Hello from Sunny Little Art

New year. New project. First post.

We made a resolution this January, the kind that’s specific enough to actually keep. Not “be more creative” or “spend less time on screens.” This one: make the coloring books we always wanted to buy for our kids but could never find.

So that’s what we’re doing.

The problem with most children’s books

We’re two parents who’ve spent years standing in front of book shop shelves and online listings, trying to find something good. Not something that looked good on the cover. Something that would survive a Tuesday afternoon, hold a 4-year-old’s attention longer than a YouTube clip, and cost less than a decent lunch.

Most coloring books are too thin, too detailed, too plasticky, or too cheap to use with real markers. The nice ones are overpriced. The well-priced ones disappoint. So we started sketching our own at the kitchen table, still running on coffee and school-pickup deadlines. It turned out we weren’t the only parents who felt this way.

Books that outlast the iPad

That’s our motto, not because we’re anti-screen (we’re parents, not monks), but because we believe paper can hold its own when done well. A good book doesn’t need charging. It doesn’t interrupt itself with notifications. It doesn’t know what time it is.

Books that outlast the iPad means 80gsm paper minimum, so markers don’t bleed through. It means thick, bold outlines made for small hands still building fine motor control. It means single-sided pages, square formats that sit flat, and illustrations that are actually finished. Not sketched-in clipart padded to 48 pages.

It means the kind of thing we wanted to buy but kept not finding.

Made in Porto, published independently

We publish through Amazon KDP. Books are printed on demand, close to you, with no warehouse and no middlemen. It’s just the two of us. No design agency, no office. We draw it, write it, argue about it over coffee, and send it.

What’s coming

Our first book is almost done. It’s a love-themed coloring book for ages 3–5: bold outlines, 45 single-sided pages, the kind of thing that makes a good Valentine’s gift or a quiet afternoon at the table. More details very soon.

If you’ve ever bought a coloring book, watched a child give up on it in ten minutes, and thought there has to be something better, that’s exactly who we’re making this for.

Happy New Year. Here’s to paper.