"So what's up with the crayons? Everywhere you go lately — the bookstore, Starbucks — even here at NPR — I see grown men and women sitting around coloring."

"Every time, this takes me back to rainy childhood days on the living room floor: A robot. A mosaic of geometric houses. A flowery design pattern."

"Clearly, I've stumbled upon the national craze for adult coloring books."

"My first question was: Really?"

"Yup. There are thousands of titles now for every adult coloring book you could imagine, and then some. According to jillions of websites, coloring promotes mindfulness and reduces stress for grown-ups."

"Why do people like coloring so much? Do coloring books have any educational value? Do they squash creativity like a bug or, as some sites suggest, promote the development of fine motor skills?"