In 1983 Marvel published a series of D&D storybooks and coloring books under license from TSR. (One year later, the roles would be reversed for the Marvel Super Heroes RPG, published by TSR under license from Marvel.) I believe these are the only two storybooks. You can read The Forest of Enchantment here. The Treasure of Time is here. Both PDFs are originally from Kuronons’ D&D Goodies Collection.
They’re kid’s books, so it’s pretty juvenile stuff, and there’s no effort to introduce the concept of role-playing (unlike the 1979 AD&D Coloring Album). All but two of the characters from LJN’s first run of AD&D action figures make appearances, so the books are basically long toy commercials.
Nevertheless, they’re notable for a few reasons: Bob Stine is Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, and Jane Stine, who founded Parachute Publishing, is his wife.
As for the art, Earl Norem did the interior work for The Forest of Enchantment, and Marie Severin did the cover and designed the book. She also illustrated The Treasure of Time. Severin was a colorist at EC until the notorious publisher was run out of town by the Comics Code. She worked for Marvel—as colorist, inker, and penciler—from 1959 until the early ’90s. She is one of the most well-respected artists in the comics field.
Famously, Severin was directed to soften the facial expression of the Hulk on one of the most innovative covers in Marvel’s history: The Hulk King Size Special #1 (1968). See both versions here. The artist who made the Green Guy too savage for public consumption? Jim Steranko.
2 Warps to Neptune 
Originally I wrote that Norem did the cover art for The Forest of Enchantment. That’s incorrect. Severin did both covers. The post has been updated.
I have these and I always thought the art was beautiful. They are well-made books, IMHO, even if they are meant for kids.
BTW, Both Earl and Marie did some of the artwork for the Dungeons & Dragons coloring books (along with other artists, featuring these same D&D characters and more) too.
Absolutely. I think I’ve seen all the coloring books at this point. One of these days I’ll land copies and post them.
Any plans to scan the Kid Stuff D&D books in their entirety? Man, I’d love to post those here. I’d love to hear them as well, but that’s a tough one…
I have three of the Kid Stuff D&D records/books (Attack of The Assassins, Black Dragon Bog and The Quest of The Riddles). I converted the records to MP3s. I hope to get the MP3s online at some point.
Sounds awesome. Let me know if you put them up!
BTW, do you have the Giant Magical coloring book mentioned on the back covers?
Nope. Very rare. All I have is this tiny picture and hope.
I just got this coloring book at a random shop in Iowa for $10. It’s in decent condition. Would you like me to send you photos? I found your page by doing a quick google search to see if there were any others like it.
Thanks so much for the comment. YES! I would love to see photos/scans and post them here. My email is 2warpstoneptune@gmail.com. Very nice of you to offer. Lots of people out there in nerd land will be ecstatic.
Heya there,
I d be very interested to see the Magical Coloring Book picts.
If by any chance you got those scans/photos, I d be glad if you could share them. 🙂
Thanks in advance,
Kuro