‘She Was First!’: Illustrator’s new coloring book features 45 groundbreaking women

Coloring books are for kids.

True, but older folks can enjoy them, too, especially when they’re the creations of illustrator Diana Zourelias.

For example, the latest book by the Aspinwall native and Cecil Township resident provides an educational component that can be of value and interest to readers and crayon wielders of any age.

“She Was First! 45 Impressive Women Who Broke Barriers,” published by Dover Coloring Books, explores a potpourri of achievements by Americans of the past and present, famous faces combined with not-so-familiar ones.

“It was a very hard book to do. It took us maybe three months to narrow down the list,” Zourelias said, especially with the numerous possibilities that arose in the year or so between inception and publication. “We were trying to be fair to everybody. So people that I might have put in here were eliminated because it just wasn’t a good fit.”

Those who made the cut are featured in full-page black-and-white drawings, with accompanying information about each of the women’s accomplishments, many serving as learning experiences for just about anyone who opens the book.

For example, Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove (1867-1910), is recognized as the first self-made female millionaire in the United States. Contemporarily, Stacey Cunningham, 48, is the first woman to hold full leadership of the New York Stock Exchange.

The book’s cover features half a dozen more renowned women illustrated in full color: Vice President Kamala Harris, astronaut Sally Ride, singer Billie Eilish, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, retired race-car driver Danica Patrick and, according to the author:

“There’s only one Oprah.”

Zourelias has been working with Dover for two decades, producing numerous books including the popular “1, 2, 3 Bees: A Counting Book” with author Nicole Wheldon and “The Dainty Dinosaur” series. Speaking of gigantic prehistoric reptiles, her work in progress is a coloring book loaded with them.

“I’m going to test it on Max,” she said about her grandson.

Max’s mom, Mandi Pryor, remembers similarly having first dibs on her mother’s creations.

“I never knew, growing up, that my mom did anything different than any other parent, except that I always had a book she drew in the house,” she said. “You don’t know, as a kid, that’s something other parents aren’t doing.”

Now the executive director of the South West Communities Chamber of Commerce, based in Collier, Pryor has developed a deep appreciation for what Zourelias does.

“As you get older, you go, wow! That’s definitely a talent, and I haven’t seen it in many other people,” Pryor said. “It’s something I’m really proud of for her.”

She particularly is proud of “She Was First!”

“Not only is the artwork fantastic,” she said,” but the messaging and the information and the details make it one of my favorites of hers.”

As befitting the work of a talented illustrator, the subjects bear a strong resemblance to their real-life counterparts.

“I will take composites from different looks, because I’ve never met them,” Zourelias said. “So I have to try to get their faces as close as possible.”

She also places the women within scenes that reflect their avenues of achievement, such as Mindy Kaling standing in front of a set of blinds as frequently seen in “The Office,” the first TV series in which she had a prominent role. Kaling is acknowledged in the book as the “first woman of color to create, write and star in a prime-time sitcom” with her appropriately titled “The Mindy Project.”

One of the illustrator’s favorites is Sylvia Earle, the first female chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who’s looking through an aquarium window with a school of fish in the foreground.

Along with the 45 women drawn by Zourelias, the book has a spot on the last page for the reader to draw a picture or attach a photo of a woman she or he thinks should be included. “Or draw a picture of yourself doing what you want to be first at,” the text encourages.

“It’s supposed to inspire young girls: You can do just about anything,” Zourelias said.

She was inspired to pursue her creativity after winning a prize at age 11 for a piece of her artwork. Following classes at the Carnegie Museum of Art and in a pre-college program at Carnegie Mellon Unviersity, she earned her associate degree from Ivy School of Professional Art, which once was located in downtown Pittsburgh.

Afterward came a lengthy career with American Greetings, and in 2006, she started teaching at Oakbridge Academy of Art in Lower Burrell, until its closing in seven years later.

“I always wanted to work in children’s books,” she said, and these days, that serves as her primary focus.

And given her knack for conveying information of interest, grownups tend to like ’em, too.