Montenegrin Colouring Book is celebrating its fifth birthday with the most expansive colouring book to date — Čudesna Crna Gora / Miraculous Montenegro.
In 2021, when the team of women gathered around CS Cassiopeia set out on this creative journey, there was no authentic product that told the story of Montenegro’s beauty through image and word. Montenegrin Colouring Book was the first of its kind in Montenegro and has since become a brand that sets the standard. Five years, 35 titles, and more than 70,000 copies distributed across Montenegro, the region and around the world — Montenegrin Colouring Book is a product that endures and inspires, travels the world and tells the story of Montenegro’s beauty, as well as the important social themes that encourage children and young people towards creativity and critical thinking.
The idea was born within a small team of friends and sisters, from Tijana Vujošević’s observation that they could offer children something they didn’t have — that Montenegro needed something authentic, something its own, something children could hold in their hands and recognise as theirs. The first partner to support this idea was the City of Podgorica, which backed the project through a call for creative industries — and so Baljin kokot began its adventure from the streets of Podgorica. From that first step, CS Cassiopeia and Studio ribizla built together what became something more than a collaboration — a creative partnership that has, title by title, established a recognisable publishing identity across Montenegro and beyond.
All commercial editions — of which there are more than 30 — are available in bookshops in both Montenegrin and English, making them equally accessible to children in Montenegro and to visitors discovering the country for the first time. In addition, selected editions have been translated into Macedonian and Albanian, as dedicated projects extending the reach of the colouring books to new audiences. A particularly important segment of the publishing programme is the non-commercial editions created in partnership with organisations across different industries — and it is precisely these partnerships that speak to the reach the brand has built.
The Tourist Organisation of Bar was among the first to recognise the idea of the colouring book as a publication that contributes to the promotion of the municipality and tourism — and so a special Bar edition was born. In collaboration with the Tourist Organisation of Tuzi, the first trilingual edition was produced, bringing Priče iz Tuzi to Albanian-speaking readers as well. With the support of the Ministry of Culture and Media, the first edition of the Kreativne kockice online memory games was launched, and a first online colouring book is currently in preparation. The Montenegrin Olympic Committee, the Embassy of Poland, the International Women’s Club of Montenegro and the Red Cross of Montenegro speak to the institutional reach the brand has established, whilst partnerships with private companies — hotels, banks and other partners — confirm that a colouring book can be a quality and meaningful gift with genuine cultural value.
The titles that have resonated most are those that portray Montenegrin identity in an authentic and distinctive way — through illustrations and stories bringing landscapes, flora and fauna, cities and cultural heritage to visitors, tourists and all those who wish to discover Montenegro. A significant number of editions have also addressed socially engaged themes, demonstrating that the colouring book as a modern tool can be an attractive vehicle for engagement, learning and fun. Montenegrin Colouring Book pages are frequently part of classroom life — teachers use them in their work with children, and every day children send us their coloured pages, which is for us the most beautiful confirmation that we have made something that truly belongs to them.
“When Montenegrin Colouring Book came to market, it was a unique product, and although we were nervous about how it would be received and whether we would last, today we are proud that it is not only a brand in its fifth year but also an inspiration for a growing market of locally produced creative and educational children’s products,” says Adrijana Husić, editor and Executive Director of CS Cassiopeia. “A richer publishing scene benefits everyone, and most of all the children it serves — but also the promotion of Montenegro, which truly has so much to offer. Each year we are particularly encouraged by the number of partners with whom we create new editions. Alongside the commercial titles available in bookshops, our catalogue includes special editions that can be found in hotels, banks, medical institutions, and at various sporting and cultural events,” adds Husić.
An essential part of the team and the story of Montenegrin Colouring Book are the illustrators who lend a distinctive character and creative foundation to each title. From Andrijana Vešović Zombijana, with whom the first editions were created, the team has grown — and across more than 30 titles one can find illustrations by Monika Lang, Tanja Stevanović, Slađana Ljubić and Jelena Vasiljević, who was responsible for illustrating the beauty of Montenegro in the latest edition.
“Designing for Montenegrin Colouring Book over five years has meant building a visual language from scratch — warm enough for children, attractive enough for adults, whilst reflecting our love for Montenegro. Each new title brought a new challenge, and over these five years both we and our editions have changed, and that is felt. With the new edition Čudesna Crna Gora / Miraculous Montenegro we are entering a new chapter, and we are excited about everything that awaits us,” says Ana Pajović, graphic designer at Studio ribizla and creative partner on the editions.
“Čudesna Crna Gora / Miraculous Montenegro — 36 pages that arrive in the hands of young and old on our fifth birthday — are proof that Montenegro is small enough to hold in your hands and wondrous enough to colour for a lifetime. These illustrations are just a small glimpse of what one of Europe’s most magical countries has to offer: beautiful landscapes, carefully selected to show the full richness of this small country in size but boundless in spirit. This is only a fraction of what awaits you where ancient canyons, glacial lakes, medieval towns and the Adriatic coast invite exploration and enjoyment — often no more than an hour’s drive from one another,” concludes Husić.
Čudesna Crna Gora / Miraculous Montenegro and the full catalogue are available at crnogorskabojanka.me. Memory games can be found at igrememorije.me. The Kreativne kockice app is free and available on: 📱 App Store · 📱 Google Play · 💻 Web version at online.igrememorije.me
