Ted Cruz Coloring Book Remains a Top Seller

Did you forget to buy the politically charged present your kids really wanted this year? Luckily, it's not too late to pick up a copy of "Ted Cruz to the Future," a 24-page coloring and activity book detailing the "life, principles, values and mission" of the Texas senator. According to the publisher, St. Louis-based Really Big Coloring Books Inc., the book is a "non-partisan, fact-driven view of how Texas Sen. Rafael Edward 'Ted' Cruz became a U.S. senator and details, through his quotes and public information his ideas for what he believes will help America grow."

Among these "non-partisan" accounts is a text-heavy page featuring the senator's 21-hour speech on the eve of the government shutdown, describing Cruz as speaking with "clairvoyant precision" about the "quickly approaching Obamacare disaster." The book even includes a picture of the senator holding a gun, with warnings that the Obama administration will "use any opportunity" to go after the Second Amendment and "other constitutional rights such as free speech."

While you'd think such a book would be too controversial to pick up steam, the fact is that it's selling like hotcakes. At the time this story was published, it was still the best-selling children's coloring book on Amazon's popular products list, which is updated hourly. Really Big Coloring Books publishes a number of other politically oriented books, including "The Tea Party Coloring Book for Kids," "President Obama: Yes We Did" and "Being Gay Is Okay," but the Ted Cruz book has inexplicably outsold them all. The first run of around 10,000 sold out in 24 hours, and the second went nearly as quickly, publishers said.

"It's wild," publisher Wayne Bell told US News & World Report. "It's almost mind-boggling what is happening with this book."

Really Big Coloring Books has had to make new hires just to keep up with demand for the book, which is already on its fifth printing this month, according to the article. Despite descriptions of Cruz as a "real life superhero," the senator was not involved in the publishing of the book, the publisher told the New York Daily News.

Bell acknowledged that many copies of "Ted Cruz to the Future" may have been purchased as gag gifts, but the title continues to outsell its non-political counterparts, including titles from top franchises like Cat in the Hat, Star Wars and Angry Birds. While the concept of political figures dethroning Dr. Seuss on a list of children's favorites is surely unusual, it's not unprecedented. The company also published a coloring book for President Obama's 2008 inauguration, which was a best-seller, reports the Associated Press, though a second edition published in 2012 flopped.

Image credit: Really Big Coloring Books, Inc.