Mysterious Planets (Japanese Version) by Ai Kohno

Japanese Version

English Version

One day, while gazing at the night sky, a girl who wished she could fly suddenly turned into a beautiful bird. She flapped her wings and took off into the night sky, departing on an odyssey to many mysterious planets: a forest planet, a snowy planet, a flower-filled planet, a planet full of sweets, and a magical planet. Everywhere she goes, she meets the planet's interesting inhabitants.

Please note: I am reviewing the Japanese Version. You can find the English edition elsewhere but I can't comment on its quality or format.

Mysterious Planets is a book first published in Japan by Ai Kohno, a freelance illustrator from Tokyo. The book documents a journey through six imaginary planet before landing safely back in the final section of the book, The Girl's Room. Everything is written in Japanese apart from the titles pages of each planet, which are oddly English. The illustrations are charming and very whimsical in style, allowing you to escape reality for a little while and experience these fantastic fantasy worlds. Click the categories below to discover the delights of each planet.

the forest planet

In this peculiar forest you will find strange trees, odd plants and giant mushrooms as well as more traditional nature scenes with rabbits and other woodland creatures. 

the sea planet

This scary yet beautiful planet is home to a plethora of underwater beasts, including striped sharks, flying fish, penguins and more. There are underwater mountains which peak above the surface, coral reefs, anemones and other watery creatures great & small. 

the snowy planet

It's the land of everything wintery, cold & cosy: bears snuggled up in warm caves atop with fresh snow and Christmas decorations, a polar bear Santa Claus delivering gifts to all the good little creatures, and snowflakes falling in all their stunning many-pointed glory.

the flower planet

Plush florals and exquisite blooms are in abundance on this planet, from wreathes jam-packed with blossoms, bouquets of wild berries & flourishing leaves to delightfully decorated vases filled with botanical beauty.

the sweets planet

Fill your bellies with the sickly, syrupy goodness of sweets, cookies, cakes, donuts & jellies, without any calories! This planet will be a favourite of anyone who has a sweet tooth- like me!

the magic planet

Anthropomorphic fun thrives in this spellbinding land, where animals act as humans by attending tea parties before their performances in the grand circus. Watch out for the framed portraits whose eyes follow you upon the walls of a mystical castle...

the girl's room

After trekking across the universe we see the little girl return to her home, full of all her favourite things and familiar home comforts. Ai Kohno has included a sheet of tracing paper which overlays a gem-encrusted wreath and crown onto the girl's face on the next page, allowing you to draw her easily. There's also a full animal alphabet on peach background for you to have fun colouring.

The book is square in format and measures 25 x 25cm approx. It has a full gloss dust cover with quarter-wide French flaps, covering a thick recycled-cardboard-look cover displaying line art of all 6 planets. The paper has a light ivory colour, not quite cream, more off-white. It feels a little rough to the touch and I can confirm coloured pencils lay down fabulously making blends a dream, particularly using soft pencils. As this book is double-sided you will need to use pens which don't bleed-through, and I'm pleased to report that water-based pens do not shadow on the reverse side. The ink seems to glide across the surface of this paper rather than soaking in and pilling the tooth, which is a joy to experience and not something often found when using anything other than alcohol markers.

Unsurprisingly, for books of this quality and the caliber of illustrations you are going to be paying a hefty price- and that's before you add on the international postage cost. Usually these Japanese/Korean books have to be shipped in from the country of origin, but amazingly I have found a UK stockist of not only this book but lots more stunning colouring books from Asia! Check the bottom of this review for the link to buy. Postage is super cheap but the book is still more expensive than most, though it really is worth it if you love whimsical designs and colouring books from other parts of the world. I always prefer the original version to any English re-prints as I think the language barrier adds that bit of mystery & exoticism, enhancing the fact that the illustrations derived from a remote land.

Here is my finished page, coloured with Prismacolor pencils & PanPastel for the background.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. It is back in stock on 23/24th March 2017 at the link below:

Mysterious Planets by Ai Kohno