case. However, currently, at least in the UK and on Book Depository, it’s only possible to get the UK edition because the US edition isn’t listed on Amazon UK and is out of stock on Book Depository. I’m hoping that this will change soon and if it does, I’ll be sure to update this post but currently the US edition is proving difficult to get hold of outside America and Canada.
Treasure Hunt – This isn’t a difference between the books but it is different from Johanna’s other titles. There is no treasure hunt contained within this book. Though of course you could create your own with the drawing skills that you’ll have learnt!

Although there are a lot of differences, the ones that will affect your enjoyment and therefore impact your decision are the paper, the binding and having a matching set. This book matches the previous titles less than usual and so it will stick out a little on the shelf anyway as it’ll only directly match Ivy and the Inky Butterfly. I think both papers are equally lovely but because of my issues with slight spreading of ink on the US edition, I would recommend the UK edition. I would also highly recommend the UK edition for the binding after numerous reports of US editions of previous titles falling apart. Mostly though, I’d advise getting whichever copy is easiest to get hold of because very few of these differences will hinder enjoyment or use enough that you wouldn’t want a copy.

Please do let me know in the comments section below which edition you’ll be purchasing and why!

UK Edition
Amazon UK – How to Draw Inky Wonderlands
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/How-Draw-Inky-Wonderlands-Johanna-Basford/9780753553190/?a_aid=colouringitmom

US Edition
Amazon UK –
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/How-Draw-Inky-Wonderlands-Johanna-Basford/9780143133940/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Video Comparison

World of Flowers – A Comparison between the UK and US Editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
World of Flowers will be released worldwide in just one week and I have been lucky enough to be sent a copy of the UK and US editions by Johanna Basford in order to write this comparison post for you all. Every time Johanna releases a new book there are huge online debates about which edition is “best” to buy, what the similarities will be and what will be different so I’m here to hopefully clear up any questions and queries you may have after the success of my comparison posts of the last 4 titles – Ivy and the Inky Butterfly, Johanna’s Christmas, Magical Jungle, and Lost Ocean. I have reviewed the UK edition here and the US edition here.

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, they’re summarised at the bottom. Some of the very noticeable differences include the cover format, size and paper type so here goes with the most comprehensive list of similarities and differences that you’re likely to find online! If you’d rather watch a video of this then click here.

If you just want to skip ahead to the most crucial differences then look at points 1, 12, 15, 17, 26, 28, and 37, and the summary section at the bottom.

Book Size – Each edition is the same size as the previous titles from the same country but they are not the same size as each other. The UK edition is 25cm square, the US edition is 25.5cm square making it half a centimetre taller and wider.
Cover Design – The cover design is very slightly zoomed in on the UK edition so the US edition has a little extra detail around the very edges that isn’t included on the UK copies.
Penguin Logo – On the cover of the US edition, the Penguin publishing logo has been subtly placed in a tulip at the top right. There is no publishing logo on the UK edition cover.
Cover Colour – Both editions have off-white covers, the UK edition has a whiter cover than the US edition.
Foiling Colour – Both editions have a different colour foil on the cover and these are both different from any foils seen before on Johanna’s books. The UK edition has a very coppery colour rose-gold foil. The US edition has a pinker but still quite bronze rose-gold foil. Both are really pretty! The US foil is significantly shinier than the UK foil.
Foiling Aspects/Amount – There is much more foiling on the US edition, both larger numbers of parts and larger areas are covered in foil. The UK edition has lots of teeny tiny sections foiled. The US title is entirely foiled, the UK title is partially foiled and also has some shiny but not foiled black accents too.
Colour Splashes – The US edition has a pale pink splash of colour behind the title. The UK edition doesn’t have this but does have subtle pale pink accents added to the cover image in random places.
Title Size – The title text is printed larger on the US edition than the UK edition, the Of is floral and the same size text as the rest of the title in the US edition, but not the UK edition.
Spelling – As you’d expect, the UK edition has British spellings throughout and the US edition has American English spellings. The easiest way to tell which edition you’re looking at is to check the spelling of “Colouring Book” on the cover, if the ‘U’ is missing then it’s the US edition.
Butterfly Placement – There is a little butterfly on both covers but it’s in a different place on each, it’s to the right of World on the UK edition and next to Of on the US edition.
Blurb – The UK and US editions have completely different blurbs. There is far more text and information on the reverse of the US book than the UK. The barcode is contained within this section on the US edition but is covering part of the floral cover design on the UK edition.
Spine – The UK edition has a black spine with white writing (the same as almost all of the previous UK edition titles) and the US edition has a white spine with black writing. The UK edition has the Virgin Books symbol and the US has the Penguin Publishing logo. The text is written in a different order on each but this matches the previous editions from each country. The UK spine has a flower added one third up from the bottom and the US has an orchid one third down from the top.
Thickness – Due to the paper in the US edition being thicker (see point number 26), the book is thicker overall too.
Weight – The UK edition weighs less than the US edition at 518g vs 542g. A 24g difference.
Binding – The UK edition is stitched and glue-bound whereas the US edition is only glue-bound which will make it less durable and can lead to pages falling out. Because of the fixed cover, the binding is much tighter in the US edition, this will ease up with use, especially if you crack or break the spine (I always find this heartbreaking to do), but initially the US edition is much tighter and opens less flat than the UK edition.
Cover Attachment to Front and Back Pages – The US cover is attached to a thicker strip of the front and back pages than the UK cover so it doesn’t open as easily or as widely as the UK edition which opens much flatter.
Dust Jacket – This is one of the biggest differences between the editions. The UK edition has a removable dust jacket just like the UK editions of the first four books by Johanna Basford. It is a very pale ivory colour. The book itself has pale pink card covers with a black floral design (contained within the book) on the outside and inside covers. The US edition has a fully attached cover made of card with French flaps. The covers on both editions are fully colourable and matte in texture apart from the inside of the UK dust jacket which is waxy to the touch, this can be coloured with alcohol markers but water-based pens are repelled and some pencils don’t ‘stick’ to the surface either.
French Flaps – The US edition has a card cover with two third French flaps. The UK edition’s removable dust jacket also has two third French flaps and both editions have the same design on these flaps but this is printed a bit differently on each with more or less showing when comparing the editions.
Inside Cover Design – Again, the design is printed differently in both editions with a larger amount of the image showing on the UK dust jacket than the US inside cover.
Title Page Size – The title page in the US edition is printed larger than the UK edition, it measures 23cm square instead of 22.5cm square in the UK.
Butterfly and Of on Title Page – As with the covers, on the title page there is a butterfly that is differently positioned on the page, in the UK edition it’s next to World and in the US edition it’s next to Of. Also, as with the covers, the Of is floral and the same size as the rest of the text on the US edition title page but small and simple in the UK edition.
Copyright Page Information – On the Copyright page there is far more information in the US edition than the UK edition, it is also laid out differently and takes up far more space on the page in the US edition.
Copyright Page Design – The copyright page layout is also different with much more of the imagery showing in the US edition and a larger printed smaller section of flowers printed in the UK edition. The UK edition also has 4 butterflies added that don’t appear on the US copyright page.
Printing Location – The UK edition is printed in China, the US edition is printed in the USA.
Introduction and Tips for Colouring Pages – The text on the Introduction and Tips for Colouring pages is justified differently in each edition so the lines begin and end on different words. Apart from spelling, the text is exactly the same.
Paper – This is one of the biggest differences between the two editions. The paper is not identical and is unique to each country. Johanna changed papers when Magical Jungle was published and her specially created ivory paper that was named after her is in all US copies of Magical Jungle, Johanna’s Christmas, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly and now World of Flowers. In the UK we have a whiter ivory paper which Johanna and her team scoured the globe for and this is in all UK editions of Magical Jungle, Johanna’s Christmas, Ivy and the Inky Butterfly and World of Flowers. The UK paper is equal in thickness to Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest and significantly thicker than Lost Ocean, it has a little tooth but does burnish after a few layers of Polychromos and Prismacolor Premiers. The US paper is ivory but a more cream colour though it’s still paler than the cream colour of Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. The paper is the thickest yet and has a more visible tooth, it takes far more layers for blending. In both editions water-based pens behave the same way and the paper in both is beautiful to colour on with pens as they glide really well with no feathering or spreading at all. The UK paper seems like it will shadow faster and more easily than the US edition and while I didn’t experience any shadowing in either, the UK paper did seem like it might with very dark colours if not using a light touch. I personally prefer the colour of the UK paper but the US paper is much easier to use pencils on and is less likely to bleed with water-based pens so I have to recommend that one.
Image Quality – Previously, there have sometimes been slight issues with UK editions having pixelation of images. There are no such issues in either edition of this book. Hoorah!
Image Size – Some, but by no means all, of the images in the US edition are up to 1cm larger than in the UK edition. Examples of these include the Succulent Page, Perfume Bottle, and Bell Jar. Not all of the images are larger and it appears to be quite random as to which images are larger and which are the same size but if you have any vision or fine motor control impairments then I’d suggest purchasing the US edition. Some of the pages in the UK edition have larger borders around the image due to them bring printed slightly smaller.
Image Orientation – On some of the full double-page scenes, the image is shifted slightly showing a sliver more or less in one of the editions. This can be on any external edge of the image. In some UK pages the image is slightly zoomed in so a little is lost off all edges (a millimetre or two usually). Examples of this are the beetles being more centralised in the UK edition and the Flower Pattern as pictured below.
Colour Palette Test Page Title – The title is centralised and placed at the very top of the page in the US edition and lower down the page in the UK edition.
Page Ink Permanency – This is fairly similar in both, I tested the ink on the colour palette page with a Derwent Blender, a Derwent Burnisher and a Caran d’Ache Blender Pencil, the Derwent Blender did drag some ink pigment in both editions, more so on the US edition, the other two types of pencil didn’t move much pigment at all. You will need to be a little careful if using a hard blender pencil like the Derwent one and also, when pressing hard with any pencils you may experience image transfer on subsequent pages (this is erasable) so pop a sheet or two of paper behind your work to avoid this.
Poster Page Size – The page size for the poster differs between the editions with the US edition being larger at 23.5cm x 25.3cm and the UK being 22.9cm x 25cm.
Poster Image Size – The image on the reverse of the poster pull-out with the border is smaller in the UK edition measuring 20.7cm tall and 22cm tall in the US edition. The image on the inside of the poster is printed pretty much the same size in both editions.
Poster Image Orientation – The image orientation is different in both editions but in slightly strange ways. The bottom of both pages is exactly the same. The left side where the perforations are has much more image showing on the poster in the US edition, the image is shifted right by just over half a cm. Because of this, the right side is cut off earlier in the image on the US edition than the UK edition. At the top, the image is fully shown in the UK edition but the lines run out on the US edition and there is a small gap at the top of some sections between them and the edge of the page.
Poster Perforations – The perforations are cut completely differently on the two editions, they’re much larger and closer together in the US edition and much smaller and further apart in the UK edition. I’ve not tried to remove either of them but it looks like it’ll be easier to remove the US poster however, with both of them I’d exercise caution and possibly have a pair of scissors to hand to avoid any mishaps.
Treasure Hunt – Unlike most of Johanna’s previous book, there is no treasure hunt this time.
Publication Dates – The UK edition is due out on the 25^th of October, the US edition is due out on the 23^rd of October.

In Summary, the only differences between the two that will affect enjoyment are the dust jacket (or lack of in the US edition), binding, paper, image size and spine/book size matching your previous editions on the shelf. If you’re a fan of the dust jackets of previous editions, then you’ll be wanting the UK edition. A number of my followers have reported issues with the purely glue-bound US edition spines of previous titles so if you’ve previously had issues with pages loosening or falling out and you want to ensure that your book remains intact then I would definitely recommend the UK edition. The paper is lovely in both but if you’re wanting to really go to town with blending and shading pencils or using wet media then I’d suggest the US copy as the paper is thicker and holds up better to these types of colouring. The image size in some images is larger in the US edition and therefore anyone with any visual or fine motor control issues will be best purchasing the US edition so you’ve got that bit more wiggle-room. Finally, the spines and book size match the previous editions from each country so if them matching on the shelf matters to you then go with the same country’s edition that you’ve previously purchased.

Everything else I’ve listed is not a criticism and doesn’t impact use or enjoyment, I’ve just listed all of the differences to make people aware of what they are and to make it easy to identify which copy is which when looking at pictures of it online and elsewhere. In my opinion, the US edition offers a slightly superior colouring experience to the UK edition and if you’re going to purchase just one copy then I’d possibly suggest it be that one though the UK edition really is lovely and I’m ever so glad to have both, I would also really miss the dust jacket if I didn’t have the UK edition, I’ve always had a soft spot for those. If you notice any other differences then please do get in touch and I’ll add them to the list! Happy Colouring – You’ve definitely earnt it!

Please do let me know in the comments section below which edition you’ll be purchasing and why!

UK Edition
Amazon UK – World of Flowers
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/World-Flowers-Johanna-Basford/9780753553183?/?a_aid=colouringitmom

US Edition
Amazon UK – World of Flowers
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/World-of-Flowers/9780143133827/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Video Comparison

Ivy and the Inky Butterfly: A Comparison between the UK and US Editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Ivy and the Inky Butterfly will be released worldwide in just one week and I have been lucky enough to be sent a copy of the UK and US editions by Johanna Basford in order to write this comparison post for you all. Every time Johanna releases a new book there are huge online debates about which edition is “best” to buy, what the similarities will be and what will be different so I’m here to hopefully clear up any questions and queries you may have after the success of my comparison posts of the last 3 titles – Johanna’s Christmas, Magical Jungle, and Lost Ocean.

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, if you’d prefer to watch a video where I talk through and show all of the differences then scroll all the way down to the bottom of the post. 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, they’re summarised at the bottom. Some of the very noticeable differences include size, image size and paper type so here goes with the most comprehensive list of similarities and differences that you’re likely to find online!

Book Size – Both books are rectangular and not square, they are each the same height as their country’s other Johanna titles but both are 4cms narrower at the side. The UK edition is almost half a centimetre smaller in both directions than the US edition.
Cover Design – The cover design is very slightly zoomed in on the UK edition so the US edition has a little extra detail around the very edges that isn’t included on the UK copies.
Penguin Logo – The US edition has the Penguin Publishing logo subtly placed in the top right corner, the UK edition has a star in this space instead.
Cover Colour – The UK edition has a bright white cover, the US edition is slightly off-white though this is only noticeable when placed next to something truly white or the UK copy of the book.
Foiling Colour – The UK foiling is a subtle coppery/bronze colour, it’s not gold like previous titles or as shiny. The US foiling is in gold and green and is very bright and shiny (try to avoid scratching it as it does come off and it appears that the green is underlain with gold).
Foiling Aspects/Amount – There is much more foiling on the US edition than the UK edition, the foiling on the UK edition is quite subtle due to not being so shiny, bright, or abundant. The US edition has a lot of foiling and many more aspects are foiled including whole sections rather than hints.
Colour Splashes – The title and subtitle on the cover of the US edition have a mint green background. The UK cover has no colour added.
Capitalisation of Text on Cover – The subtitle on the UK cover is capitalised, the US subtitle is all lower case apart from the first A.
Spine – Usually the book spines are black in the UK and white in the US. This time, both are white with black text, it’s printed a little blacker on the US edition. The UK spine has little bronze foil star accents, there is no foiling on the US spine. The motif between Johanna’s name and the book title differs with a butterfly on the UK edition and a side portrait of Ivy on the US edition. The US edition has the subtitle printed, the UK has replaced this with a key motif and foiled stars. Finally, the UK edition has the Virgin Books logo and the US has the Penguin Books logo.
Thickness – The US edition is significantly thicker than the UK edition due to the paper being thicker, more on this later.
Weight – The US edition weighs significantly more than the UK edition at 627g vs 564g.
Blurb – The blurbs on both books are totally different. There is more text in the US edition, less in the UK edition. Info about Johanna and where to find her on social media is written on the US copy. The barcode is included in the space on the US edition but printed over some of the design on the UK edition. The design is printed exactly the same size on both books despite the difference in book size, therefore there is a larger border around the image on the US edition. NB The colour on the back of the US cover has been added by me when I was testing alcohol marker, the back cover of both editions arrives blank.
Spelling – The UK edition uses British spelling throughout, including on the cover in the spelling of colour. The US edition uses American spellings throughout (I didn’t realise how many different spellings there were between the two versions of English until paying close attention to the text in this book!).
Dust Jacket – This is usually one of the biggest differences between the editions, with the UK version usually having a removable dust jacket and the US edition having it attached. Johanna’s Christmas broke with convention and neither edition had a removable dust jacket and this has remained the case, it’s probably sensible as they’re prone to getting damaged but I’m a little sad inside because I’ve always loved them, but there you go, neither has one this time. The covers are made of thick card folded into 1/2 French Flaps inside, the card used for the UK cover is significantly thicker and less bendy than the card used for the US cover.
Cover Attachment to Front and Back Pages – The US cover is attached to a thicker strip of the front and back pages of the book than the UK cover and it also isn’t pre-folded meaning it doesn’t open as easily or as widely as the UK edition which opens much flatter.
Binding – The UK edition is stitched and glue-bound whereas the US edition is only glue-bound which will make it less durable and can lead to pages falling out. Because of the fixed cover being attached to more of the book, the binding is much tighter in the US edition, this will ease up with use, especially if you crack or break the spine (I always find this heartbreaking to do), but initially the US edition is much tighter and opens less flat than the UK edition.
French Flaps – Both editions have ½ size French Flaps, they have the same design but the US design is printed a little larger and is also taken from a slightly different section of the original illustration from the UK edition. On the back inside flap of both books is information, the US copy has images of 6 of Johanna’s books and on the UK copy is information about Johanna herself.
Title Page Size – The title page in the US edition is much larger than in the UK edition, 24.1 x 19.1cm vs 22.9 x 18.1cm.
Emblem on Title Page – Possibly the most pedantic difference I found; the leaf emblem underneath Johanna’s name on the title page is much bigger in the US edition than the UK edition.
Paper – This is one of the biggest differences between the two editions. The paper is not identical and is unique to each country. Johanna changed papers when Magical Jungle was published and her specially created ivory paper that was named after her is in all US copies of Magical Jungle, Johanna’s Chirstmas, and now Ivy and the Inky Butterfly. In the UK we have a whiter ivory paper which Johanna and her team scoured the globe for and this is in all UK editions of Magical Jungle, Johanna’s Christmas and Ivy and the Inky Butterfly. The UK paper is equal in thickness to Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest and significantly thicker than Lost Ocean, it has a little tooth but does burnish after a few layers of Polychromos and Prismacolor Premiers. The US paper is ivory but a more cream colour though it’s still paler than the cream colour of Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. The paper is the thickest yet and has a more visible tooth, it takes far more layers for blending. In both editions water-based pens behave the same way and the paper in both is beautiful to colour on with pens as they glide really well with no feathering or spreading at all. The UK paper seems like it will shadow faster and more easily than the US edition and while I didn’t experience any shadowing in either, the UK paper did seem like it might with very dark colours if not using a light touch. I personally prefer the colour of the UK paper but the US paper is much easier to use pencils on and is less likely to bleed with water-based pens so I have to recommend that one.
Introduction – The introduction and Johanna’s signature in the UK edition are aligned centrally, the introduction in the US edition is aligned centrally and justified, Johanna’s signature is off to the right.
Icons for Colouring Tips – The UK edition has leaves as bullet points and the US edition has flowers. The text is also larger on this page in the US edition.
Text Layout – The text in both books appears to be the same font and size. Due to the difference in the size of the overall book and the sizing of some images (see point 25), the gaps for the text in the UK edition are sometimes smaller and therefore, while the text in both editions is always in the same spaces, it’s sometimes laid out a bit differently either starting or ending lines on a different word or sometimes taking up more or less space on the page. Some of the UK text is justified like a newspaper with varying space sizes between the words, this is much less obvious in the US edition, if it has in fact been justified in that edition.
Image Quality – Previously, there have been slight issues with UK editions having pixelation of images (see third photo below of a section in UK Magical Jungle). There are no such issues in either edition of this book. Hoorah!
Image Size/Spacing – The US images are up to 1cm larger than those in the UK edition. Not all of the images are larger by any means and it appears to be quite random as to which images are larger and which are the same size but if you have any vision or fine motor control impairments then I’d suggest purchasing the US edition.
Image Orientation – On some of the full double-page scenes, the image is shifted slightly showing a sliver more or less in one of the editions. This can be on any external edge of the image. Sometimes the UK page is slightly zoomed in and other times the US page is slightly zoomed in so that a little is lost off all edges, usually only a millimetre or two.
Text Alterations – Very occasionally there are alterations to the text with a word added, removed or altered e.g. spring-clean/spring-cleaning. The most notable example is on the page below with two paragraphs beginning with “then” in the UK edition and not in the US edition.
Typos – Sorry to be pointing these out, I did a lot of searching to find these so they’re not exactly noticeable, I only found them because I was looking for text differences. In the UK edition cloths has been replaced with clothes and in the US edition, cord has been replaced with chord. Apart from that, I’ve not noticed any others which is pretty impressive.
Printing Location – The UK edition is printed in China and the US edition is printed in the USA.
Page Ink Permanency – This is fairly similar in both, I tested the ink on the colour palette page with a Derwent Blender, a Derwent Burnisher and a Caran d’Ache Blender Pencil, the Derwent Blender did drag some ink pigment in both editions, more so on the US edition, the other two types of pencil didn’t move much pigment at all. You will need to be a little careful if using a hard blender pencil like the Derwent one and also, when pressing hard with any pencils you may experience image transfer on subsequent pages (this is erasable) so pop a sheet or two of paper behind your work to avoid this.
Publication dates – The US edition releases on the 10^th of October and the UK edition on the 12^th of October.

To sum up, if you’ve managed to make it this far, the biggest factors affecting your decisions are spelling, paper and image size. As a perfectionist, I would always want a copy with the correct spellings for the country I’m from and therefore when reading the book, I’ll be reading my UK copy. The paper is lovely in both but if you’re wanting to really go to town with blending and shading pencils or using wet media then I’d suggest the US copy as the paper is thicker and holds up better to these types of colouring. The image size in some images is larger in the US edition and therefore anyone with any visual or fine motor control issues will be best purchasing the US edition so you’ve got that bit more wiggle-room.

Everything else I’ve listed is not a criticism and doesn’t impact use or enjoyment, I’ve just listed all of the differences to make people aware of what they are and to make it easy to identify which copy is which when looking at pictures of it online and elsewhere. In my opinion, the US edition offers a slightly superior colouring experience to the UK edition and if you’re going to purchase just one copy then I’d suggest it be that one though the UK edition really is lovely and I’m ever so glad to have both. If you notice any other differences then please do get in touch and I’ll add them to the list! Happy Colouring – You’ve definitely earnt it!

Please do let me know in the comments section below which edition you’ll be purchasing and why!

You can read my review of the contents of Ivy and the Inky Butterfly, including my mental health recommendations here for the UK and here for the US edition. You can find my Unboxing videos for both books and silent video flick-throughs on my YouTube Channel here.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Ivy and the Inky Butterfly it’s available to pre-order here:
UK Edition
Amazon UK – Ivy and the Inky Butterfly
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Ivy-and-the-Inky-Butterfly-Johann-Basford/9780753545652/?a_aid=colouringitmom
US Edition
Amazon UK – Ivy and the Inky Butterfly
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Ivy-and-the-Inky-Butterfly-Johann-Basford/9780143130925?ref=grid-view&qid=1507078323619&sr=1-2/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Ivy and the Inky Butterfly: A Magical Tale to Colour (UK Edition) – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Ivy and the Inky Butterfly: A Magical Tale to Colour is illustrated and very kindly sent to me to review by Johanna Basford, it is published by Virgin Books. I have also been sent a US edition of the book and have written a comparison post which can be found here. This book is the sixth colouring book illustrated by colouring queen, Johanna Basford and this meant it was time for a bit of a change, this time it’s a different shape, somewhat different style and contains a story that she’s written based on a bedtime story she’s told her daughter Evie but what isn’t different is the charm, beauty and wonderfulness that we’ve come to expect from Johanna’s books, this book has those in spades!

The book itself measures 21.5 x 25cm making it the same height as the UK editions of Magical Jungle and Johanna’s Christmas but almost 4cm narrower as it’s not square. It’s paperback with flexible card covers with ½ French Flaps which open out front and back to reveal a flower, leaf and butterfly design that is fully colourable, this isn’t waxy and is very smooth so it should be fully colourable with most mediums including pencils and water-based pens, be very careful with alcohol markers bleeding through to the external covers. The spine and covers are white with black text, the cover has coppery/bronze foiling accents which is quite subtle and very luxurious and aids the traditional storybook feeling! The spine is glue and string-bound which makes it very durable and easier to open out flat so you can reach the majority of the gutter and colour it. The paper is the same as that used in UK editions of Magical Jungle and Johanna’s Christmas, this paper was found through a global hunt and it’s beautiful, it is not the same paper as used in the US editions of these books which was created specifically for Johanna’s books and named after her. The paper is a very pale ivory colour, it’s a medium thickness and lightly textured and it’s perfect for pens and pencils; pencils are a dream to blend and shade with and pens go on really smoothly, they don’t bleed through unless you use alcohol markers and water-based pens only shadow if you colour too much in one spot, as always, do check all of your mediums on the colour palette test page to check how your mediums behave.

Upon opening the book, you find the beautiful title page, followed by the introduction and name page, the copyright page is at the back at the bottom of the End page. There isn’t an official treasure hunt in this book but Johanna has hidden over 200 butterflies throughout the pages for you to find, some are very obvious and some are much better hidden and there aren’t any answers or clues to where they are so you may be left scratching your head if you can’t find them all. The images are printed double-sided throughout, I know lots of people aren’t a fan of this but it really wouldn’t have worked with single-sided pages as the story wouldn’t have flowed and the book would have weighed a ton, as it is it contains 120 pages so it’s much thicker than all of the previous titles and has so much content packed in that this could be a lifetime project! The story has been written by Johanna and it’s thoroughly lovely, exciting and far more complex than I expected. I’m not sure what age range it’s aimed at but there is some fairly complex language included so at a guess I’d suggest probably age 6-8 and above, and possibly older if the children are wanting to read it themselves, depending on their reading ability. The text isn’t on every page and those it is on it’s been very cleverly incorporated and illustrated around so that it doesn’t feel like a colouring book with text shoe-horned it, it feels like an illustrated storybook with images on every page and text on the vast majority. The images vary a huge amount, this book has by far the largest range of content of any of Johanna’s books and it’s absolutely packed with different items to really challenge you to learn to colour all sorts of types of things including gems, metal, feathers, fur, skin, water, and so much more. The images are also drawn in a huge range of styles including ribbons, centralised images, full double-page scenes, mandalas, symmetrical sections, portrait-style images, illuminated manuscripts, borders, frames and more. The content of the images matches the story and without giving too much away, this involves Ivy following an Inky Butterfly out of a portrait, through a hidden door and into a magical world where she meets some lovely friends and creatures and encounters a gigantic flower garden, a magpie shop owner, a mouse, elves, dragons and more. The images contain all manner of things including flowers, leaves, mushrooms, food, lanterns, trinkets, bees, tree houses, stilted water houses, jewellery, maps, stars, berries, a griffin, treasure, and owl, I could go on forever! This book does still have a lot of flowers, leaves and trees but there are so many other things interspersed that you can certainly give your green pencils and pens a bit of a rest and start learning all sorts of techniques to really challenge yourself and make things look realistic if you wish. The images are truly beautiful, I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit flicking through this book for the last few days and every single time I find more items I didn’t notice before. One thing I really noticed and which I’m absolutely in love with about this book is the subtle nods to all of Johanna’s previous books, from a picture of flamingos on the wall in the Wonder Room and another of elephants (both from Magical Jungle), to the cuckoo clock on the wall that was pictured in Johanna’s Christmas, a crab postcard, fish and ships in bottles like those found in Lost Ocean, there are dragons, castles and treehouses similar to those in Enchanted Forest and flower upon flower from Secret Garden (as well as heaps of new ones, don’t panic), none of the content feels samey, boring, or repetitive, but it’s so lovely to have little reminders of the previous books which really helps tie them all together and certainly made me wonder if all of those previous books might have been places and lands that Ivy, or her grandfather might have travelled to in the past. Some of the images are really packed with illustrations and others are much more open with space to add your own imagery or backgrounds if you wish. There aren’t a great deal of images of Ivy because Johanna knows that a lot of us struggle with colouring skin tone and she’s not a fan of drawing people though she’s done a fabulous job of all of the images of Ivy that there are but this book certainly isn’t intimidating for those of us whose current level of skin-tone colouring is a block of peachy-pink!

In terms of mental health, I’m not sure this book could be better, it offers a great project in a number of ways and it is so distracting. The story itself is absolutely lovely and very absorbing, the images follow it really well but also leave plenty of room for you to use your own imagination and get lost in Ivy’s journey to Enchantia. The images are all different sizes so this book is really adaptable for those with fluctuating conditions and these range from small motifs of one bee or a couple of fish, all the way up to completely packed double-page spreads that have almost no un-illustrated spaces and everything in between, no matter how you’re feeling you’ll be able to find a section that’s suitable and that will give you a sense of accomplishment. You can really use this book to challenge yourself to learn new techniques if you wish but it’ll look equally beautiful block coloured in your brightest, weirdest colour combinations, the sky really is the limit! For those of us who often struggle to know what to colour or pick a page it could be a great idea to work through this book cover to cover and just colour each page in turn so that you don’t have to keep deciding, or you can just dive in to your favourite page and start there, it really doesn’t matter. I know a lot of people want to fully colour a copy of this book as a gift for children in their life and having now seen the book, this would make the most amazing gift and heirloom that children for years to come would adore and cherish but my goodness is it an undertaking, it’ll take such a long time to complete but it’ll be so worth it and you could even start it off for a child and then get them to carry it on. What a wonderful experience it would be to read the story and colour the book together! The line thickness is the same as always, thin and sometimes spindly thin. The intricacy and detail levels have increased again since Magical Jungle and are much more similar to Secret Garden and the less detailed parts of Lost Ocean so you will need pretty good vision and fine motor control because while the intricacy and detail levels do vary throughout, the majority are quite high because of the sheer amount of content and objects in each image. I have personally found this book really calming, the story is very reminiscent of those from my childhood and nostalgia can be very comforting, it’s just really heart-warming both in the words and the imagery and it really helps your worries melt away, it lifts your mood and the world doesn’t feel like such a dark place for a while, it’s perfect!

Overall, I really can’t recommend this book enough, it’s beautiful and I know some people were a bit upset about it having text added this time but it adds so much to the book and loses none of the illustrative content because of the larger number of pages. You don’t need to have kids or be a child to enjoy this book, I don’t have kids and my goodness have I been enjoying it, especially knowing that no one will be “adding” to my colouring or dog-earing the pages but it’ll make a wonderful project or gift for the children in your life if you choose to share it with them. Johanna really has outdone herself, the new objects and types of imagery are fantastic and really add a lot to the book and I honestly can’t express just how beautiful and perfect this book is when it’s actually in your hands, I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with it!

If you’d like to purchase a copy, it’s available here:
UK Edition
Amazon UK – Ivy and the Inky Butterfly: A Magical Tale to Colour
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Ivy-and-the-Inky-Butterfly-Johann-Basford/9780753545652/?a_aid=colouringitmom
US Edition
Amazon UK – Ivy and the Inky Butterfly: A Magical Tale to Color
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Ivy-and-the-Inky-Butterfly-Johann-Basford/9780143130925/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured with Staedtler Ergosoft Coloured Pencils.

Johanna’s Christmas: A comparison between the UK and US editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Johanna’s Christmas was released in the UK and US last week and after the huge online debates surrounding the differences between the UK and US editions of her previous books I thought I’d do a comparison of them both as my previous comparisons of Lost Ocean and Magical Jungle were very successful. I was unable to get review copies so I have purchased the US edition from Book Depository and the UK edition from Amazon UK (purchase links below). I have heard that there are issues with some UK editions which have been printed in China, my copy was printed in Italy (more info below).

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, they’re summarised at the bottom. Some of the very noticeable differences include size and paper type so here goes with the most comprehensive list of similarities and differences that you’re likely to find online!

Dust Jacket – This is usually one of the biggest differences between the editions, with the UK version usually having a removable dust jacket and the US edition having it attached. This time we have a break in convention and both the UK and US edition have attached covers, with no removable dust jacket. I think this is a shame as I’ve loved the removable dust jackets but there you go, neither has them.
French Flaps – The inside flaps of the cover are larger in the UK edition. Both editions have a white line-drawn bauble pattern but the UK edition has more baubles printed smaller, the US edition has them cut off a little and printed larger, and the image on the UK front flap is on the back one in the US and vice versa.
Spine – The UK edition has a black spine with white writing (the same as Secret Garden and UK Lost Ocean and Magical Jungle) and the Virgin books symbol. The US edition has a white spine with black writing and the Penguin books symbol (the same as US Lost Ocean and Magical Jungle).
Book size – The UK edition is exactly the same size as Johanna Basford’s first two titles (and the same as the UK editions of Lost Ocean and Magical Jungle) – 25cm square, the US edition is slightly larger at around 25.5cm square making it about half a centimetre taller and wider (this is the same size as the US editions of Lost Ocean and Magical Jungle).
Cover colour – The UK cover is bright white, the US cover is ever so slightly off-white though this is only noticeable when placed next to something truly white.
Foiling – This is one of the most noticeable differences. The UK edition has stuck with tradition and has gold foiling accents, these are smooth and very shiny and a yellower gold than the UK Magical Jungle foil (this didn’t show up well in photos). Most of the title and lots of aspects of the cover design are foiled. The sheer amount of foiling on the UK edition means that I feel it looks quite tacky and gaudy. The US edition is much more subtle and classy and has a fully foiled title in gold but brand new red and green foiling on the wreath which looks really beautiful!
Spelling differences – As you’d expect, the UK edition has the British spellings throughout of colour etc, the US edition has color (always check your cover as it’s the easiest way of telling if you have a UK or US edition by the spelling of “colouring book”).
Cover design – The image on the cover of the UK edition is ever so slightly smaller and shows a little less all the way around than the US edition, it is not shifted at all like previous covers have been.
Blurb – The UK and US editions have completely different blurbs.
Back cover design – The back of the UK edition is identical to the front, minus the foiling. The US edition also has no foiling on the back but the design is printed in a mirror image compared to the front.
Inside covers – On opening out the French flaps, both editions have the same bauble design printed front and back, however the baubles are printed much larger in the UK edition.
Paper quality – This is one of the biggest differences between the two editions. The paper in each edition is the same as the paper used in that edition of Magical Jungle but they’re not the same as each other. The colour is different, the thickness is different and the surface texture is different. The UK paper is ivory and a much whiter hue, it is a little thinner but feels equally thick as Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest and significantly thicker than Lost Ocean. There is a little tooth but the paper does burnish after a few layers when tested with Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. The US paper is ivory but a more cream colour though it’s still paler than the cream colour of Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. The paper is the thickest yet and has a more visible tooth, it took far more layers for blending (see direct comparison below with identical numbers of layers with two polychromos pencils on the red and yellow leaf) and still isn’t totally burnished. In both editions water-based pens behave the same way and the paper in both is beautiful to colour on with pens as they glide really well with no feathering or spreading at all. The UK paper seems like it will shadow faster and more easily than the US edition and while I didn’t experience any shadowing in either, the UK paper did seem like it might with very dark colours if not using a light touch. The US paper is the ‘Johanna Basford’ paper which was created for her books and the UK paper was found by Johanna and her team in a global search for a suitable ivory paper. I personally prefer the colour of the UK edition but the US paper is much easier to use pencils on and is less likely to bleed with water-based pens so I have to recommend that one.
Page ink quality – Both books have equally permanent ink when tested with Derwent blender and burnishing pencils. Both smudged ever so slightly but I was pressing hard. I haven’t coloured an image in each with pencil yet to be able to state much about ink transfer, however, my US copy arrived with little bits of print transferred onto the opposite page, presumably just from the weight of being in a stack of books so I’d guess it’s not hugely permanent, my suggestion would be to use a scrap piece of paper behind your colouring in either edition of the book just to be safe, especially between the double page spreads.
Image size – The images in the UK edition are printed a fair bit smaller than the US edition (up to 1.5cm overall and yes I measured a number of them with a ruler to check) meaning there is a larger white border around the images in the UK book compared to the US book. This difference hasn’t been especially noticeable in previous books but is visibly different in most images in these editions. Those of you with poorer vision or fine motor control would be best purchasing the US edition as the images are larger throughout, those who prefer intricacy should opt for the UK edition.
Printing – The UK edition is printed in Italy (predominantly, some much whiter versions seem to be appearing and these have apparently been published in China) and the US edition is printed in the US.
Image Quality – There was a major issue with pixelation in the UK edition of Magical Jungle, I’m pleased to state that at least in my copy there are no printing issues at all and image quality is equally good in the UK and US editions.
Introduction page – The text on both editions is laid out and justified differently.
Binding – The UK edition is stitched and lightly glue-bound whereas the US edition is only glue-bound which will make it less durable and can lead to pages falling out.
Thickness – The UK edition is noticeably thinner than the US edition, this will be because the paper is thinner in the UK edition. This also makes the UK edition much bendier than the US edition.
Weight – The UK edition is also lighter in weight than the US edition. I have weighed them both and the UK edition weighs 488g and the US edition 514g.
Backing wallpaper colour – Each single-sided design has one of three festive wallpaper designs on the back because Johanna didn’t want the pages to just be blank. In the UK edition these are printed in a darker grey line than the fainter US edition.
Backing wallpaper order – The images are single-sided but 5 are arranged into double-page spreads meaning that the preceding double-page is wallpaper. In the UK edition both sides of the spread are the same wallpaper pattern, in the US edition they are each different though the order throughout on the single pages is the same.
Perforations – The perforations are better cut and more obvious in the UK edition and the pages are easier to tear out, they are less visible in the US edition and harder to pull out the pages. Both editions are quite difficult to remove the pages from and the section of the page that is left tends to rip as you’re pulling it out so do be very careful when removing pages to avoid any rips to the pages themselves.
Page size – The size of the perforated section of the page is different in each edition and actually neither are square which will making framing them a little bit challenging as they’re not a standard shape or size. You’ll either have to matt and layer in a larger frame or cut off some of the edge of the page on the centralised images to make them a standard size. The UK pages measure approximately 23.4cm x 24.9cm. The US pages measure approximately 24.1cm x 25.2cm.

To sum up, if you’ve managed to make it this far, the two biggest factors affecting your decisions are these:

Matching set – If you want your copy of Johanna’s Christmas to match Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest and the UK editions of Lost Ocean and Magical Jungle as much as is currently possible (bearing in mind the difference in paper colour, thickness and level of intricacy), then you want the UK edition because it is exactly the same size but it doesn’t have a removable dust jacket. This is also the best copy to purchase if you prefer higher levels of intricacy or more space to add your own drawings and backgrounds.
Larger, easier to colour images and thicker paper– If your vision or fine motor control aren’t perfect then I’d definitely advise purchasing the US edition of Johanna’s Christmas because the extra (up to) 1.5cm in the images will be useful. The paper is thicker and toothier making it best for pen and pencil users, the US edition is superior in almost every way.

Everything else I’ve listed is not a criticism and doesn’t impact use or enjoyment, I’ve just listed all of the differences to make people aware of what they are and to make it easy to identify which copy is which when looking at pictures of it online and elsewhere. In my opinion, the US edition offers a superior colouring experience to the UK edition and if you’re going to purchase just one copy then I’d suggest it be that one. If you notice any other differences then please do get in touch and I’ll add them to the list! Happy Colouring – You’ve definitely earnt it!

You can read my review of the contents of Johanna’s Christmas, including my mental health recommendations here for the UK and here for the US edition. My comparisons of the UK and US editions of Johanna’s other books can be found here – Lost Ocean & Magical Jungle.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Johanna’s Christmas it’s available here:
UK Edition
Amazon UK – Johanna’s Christmas
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Johanns-Christmas-Johann-Basford/9780753557563/?a_aid=colouringitmom
US Edition
Amazon UK – Johanna’s Christmas
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Johanns-Christmas-Johann-Basford/9780143129301/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Magical Jungle: A comparison between the UK and US editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Magical Jungle was released in the UK and US last week and after the huge online debates surrounding the differences between the UK and US editions of Lost Ocean last year and the popularity of my comparison post of that (found here), I thought I’d do the same for Magical Jungle. I was unable to get review copies so I have purchased the US edition from Book Depository and the UK edition from Amazon UK (purchase links below). I have heard that there are issues with some UK editions which have been printed in China, my copy was printed in Italy (more info below). You can find my review of the UK edition, including the image content etc here.

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, they’re summarised at the bottom. Some of the very noticeable differences include size, print quality and paper type so here goes with the most comprehensive list of similarities and differences that you’re likely to find online!

Dust Jacket – This is one of the biggest differences between the editions. The UK edition has a removable dust jacket just like the UK editions of the first three books by Johanna Basford. It is a little looser fitting than the first two books and is ivory and a little thinner too (very similar to Lost Ocean but not white like that was). The book itself has bright grass green card covers with a black orchid and leaf design on the outside and inside covers. The US edition has a fully attached white cover made of card which has half size flaps inside that open out revealing the foliage design that is also on the inside of the UK dust jacket. The covers on both editions are fully colourable and matte in texture apart from the inside of the UK dust jacket which is waxy to the touch, this can be coloured with alcohol markers but water-based pens are repelled.
French Flaps – The inside flaps of the dust jacket of the UK edition and the cover of the US edition have the same white line foliage drawing but this is printed much larger on the US edition than the UK edition.
Spine – The UK edition has a black spine with white writing (the same as Secret Garden and UK Lost Ocean) and the Virgin books symbol. The US edition has a white spine with black writing and the Penguin books symbol.
Book size – The UK edition is exactly the same size as Johanna Basford’s first three UK titles – 25cm square, the US edition is slightly larger (just like the US Lost Ocean) at around 25.5cm square making it about half a centimetre taller and wider.
Foil on cover – Both editions have gold foiling on the front but both have different aspects foiled. The UK edition has the tiger, chameleon, orchid and aspects of all three birds covered in foil, the title is partially foiled; the US edition has a few leaves, flowers and the whole toucan foiled instead and the title is fully foiled.
Foiling colour – The foiling is also a different colour and texture – the UK edition has gold foiling that is a darker colour, it’s difficult to describe but it’s more silver and bronze than specifically gold and is smoother to the touch, the US edition has much yellower gold foiling that is slightly rough to the touch.
Spelling differences – As you’d expect, the UK edition has the British spellings throughout of colour etc, the US edition has color (always check your cover as it’s the easiest way of telling if you have a UK or US edition by the spelling of “colouring book”).
Cover design – The image on the cover of the UK edition is shifted up approximately half a centimetre compared to the US edition.
Blurb – The UK and US editions have completely different blurbs.
Paper quality – This is one of the biggest differences between the two editions. The paper in each edition is different from previous books and different from each other. The colour is different, the thickness is different and the surface texture is different. The UK paper is ivory and a much whiter hue, it is a little thinner but feels equally thick as Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest and significantly thicker than Lost Ocean. There is a little tooth but the paper does burnish after a few layers when tested with Polychromos and Prismacolor pencils. The US paper is ivory but a more cream colour though it’s still paler than the cream colour of Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. The paper is the thickest yet and has a more visible tooth, it took far more layers for blending (see direct comparison below with identical numbers of layers with two polychromos pencils on the red and yellow leaf) and still isn’t totally burnished. In both editions water-based pens behave the same way and the paper in both is beautiful to colour on with pens as they glide really well with no feathering or spreading at all. The UK paper seems like it will shadow faster and more easily than the US edition and while I didn’t experience any shadowing in either, the UK paper did seem like it might with very dark colours if not using a light touch. The US paper is the ‘Johanna Basford’ paper which was created for her books and the UK paper was found by Johanna and her team in a global search for a suitable ivory paper. I personally prefer the colour of the UK edition but the US paper is much easier to use pencils on and is less likely to bleed with water-based pens so I have to recommend that one.
Page ink quality – Both books have equally permanent ink when tested with Derwent blender and burnishing pencils. Both smudged ever so slightly but I was pressing hard and there was very little ink transfer behind the image I fully coloured in the UK edition. My suggestion would be to use a scrap piece of paper behind your colouring in either edition of the book just to be safe.
Image size – The images in the UK edition are printed a little smaller than the US edition (up to 1cm overall and yes I measured a number of them with a ruler to check) meaning there is a larger white border around the images in the UK book compared to the US book. This difference isn’t especially noticeable but those of you with poorer vision or fine motor control would be best purchasing the US edition as the images are slightly larger throughout.
Image orientation – The images in the UK edition are shifted upwards slightly when compared to the US edition, it looks as if both have had a section taken from a slightly larger original image and the UK edition takes the upper part and the US edition takes the lower part, this is very marginal, up to half a centimetre difference, but I noticed it and felt it worth mentioning. This only affects full page designs not any of the centralised images.
Printing – The UK edition is printed in Italy (predominantly, some much whiter versions seem to be appearing and these have apparently been published in China) and the US edition is printed in the US.
Image Quality – This is another major difference and issue between the two editions. The US edition has beautifully printed smooth lines which look as crisp as I imagine Johanna’s original drawings look. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the UK edition and before you ask, no I don’t have a bad copy, I’ve checked with a couple of friends and they have the same issues as I do in their UK edition. The lines are slightly pixelated and not smooth. This is the case throughout the book. A relative of mine has a history in book printing and after looking at the two books he said that this difference in print quality is because of the printing method used for the two books. The UK edition has been printed lithographically which often causes slight pixelation and this is present throughout and while it’s not noticeable from a distance (you may not have even noticed it yet in your copy, sorry if I’ve just ruined your enjoyment of it), it does become noticeable when you get closer to the page. It’s a real shame that Johanna’s images haven’t been printed with a completely crisp line. I’ve now looked through my copies of her other titles and this was also present on a few pages in Enchanted forest. This would again lead me to advise purchasing the US edition.
Introduction page – The text on both editions is justified ever so slightly differently and there is an extra comma in the US text.
Binding – The UK edition is stitched and lightly glue-bound whereas the US edition is only glue-bound and because of the fixed cover the binding is much tighter in the US edition. This will ease up with use, especially if you crack or break the spine (I always find this heartbreaking to do), but initially the US edition is much tighter and opens less flat than the UK edition.
Images in key – The key gives the locations of all of the hidden items throughout the book, these are listed in a completely random order in the US edition but in the UK edition they are listed numerically (from largest to smallest number) and alphabetically.
Perforated Pages – The four perforated pages at the back of the book are 1cm wider in the US edition than the UK edition.

To sum up, if you’ve managed to make it this far, the two biggest factors affecting your decisions are these:

Matching set – If you want your copy of Magical Jungle to match Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest and the UK edition of Lost Ocean as much as is currently possible (bearing in mind the difference in paper colour and thickness and level of intricacy), then you want the UK edition because it is exactly the same size and also has the distinctive removable dust jacket that we all know and love.
Larger, easier to colour images, thicker paper and crisp linework – If your vision or fine motor control aren’t perfect then I’d definitely advise purchasing the US edition of Magical Jungle because the extra (up to) 1cm in the images will be useful. The paper is thicker and toothier making it best for pen and pencil users and the linework is printed more crisply and neatly so overall, apart from the dust jacket and slight difference in book size, the US edition is superior in almost every way.

Everything else I’ve listed is not a criticism and doesn’t impact use or enjoyment, I’ve just listed all of the differences to make people aware of what they are and to make it easy to identify which copy is which when looking at pictures of it online and elsewhere. In my opinion, the US edition offers a superior colouring experience to the UK edition and if you’re going to purchase just one copy then I’d suggest it be that one. If you notice any other differences then please do get in touch and I’ll add them to the list! Happy Colouring – You’ve definitely earnt it!

You can read my review of the contents of Magical Jungle, including my mental health recommendations here.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Magical Jungle it’s available here:
UK Edition
Amazon UK – Magical Jungle
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Magical-Jungle-Johann-Basford/9780753557167/?a_aid=colouringitmom
US Edition
Amazon UK – Magical Jungle
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Magical-Jungle-Johann-Basford/9780143109006/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Lost Ocean: A comparison of the UK and US editions

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Lost Ocean was released worldwide last month and there have been huge online debates about the differences between the UK and US editions and which has the best paper quality, the size of the images, the colour of the paper etc. So, as a reviewer, I thought it best to purchase a copy of each so that I could compare and contrast and give you the ultimate guide to each edition so you can purchase the copy that best suits you. For my review of the content of the book and lots of images from inside please click here. 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, they’re summarised at the bottom. When I first flicked through my US edition it looked exactly the same as my UK edition but the closer I looked, the more differences I found (24 in fact) so here goes with the most comprehensive list of similarities and differences that you’re likely to find online!

Dust Jacket – This is by far the biggest difference between the editions. The UK edition has a removable dust jacket just like the first two books by Johanna Basford. It is a little looser fitting than the first two books and is bright white and a little thinner too. The book itself has bright blue card covers with a black coral and seaweed design on the outside and inside covers. The US edition has a fully attached white cover made of card which has half size flaps inside that open out revealing the fish design that is also on the inside of the UK dust jacket. The covers on both editions are fully colourable and matte in texture apart from the inside of the UK dust jacket which is waxy to the touch.
Spine – The UK edition has a black spine with white writing (the same as Secret Garden) and the Virgin books symbol. The US edition has a white spine with black writing and the Penguin books symbol.
Book size – The UK edition is exactly the same size as Johanna Basford’s first two titles and the US edition is slightly larger all the way around by approximately 5mm in each direction.
Foil on cover – Both editions have gold foiling on the front but both have different aspects foiled. The UK edition has the turtle and seahorse foiled and the US edition has more small fish foiled instead. The foiling is also a different colour and texture – the UK edition has gold foiling that is smooth to the touch and very shiny, the US edition has much yellower gold foiling that is rough to the touch and quite dull. (Please ignore the colour difference of the paper, the photos were taken in different weather and edited to sit next to each other, the covers are the same colour, the foil is different).
Foiling continued – The UK edition has foiling on the front and back cover, the US edition only has foiling on the front cover, none on the back.
Spelling differences – As you’d expect, the UK edition has the British spellings throughout of colour etc, the US edition has the US spelling, color (always check your cover as it’s the easiest way of telling if you have a UK or US edition).
Cover design – Because the UK edition is slightly smaller, some of the edges of the cover image are cut off in comparison to the US edition which shows the whole design.
Blurb – The UK and US editions have completely different blurbs.
Paper quality – There has been debate about this but in my copies the paper is ever so slightly different with the UK copy having slightly brighter white paper, however, this varies in different lights and is really marginal! The paper is the same thickness in both editions. The quality is also the same having tested water-based fineliners and pencils on it. I found pencils more difficult to blend on this paper than Johanna’s first two books but it’s the same on both editions of Lost Ocean. The amount of shadowing from water-based fineliners is also exactly the same and neither book had any bleed-through from these. Both also have the same amount of tooth.
Page ink quality – Both books unfortunately do not have permanent ink meaning that when you use a blending pencil, some of the ink is moved with it and smudges. I tested the same section in both books and found that both smudge but there is more smudging in the US edition than the UK edition. Also, when using pencils and pressing hard, ink from the page behind does transfer to the back of the image you’re colouring so make sure you put scrap paper in behind your work when using pencils. I found transfer levels to be equal between the copies.
Image size – The images in the UK edition are printed a little smaller than the US edition (up to 1cm overall and yes I measured a number of them with a ruler to check) meaning there is a larger white border around the images in the UK book compared to the US book. This difference isn’t especially noticeable but in the most intricate of images an extra millimetre or two does make a difference so if your vision is poor you may want a US copy rather than a UK copy.
Publishing page – There are more drawings of fish on the US publishing page than on the UK edition.
Printing – The UK edition is printed in Italy and the US edition is printed in the US (this can be seen in the photo above).
Name page – The whole design of the name page is over 1cm larger in the US edition than the UK edition and is also differently centred on the page.
Introduction page – The UK edition’s introduction page is not titled and the text is not justified, in the US edition the introduction is titled and the text justified.
Binding – The UK edition is stitched and lightly glue-bound whereas the US edition is only glue-bound and because of the fixed cover the binding is much tighter in the US edition. This will ease up with use, especially if you crack or break the spine (I always find this heartbreaking to do), but initially the US edition is much tighter and opens less flat than the UK edition.
Boat and lighthouse double-page spread – The design on this double-page spread is orientated completely differently in the two editions with it being much higher up on the page in the UK edition than the US edition.
Fish, seahorse and jellyfish pattern double-page spread – This image is centred differently in both editions and enters the spine in the UK edition and doesn’t in the US edition (Please excuse the terrible lighting and shadow in the picture).
Starfish and anchor motif – The design on this page is printed significantly larger in the US edition than the UK edition.
Whale – The whale in the UK edition faces left and in the US edition faces right. It’s almost as if they’re looking at each other across the ocean between the countries they’re published in.
Images in key – The images in the key of the UK edition all have black lines down the middle indicating the spine of the book, in the US edition there is no black line indicating the spine on the images of the double-page spreads.

SPOILER ALERT: If you don’t want to see images or descriptions of the large 4-page pull out spread then stop reading now. For those of you that do, continue on!

Pull-out spread – The pull-out spread is folded differently in each edition, the UK edition is folded in half and then half again whereas the US edition is folded so that it continually opens outwards to the right.
Back image of pull-out spread – This image is centred differently on each edition and is smaller and shorter on the UK edition and larger and taller on the US edition. UK is above in the photo and US is below.
Front image of pull-out spread – This image is very different in both editions, despite being the same illustration. The UK edition has a significant strip of the image at each end missing and it is printed all the way up to both end edges. The US edition has the full image printed with a white edge at both ends. UK is above in the photo and US is below.

To sum up, if you’ve managed to make it this far, the two biggest factors affecting your decisions are these:

Matching set – If you want your copy of Lost Ocean to match Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest as much as is currently possible (bearing in mind the difference in paper colour, thickness and level of intricacy), then you want the UK edition because it is exactly the same size and also has the distinctive removable dust jacket that we all know and love.
Larger, easier to colour images – If your vision or fine motor control aren’t perfect then I’d definitely advise purchasing the US edition of Lost Ocean because that extra 1cm in most of the images could make the difference to you going over the lines or not.

Everything else I’ve listed is not a criticism and I have no view on which is better or worse, I’ve just listed all of the differences to make people aware of what they are and to make it easy to identify which copy is which when looking at pictures of it online and elsewhere. If you notice any other differences then please do get in touch and I’ll add them to the list! Happy Colouring – You’ve definitely earnt it!

You can read my review of the contents of Lost Ocean, including my mental health recommendations here.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Lost Ocean it can be found here:
UK
Amazon UK – Lost Ocean: An Inky Adventure & Colouring Book
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Lost-Ocean-Johann-Basford/9780753557150/?a_aid=colouringitmom

US
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Lost-Ocean-Johann-Basford/9780143108993/?a_aid=colouringitmom