The Rosie Flo colouring books evolved through hours of sitting and drawing with my daughters when they were small. They gave me instructions as to what I must draw and each time I promptly obeyed.

Dresses were the most popular items demanded of me and Sophie (now 11) would then do the faces, arms and legs. We drew all different kinds of people; rich, poor, fat, thin, tall, short, old and young. Sasha (now 8) became obsessed with simply colouring-in.

The book ended up as a collection of dresses, some eccentric, some with a vague narrative but all of them lacked the head and limbs required to give them the character of Rosie Flo (a name made up from Sasha and Sophie's middle names). I was fascinated with how they both maintained such prolonged interest with this way of drawing and felt there must be other like minded
girls around.

In designing the books, I have paid attention to all things which irritated me as a child.

 The paper quality is thick enough to avoid showing through or damaging the picture on the next page. It is sturdy enough to withstand a few journeys without falling apart and small enough to fit in a child's hand luggage. The lines are intentionally not too thick, as this makes it look like it is only for preschool children.

The age range is between around 4 to 12 and beyond. We were encouraged to bring out Johhny Joe's colouring book for boys which is a collection of action-led scenes where heads, legs and arms are still required.

We design and publish all the colouring books in-house at our graphic design company Streeten Kamlish and are pleased to say
that sales have been very successful so far.

Roz Streeten