( CNN ) Atop the Amazon bestselling books list this month sat an unexpected title : `` Secret Garden . '' It was n't Frances Hodgson Burnett 's 1911 novel about a sour little girl 's magical place , making a book club comeback . It was a similarly named coloring book that adults were buying , for themselves , and it was n't the only one in the top 10 . Johanna Basford 's `` Secret Garden : An Inky Treasure Hunt & Coloring Book '' ( now at No . 3 on Amazon ) along with her second effort , `` Enchanted Forest : An Inky Quest & Coloring Book '' ( No . 6 ) ; `` Balance ( Angie 's Extreme Stress Menders Volume 1 ) '' by Angie Grace ( No . 9 ) ; and `` The Mindfulness Colouring Book : Anti-stress Art Therapy for Busy People '' by Emma Farrarons ( No . 8 on Amazon UK ) are selling at a rapid clip . Though they can be used by kids , these and other new coloring book titles are being marketed to stressed-out , work-addled adults , who want to benefit from the quiet zen that a coloring session can bring . `` Adult coloring is absolutely a growing trend and consumers are really taking to the idea , '' Farrarons ' U.S. publisher , Matthew Lore of The Experiment publishing group , wrote in an email . `` Not only is it calming and good for your health , it 's just fun ! The demand is increasing exponentially as the word spreads . '' While Farrarons and Basford are based in the UK , the concept is taking off in the U.S. too , with the publication of titles like Virginia-based art therapist Lacy Mucklow and illustrator Angela Porter 's `` Color Me Calm '' and `` Color Me Happy , '' created for the minds and motor skills of Mom and Dad , not the kids . The trend does n't seem to be letting up . Basford is working on a third title , Farrarons has been commissioned for a second book , and Mucklow and Porter will release `` Color Me Stress-Free '' in September . Adults have long used crafts to unwind , but why coloring books ? Why now ? It may have something to do with online access -- and , funnily enough , the desire to unplug . Ordering a coloring book that suits adult tastes online is easier than walking into a bookstore where the only options have Barbie or Thomas the Tank Engine themes . Plus , everyone 's favorite online crafting hub , Pinterest , is a treasure trove of adult coloring pages , with themes ranging from nature and animals to classic paintings . Meanwhile , like children , adults need a break from screen time -- and many are rediscovering the analog pleasures of coloring inside the lines . `` I 'm a grown-up , but I still love coloring books , '' novelist Matt Cain proclaimed in a piece for The Guardian . `` If I switch off the phone , computer and TV and concentrate solely on choosing the right shade of blue , avoiding going over the lines and slowly filling up my page with colour , all my other concerns , I 've discovered , fade to nothing , '' Cain wrote . The therapeutic benefits of art are nothing new ; it 's a concept that practitioners use with patients of all ages . Atlanta-based art therapist Susanne Fincher , who has published several coloring books , said coloring can lift the mood , reduce anxiety and relieve stress . `` Art making is a powerful intervention , '' Fincher wrote in an email . `` Neuroscientific research has shown that through the use of art therapy , the human brain can physically change , grow , and rejuvenate . '' True art therapy , she warned , should be administered only by a qualified professional . Mindfulness and meditative coloring are recurring themes in the growing adult coloring book industry . A search for `` adult coloring books '' on Amazon or Barnes and Noble will yield several books of mandalas , a ritual symbol in Buddhism and Hinduism that represents the universe , waiting to be colored in . `` I sometimes give clients one of my mandala coloring books for homework between sessions with me , '' Fincher wrote . `` Coloring mandalas can empower a client to manage thoughts and feelings on their own with the positive activity of coloring , instead of , for example , overeating or abusing substances . '' The opportunity to craft a mindfulness coloring book for adults was serendipitous for illustrator Farrarons , who had been practicing mindfulness for a few years before getting the offer to create a book . `` In mindfulness , it is encouraged to break patterns in life by introducing variation to avoid the sensation of being on autopilot , '' Farrarons wrote in an email while on holiday in Korea . `` Each page has been caringly designed with this in mind , so that the person coloring can hop at random from one pattern to the next. `` Coloring books like Farrarons ' pocket-sized volume bring a bit of calming and spirituality to the masses , but for some adult enthusiasts coloring is just a fun throwback to a simpler time , she added . `` It reminds me of hours spent filling in scenes from a coloring book as a little girl . In the digital age that we are in , surely , it can only be a good thing to pick up a pencil and feel young again . ''
Coloring books made for adults are popular on Amazon 's bestselling books list . Books with calming , meditative and spiritual themes appeal to adults looking to unwind .