About

Coloring books where the color is the plot.

In every book a villain called The Static creeps into a holiday and drains it. The color, the music, the whole feeling of the day, until the block is grey and silent.

Every holiday has a Keeper who stands up to it. Jacko on Halloween. Big Mama at Thanksgiving. Saint Nick at Christmas. Free on Juneteenth. Nia at Kwanzaa. They fight alongside four kids, and somewhere in every book the Keeper turns and points straight out of the page: you’re a Lil Homie too, grab a crayon, jump in.

The Static can only take. It has never made a single thing in its life. That’s why it loses every time, and it’s why a kid with a box of crayons is the strongest thing on the block.

Why the hair matters

Most line art renders Black hair as a solid black mass, which means the one feature a Black kid most wants to color is the one shape they can’t. Every book here bans that outright. Afros, puffs, twists, braids and fades are drawn as outlined strands and sections with white interiors, checked page by page. It’s a small thing that took real work and it’s the detail we’re proudest of.

How the art is made

Every character, verse and page in The Holiday Cypher is designed and art-directed by our team. The finished line art is rendered using AI image tools under that direction, then reviewed and corrected page by page before it goes to print.

Get in touch

Teachers, librarians, anybody with a question: hello@holidaycypher.com.