I picked up this book for my 11 year old son who was interested in aircraft following a school topic. I was really impressed with the quality and detail of the pictures in the book and there was a good range of options. I'd definitely recommend for kids and adults to enjoy.

This is a very detailed coloring book that I look forward to using in our homeschool this year as we study this time period.

For full disclosure – no, I did not colour in any of my copy of this at all. It was a digital one, and my laptop screen gets grubby enough thank you very much. So for paper quality, bleed-through, or anything else relevant to actual colouring books, I am not the man. I am certainly not the man to do anything about replicating the art here, for on each page we get one or two aircraft, fully illustrated, and then a slightly larger version for us to colour. The very first one has an impossible-to-attain metallic sheen to the shadows under the upper wing, and just pages after that we go from a victim of the 'Red Baron' being shot down in a blaze of ignominy, to some very splodgy desert camo.

The book is a mix of content, as some pages are landscape and others portrait, some with one plane and the others two – and some are even sort of bonus, splash-page photos we can just admire, and not try and replicate. Despite my scoffing at what I was expected to do, I can very much see an adult hobby here, and the aviation fan as opposed to the military realist will be perfectly OK in either copying the coloured visuals provided, or going for their own aesthetic. I think the way the outlines we are filling in are 50% larger than the example is perfect – it doesn't make the source squint-worthily small, but it's not so large we feel like we can never go off piste if we wish.

Oh, and in keeping with the sort of parent books from Amber, we do get our captions – oh how they love their captions (and so, in turn, do I). Here there is a tiny paragraph with some details about each plane, although the birds are just here in a jumble – Ilyushins then Boeings then others, a U-2 next to a chopper, and so on, all more or less chronological, perhaps, but not grouped at all otherwise. So if you wanted to see a stealth bomber in gaudy garb, or are down to just your last gunmetal grey pencil and have a Spitfire to adorn, then you can do practically what you want with this, or refrain and wait for the real McCoy. I certainly don't think it's for the beginner, but it has merit just for its guide to the look of the real planes, and as for our designs, I think the sky is the limit, don't you?

I immediately wanted to check out this book because I have a 12 year old son who is obsessed with military aircraft. He and I sat down and looked through the book last night. He LOVED it! That aside, I also homeschool him and from that perspective, this would be a great fun activity book to add into a homeschool curriculum for any child! The coloring photos are extremely detailed so it’s a great book that adults will love too!

This book covers Military Aircraft from 4 different time periods…World War I, World War II, Cold War and Modern aircraft. There are a ton of different aircrafts featured. Each one has a small blurb with some information about the plane, a full-color picture to see what it looks like and the blank outline for you to color.

One note that I would say isn’t necessarily a positive or negative is that the coloring pictures are extremely detailed. It does look very nice and I personally like it but it may make this book more appropriate for adults/slightly older children but surely younger children could still enjoy it!

Pros:
**I liked that there were a handful of two page spread real photographs.
**I loved that there was information about the plane included.
**I loved that there is a full color picture of each aircraft as well as the blank outline to color with each type so you can color the way you like or make it like the real thing!

Cons:
**While the planes are grouped by war, there’s no clear distinction when you are switching from one to the next. It does say in the top corner which war each aircraft is from, however, I personally would have liked a page specifically stating the change of time periods.
**Many of the planes were grouped two to a page. I understand that they only have so much space in the book and I’m sure they wanted to pack in as much information as possible and give you the bang for your buck. However, with the pictures being so incredibly detailed, I think that would make it harder to color them since they’re smaller.

12 Year Old Feedback:
“It’s cool.”
“I wish they were a little more spaced apart. I like it but it looks hard to color.”

Overall, I think this is a great book and I will be purchasing a physical copy for my son to have.

**I received a free ARC of this book (in eBook form) in exchange for an honest review**

This book is amazing! I will definitely need to get a physical copy because my kids loved every page. Being able to see the real thing right next to the coloring image was amazing. Plus all the historical details.