The joy of sprawling out full-length on a floor littered with colouring pencils and pens, and indulging in the age-old exercise of 'staying within the lines' is still as absorbing as ever it was.

We've been checking out some brilliant colouring books recently, and we're kicking off with our favourite.

The late Terry Pratchett's seemingly limitless imagination gave birth to the awesome Discworld, and a host of unforgettable characters that populate his brilliantly funny stories.

Long-time collaborator and illustrator Paul Kidby, who came up with the amazing covers and illustrations for Pratchett's books, has long been recognised as the authority on how Pratchett's characters should look.

Paul has come up trumps with a new colouring book, published by Gollancz, that collects together some of his best works of art - turning them into crisp and clear line art so that you can add your own dashes of colour.

DEATH in all his glory!

Name a favourite character and you'll definitely find them in the colouring book, from our fave DEATH to Vimes, Granny Weatherwax, Rincewind, The Librarian and The Luggage. Paul's artwork is fabulous and crisp and you'll end up spending hours colouring each fantastically detailed scene.

There are also lots of colour plates at the back of the book of Paul's amazing artwork to give you some pointers and get you off to a flying start.

"The Discworld Colouring Book" by Paul Kidby is out now, published by Gollancz.

A shift in gears for the next two colouring books - this time from amazing artist Tomoko Toshiro...

First, the "Fairy Tales Colouring Book" collects together some of the most well-loved and best-known fairy tales of all time, with Tomoko's own interpretations of brilliant stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Hansel and Gretel and many many others.

Each colouring spread is exquisitely detailed so you'd better sharpen your pencils to the max to fill in all the tiny little colouring areas within.

Illustrations are crisp and clear, and you'll easily find your favourite story nestled somewhere in here (we spent a very long time colouring in the gorgeous 'confectionery cottage' from Hansel and Gretel - who can resist something so appealing to a pair of sweet-tooths like us!)

Also from Tomoko is the fantastic "Princesses  and Fairies Colouring Book"...

Once again the book is filled to the brim with amazingly detailed scenes to colour, this time with a distinctly regal feel.

If your children are into amazing costumes and pretty accessories then this is very much the colouring book for them. Tomoko's designs are stunning.

The "Fairy Tales Colouring Book" and "Princesses and Fairies Colouring Book" are published by Pavilion Children's Books

Last but by no means least, an absolutely sumptuous and luxuriously bound book to turn into your very own private bestiary...




"The Book of Beasts: Colour and Discover" by Angela Rizza and Jonny Marks is an incredible collection of mythical animals drawn from Aboriginal, African, Mesoamerican, Greek, Roman, Indian, Norse, Chinese, Celtic and Japanese folk tales. Gorgeously presented in a fully-foiled gold and blue cover, it almost looks too good to deface with your own colours but that's what it's for - so brush up your skills to the max with this fabulous book.

Each collection of mythical animals is followed by a description of the beast and its origins. If you've ever wanted to know more about Unicorns, Krakens, Cockatrices, Gryphons or Dragons then you're going to absolutely love this book. What an utterly brilliant idea!

"The Book of Beasts: Colour & Discover" is out now from Buster Books.

(All books kindly supplied for review)

The iTunes app store is awash with dress-up apps and most of the time these 'free' apps are thinly veiled purchase-driven cash ins that soon frustrate children (and parents) as they realise the majority of the content needs to be paid for separately to get the full benefit.

Thankfully, Usborne's Sticker Dolly Dressing - Princesses app is absolutely packed to the gills with content so once you've paid the app price (£2.99), there's a huge amount to see and do.

Based on Usborne's popular "Sticker Dolly Dressing" range of sticker books, the app version features the same colourful and engaging artwork but of course once your child has finished their creations, they can start all over again.

First, you can select your favourite princess and then pick a scene to include them in. Then you can really go to town dressing the princesses in a vast array of costumes and accessories.

It doesn't end there. Once your princess is suitably dressed for the ball (or any of the other scenes), you can add extra items, characters (including some very cute pets) and decorations into the scene.

Because there's so much content in this, it kept Charlotte occupied for ages and it's quickly become one of the apps she always dives for whenever she's allowed on the iPad. With easy to use drag and drop controls, and (blissfully) no repetitive tinkling music to drive parents absolutely crazy, it's definitely one of the better dress up apps on the market. Some parents might be slightly put off by the £2.99 price tag but for the sheer amount of content and features, it's definitely worth looking at for any princess-obsessed children who just can't get enough of dress-up apps.

Charlotte's best bit: She loves adding items into each scene and tweaking the dress patterns / hair colour

Daddy's favourite bit: Hooray! No repetitive music and chock full of content, unlike a lot of 'free' dress up apps that are just thinly veiled purchase-driven hollow shells.