Maria Trolle’s Enchanted Seasons: The New 2026 Hardcover That Lands Before Christmas

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Every year the same quiet disappointment plays out in December: a book gets gifted with real hope attached, and by February it is still on the shelf with the shrink-wrap half on. Usually that is not the gift-giver’s fault. The book was pretty, the recipient loved the idea of it — and then the paper skated under their pencils, or the spine snapped shut at every spread, or the art simply was not the kind they color.

This year the fix landed in October. Maria Trolle — the name that more or less defines garden-whimsy coloring — released Enchanted Seasons, her first new English hardcover in about two years, three weeks before gift season gets serious. At roughly $17 it is priced like a paperback, and it is built like a small gift in itself.

A gift coloring book has exactly one job that outranks everything else: it has to be nicer to color in than to look at. I have had the Maria Trolle Enchanted Seasons hardcover on my desk since release week, pencils first, so here is what holds up — the new Trolle first, then the four books most likely to compete with it under the tree.

Maria Trolle’s Enchanted Seasons — The Headline Gift

The Enchanted Seasons hardcover (Gibbs Smith) gathers around eighty new season-themed illustrations — spring bouquets into autumn wreaths into bare winter branches — but the build is the real story. The paper is slightly textured, which is exactly what pencil people want: enough tooth that the first wax layer grabs, so you can build three or four passes before the surface saturates, then burnish a highlight without the pencil skidding off. If you are new to layering, start light, let each pass set the tooth for the next, and save your heaviest pressure for last — this paper rewards that order better than her earlier editions did. It also does not bleed through, so marker colorists get the same pages. And the cover lies flat at the gutter, which is the difference between coloring the center of a spread and quietly avoiding it.

The honest con: the English edition is about a month old, and early buyers have reported occasional loose signatures. When your copy arrives, flex the first few pages — if a signature rattles or the glue looks gappy, exchange it. That is a printer’s defect, not the book.

My take: the strongest new gift in garden-whimsy this year. Buy it for the Trolle fan who has everything except this.

Christmas Colors by Maria Trolle — The Proven Gift

Enchanted Seasons is new; Christmas Colors is proven. This is the hardcover that established itself as the gift that actually gets colored — thick paper, cozy Scandinavian winter scenes, and a binding that survives being carried around a house for a month. At about $16 it is still the safest holiday pick on this list for anyone who does not already own it.

The honest con: the scenes overlap with Trolle’s earlier winter books. A recipient who owns those titles will recognize pages. Go new instead and every illustration is unfamiliar.

My take: for someone new to Trolle, you cannot go wrong; for a completist, gift Enchanted Seasons.

Wild Things by Johanna Basford — The Dense-Detail Pick

Wild Things is Johanna Basford’s first new inky creature book in years, and it is the pick for the colorist who wants one page to last three evenings — leaves, feathers, and scales to get lost in, at about $14.

The con matters for marker users: the pages are thin and single-sided, so alcohol markers will shadow onto the next page. Slide a blotter sheet of cardstock behind whatever you are working on. Pencil people have nothing to worry about.

My take: gift this to the patient colorist, not the one-page-before-bed type — unless slowing down is the point of the gift.

Zoomorphia by Kerby Rosanes — The Doodle-Style Wildcard

Kerby Rosanes built his career on hybrid-animal doodles, and Zoomorphia is the return his fans have waited for. If your recipient saves his style on Pinterest, this is the gift, at around $16.

The con: US listings are still consolidating, and prices vary between sellers. Check the price on the listing before you order rather than grabbing the first one you see.

My take: a sure thing for doodle-style fans; for everyone else, stay with Trolle.

Cozy Seasons by Coco Wyo — The Beginner-Soft Pick

The gentlest option here. Cozy Seasons is interiors-and-windows coloring — a cat on a sill, steam off a mug — and a bold-and-easy bestseller precisely because the line art forgives a wobbly first layer. Around $12, and nothing in it demands small-motor control.

The con: standard trade paper thickness. Pencils are the better companion here; heavy marker layers will pucker the page.

My take: the best under-$15 gift for a first-time colorist — add a 24-pencil set and the gift is complete.

Common Mistakes When Gifting a Coloring Book

Matching the cover instead of the colorist. Dense detail thrills some people and freezes others. Buy to their patience, not to your taste.

Skipping the duplicate check. Trolle fans often own the winter books already — ask, or choose the all-new Enchanted Seasons.

Pairing thin paper with alcohol markers. Wild Things and Cozy Seasons want pencils, or a blotter sheet underneath. Save the markers for the no-bleed books.

Trusting “hardcover” to mean “well-bound.” Hardcover is a format, not a quality grade. Flex those first signatures on arrival.

Budget note: the cheapest complete gift that works is Cozy Seasons at about $12 plus a basic 24-color pencil set around $7 — a full kit under $20 that a beginner will actually use. If you can stretch to $17, Enchanted Seasons alone reads as the more generous gift: hardcover, lay-flat, eighty new pages. Either way, the book is the present; the pencils are the support act.

Keep reading: I plan my Black Friday art supply buys the same way every year, the bold-and-easy format deserves a longer defense, and color-your-own Christmas cards pair nicely with a December coloring night.

Deep-focus coloring hits different with an audiobook — Audible’s free trial is here.

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