About the Book
- Genre:
- Coloring Books
Cover Story:Â Who Run The World?
Arty Art:Â R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Color Me Radd:Â Dolly, Missy, Malala
Color Me Badd:Â Taylor
I See Your True Colors:Â I’m Every Woman, It’s All In Me
Cover Story: Who Run The World?
No punches pulled, here: with The Notorious RBG, Beyonce, and Malala, you know this book is about women at their very finest and most powerful. I love that it’s also not afraid to be girly, because we can love glitter and cocktails and even lace jabots while also being fierce intellectuals, businesswomen, artists, and philanthropists. No shame in this game!
The Deal:
Boss Babes is a coloring and activity book for grown-ass women. Of course, you can and should share it with younger ladies and gentlemen of all ages (feel the power, boys!), but this is a book happily designed for the teen-to-adult woman in mind. (The only reason I don’t say “hey, your kids will love this!” is because, for the most part, I’m not sure they’ll recognize most of the figures, or the humor behind activities like, “Oh No, Cher’s Tweeting Again! Decode The Emojis!” However, there is a cool index in the back with brief backgrounds of each woman profiled, so maybe an older kid would find this fun.)
So, who’s a boss babe? Let Michelle Volansky tell you:
Boss Babe
noun
- A woman who has changed the world for the better, no matter how small or large her contribution.
- A champion in her field of expertise who leads the way for other women.
Arty Art: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
What says “I am a household name” like being featured in a coloring book? I don’t know what it’s like for The Kids These Days, but my memory of coloring books was mostly filled with Rainbow Brite, Jem, and a particularly beautiful Nutcracker Suite book I was too afraid to color in because I needed it to be perfect. (That’s another story for another time, and also an excellent encapsulation of me as a child.) In my estimation, we make coloring books with subjects and people we implicitly sanction (they’re so ubiquitous and normal that you’ll want to use them as a jumping-off point for your art!)–so let’s honor these ladies and pick up our crayons.
Color Me Radd: Dolly
Dolly is the first lady in this book, and we had to color her in honor of Sarah, Meredith, and of course, SFFYA.
Color Me Radd: Missy
As a grown-ass lady, we encourage you to get your freak on.
Color Me Radd: Malala
Malala is obviously someone to admire (what life-altering stand did YOU take at 15? How many Nobel Prizes have YOU won? Holy shit, she’s still just 19!). When it comes to this book, you’ve got pop culture icons, your intellectuals, and your entertainers–but then you’ve got ladies like Malala, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sally Ride, who have done the seemingly-unimaginable. How can you not love it?
Color Me Badd: Taylor
I know many are bound to disagree, but I’m vehemently anti-Taylor Swift: a particularly annoying pop chanteuse who has made a fortune shilling “I’m not like the other girls” pseudo-feminism with saccharine passive-aggressive lyrics and carefully calculated press moves. On the other hand, she’s a pretty brilliant businesswoman, and good for her, she apparently banged Tom Hiddleston. Your mileage may vary, but I don’t think she’s a boss babe, and I’d like to send her to Mars, if possible. If she’s the only girl on Mars, she truly won’t be like “the other girls,” and that would be A-OK with me.
Of course, this has nothing to do with Volansky’s art, which is quite lovely, even if I don’t care for the subject!
I See Your True Colors: I’m Every Woman, It’s All In Me
Book, we had an excellent date: in fact, we had multiple excellent dates, because you were the impetus behind me gathering a bunch of my girlfriends over cocktails and crayons! We loved your selection of boss ladies and silly charm. I’m not a one-book sort of gal, so I’m going to suggest all my friends and fellow book-lovers pick you up (and never put you down).
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a free review copy from Workman Publishing. I received neither money nor a pet unicorn for writing this review, despite how hard I wished for one. Boss Babes is available now.
