Travel essays Coloring Book - a Surprise Castle exclusive

24 hand-illustrated scenes from a journey told in journal entries, from a European plaza to a lakeside canoe.

Open the journal. Pick up the pencil.

A hand-drawn adult coloring book, 24 scenes that run from desert dunes and Venetian bridges to mountain windows and ancient archways. The pace is set by the slow scratch of a fountain pen and the steady drip of a hostel coffee, not the next notification.

Step into a European plaza with arched buildings and bell tower where a woman writes in her journal. Walk to a fishing harbor with moored boats and lighthouse. Pull up to a forest clearing with tree-stump table and open book. Then to a covered pavilion overlooking countryside with steaming mug and pen.

The pages keep moving. A rolling desert with a woman writing and a distant camel. An airport terminal with luggage and seated woman writing. A Venetian waterside with arched bridge and rowboat. A mountain vista through a window with desk and book.

Wander through the journey. A modern city skyline through an apartment window with desk. A second mountain window with curtains and mug. A seaside with palm tree shadow and distant sailboat. A waterfront table with city skyline behind.

Keep going. An ocean view with rocky shoreline. A town square with fountain and brick bench. A suitcase interior with passport and journal. A train window onto rolling hills. A mountain landscape with backpack and journal. A waterfront cafe with teacup. A village waterway with arched bridge. A train platform shelter with bench. A lakeside canoe with open journal. A market stand with wicker baskets. An ancient stone archway with columns. And to close, a quiet desert oasis with a notebook tucked into a saddlebag.

There's a reason coloring sticks around. It gives a busy mind somewhere to land, and in this case that somewhere is the spine of a Moleskine or the rim of a hostel mug. Some pages are bold and forgiving. Others will eat a whole afternoon. Works fine with colored pencils, fine-tip markers, or gel pens.

If you know someone with the entire Pico Iyer backlist, a friend who keeps a numbered series of travel journals, or a parent who reads the New York Times travel section every Sunday, this is for them. It's also for the person who'd quietly rather shade a journal on a Saturday than scroll.

Open the journal.

Inside you'll find 24 scenes: a European plaza with bell tower, a fishing harbor with lighthouse, a forest clearing with tree-stump table, a covered pavilion with steaming mug, a desert with distant camel, an airport terminal with luggage, a Venetian waterside with arched bridge, a mountain window desk, a city skyline through apartment window, a second mountain window with curtains, a seaside palm-tree shadow, a waterfront table with skyline, an ocean view with rocky shoreline, a town square with fountain, a suitcase interior with passport, a train window with rolling hills, a mountain landscape with backpack, a waterfront cafe, a village waterway with arched bridge, a train platform shelter, a lakeside canoe, a market stand with wicker baskets, an ancient stone archway with columns, and a desert oasis with notebook.