Preview–Smithsonian Institution partners with IDW to create coloring books on Airplanes, Dinosaurs, Birds, Spacecraft, and more

Today by way of a partnership between the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum and IDW Publishing, a new coloring book arrives in comic shops and online stores celebrating the history of flight. Airplanes: A Smithsonian Coloring Book, is the second of four announced coloring books that combine historical artifacts, current artists, and staffs of various Smithsonian museums to provide a virtual tour of museums while sharing the knowledge of what made the subjects an important part of science, nature, and technology. The airplanes coloring book joins the previously released Dinosaurs: A Smithsonian Coloring Book, in the series, and no matter your interests, you’re sure to find something that grabs you as two more volumes arrive in 2021: Birds: A Smithsonian Coloring Book and Spacecraft: A Smithsonian Coloring Book. Each page of these books is accompanied by informative insights from the museum’s experts about each dinosaur, aircraft, bird, or spacecraft, tying them all together as fun learning tools. The series’ deluxe ivory paper allows for a variety of artistic media like pen, pencil, or even watercolor.

Take a look inside a few of these books below, courtesy of IDW Publishing:

Explore millions of years of animal wonders, guided by experts from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the artwork of Rachel Curtis in Dinosaurs: A Smithsonian Coloring Book. Pen and ink illustrations invite you to step into scenes featuring the herbivorous Stegosaurus, the sea-dwelling Hesperornis, the giant sauropod Camarasaurus, the mighty Tyrannosaurus, and more.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute presents an exploration of the wonder of the natural world of flying marvels in Birds: A Smithsonian Coloring Book. See the terrain in which birds make their homes, and the many unique aspects of each species that makes it an important addition to the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute collections via the artwork of Rachel Curtis. Color the blue crane, red knot, brown kiwi, Guam kingfisher, and more.

Soar through the skies with some of the most recognized and revered airplanes from the collection at the National Air and Space Museum in Airplanes: A Smithsonian Coloring Book. Artist John Pirtel re-creates the 1903 Wright Flyer, the Lockheed Vega 5-B, Northrop Gamma Polar Star, McDonnell F-4S Phantom II, Concorde, and more you may recognize from the history books or more recent television coverage.

IDW and the National Air and Space Museum return for another look at the history of flight in Spacecraft: A Smithsonian Coloring Book. Illustrated by John Pirtel, get an up-close look at Sputnik, Explorer 1, Friendship 7, Space Shuttle Discovery, Voyager, astronaut Sally Ride’s flight suit, a real Mars rover, the Apollo 11 capsule Columbia, and more.