A look inside #1 : STAR WARS books
Today I'll start with a simple idea that I had which is showing you pictures of some books that I have, and in particular some details of what's inside them. I know that when I buy books online I always look for some extra pictures on blogs or youtube to let me see what kind of book this is, what kind of layout I will find, what is the age range (for my kids' books)... Amazon helps a bit for that but not always, or sometimes they cut the preview just after the table of contents :/ It's not always easy to see if it is what you're looking for. I was dissapointed in the past by some purchases, so now I try my best to find as much pictures as possible. But it's not always possible, so I thought I could help.
And today I will start with some previews of STAR WARS books that we own : I have some for adults and some for kids. (all the links are at the end of the post)
Our small Star Wars books collection
1) STAR WARS ABC
I simply love this kid book !!! I bought this one for my first boy when he was 2 and it's great to introduce them to the ABC while making it fun with the Star Wars theme ! I think the age range can be quite big because he was very interested in it at 2 and is still now at almost 5. It's cardboard so it's easy to give to little ones. It's very simple : one letter by page as you can see here, and a small definition of the name / word.
What I really love about this book is that the letters are all designed looking like the word / character they represent. It's not so obvious for M and N, but you can see that the H from Han Solo has his belt on for example.
And on the back cover you find all the alphabet, perfect to practise ! You can see the A of Anakin is design "like" a light saber, the W with Wookie fur, and that the R has some of R2D2 pattern on it...
In case you are wondering here's the list of the words you'll find : Anakin
Boba Fett
C-3PO
Darth Vader
Ewok
Force
General Grievous
Han Solo
Ig-88
Jedi
Kaminoans
Luke
Millenium Falcon
N-1 Starfighter
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Princess Leia
Queen Amidala
R2-D2
Stormtrooper
Tie Fighter
Ugnaught
Vulture droid
Wookie
X Wing
Yoda
Zam
I'll recommand it to any young fans of SW, it's a great book and the letters and characters are standing out a bit in relief, so it's nice to touch too !
Just be aware that your kid may start to spell his name like my boy did at one point "Ewan, like Ewok / Wookie / Anakin / N1 starfighter" ;)
2) STAR WARS - THE COMPLETE SAGA (SCHOLASTIC)
I bought this one for me and for my son to enjoy :)
The idea is very simple : it shows all 6 episodes, with real pictures of the movies. So it goes like this : each episode start like this...
And then the story is told in this layout with a lot of pictures on every pages.
Not a lot to explain here I think :) I bought it when Ewan was 2 for him to look at it and now that he's 41/2, I read it to him and he easily listen to one or 2 episodes in a row. They are quite detailed and I think the pace is good to read as a bedtime story. He loves it and so do I, as it helps me go back into the movies even if I don't have time to watch them.
3) STAR WARS THE JEDI PATH
I received this one as a gift from a friend (also fan of SW :) And I can start by saying the obvious : the cover is beautiful ! I love how soft it is to touch and how simple the design is.
And the paper the pages are maid of really make you think it's an old book which I love !
Here's a look at what's inside :
No no I didn't write in my book, the handwritten notes are all part of the book :)
It's designed to be a guide that is pass from jedi to jedi where each adds his comments along the way. So we have some notes from different Jedis : Yoda, Thame Cerulian, Dooku, Qui Gon Jinn, Obi Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, Darth Sidious and finally Luke.
So it's a manual for Jedi and is organised roughly as follow : PART I, Introduction to the Jedi order
PART II, Jedi Initiate with chapters about : joining a clan, the jedi attire, the 3 pillars of the jedi and the trials PART III, The Padawan : becoming an apprentice, the lightsabers, sense abilities, politics in the Republic, the Jedi trials and the knighting ceremony. PART IV, the Jedi Knight : roles and duties, Jedi guardian, consular, alter abilities, advanced lightsaber techniques, the history of the Sith, transcending death...
I didn't copy every chapter titles so there's a bit more to look for in this guide. It's a great book and a perfect gift for a fan as it looks very nice and not childhish !
4) STAR WARS THE COMPLETE VISUAL DICTIONNARY (from the entire saga)
This is a favourite in my house and it's easy to see why : it's full of details and small informations that kids (and grown ups fans) love ^^ I bought this one in a particular occasion in Singapore : my favorite neighborhood bookstore Borders had to close and was selling all the store at 50%-75% ! If you're like me, and crazy about books (and about buying them !) you can imagine how crazy I was on this day ! And especially when I find this book ! It was a lucky day ! If you're familiar with DK Visual Dictionnary collection there won't be too much surprise here but here are some pages so you can see by yourself.
Some pages detail character / robots go on 2 pages like this
What's great about this book is that it contains all 6 movies, in a chronological way. So for example you'll see Obi wan as he is in episode 1-3 and again in episode 4, with new informations.
It is quite a big book and I know my son can spend a long time turning every pages one by one.
It's a great book if you / your kids like details about characters, spaceships, the Cantina, weapons, etc...
4) STAR WARS LEGO : RETURN OF THE JEDI
All 6 movies are available.
I bought this one for my son a few months ago : he likes Lego and SW so of course he likes this ! (he also has some of the SW lego set, and the mini Millenium Falcon is really great ! Small and cute !)
So this book tells the story of the movie in lego pictures and the layout goes like this :
As you can see the text is quite long (and there are more pages that shown here of course) so it's more for kids a bit older, or to read by themselves. I can't advice the age range as I don't know if a 8 year old boy would like reading this type of book or would find it too easy. And it really depends of the kid...
5) THE MAKING OF STAR WARS
And last, I'll finish with this beautiful book that my sweet husband got for me years ago. It is such a beautiful book that at one point I used the open book as a decoration in our room :)
It is full of interviews, drafts and little informations about the making of the original SW. As you can see on the pictures, there is quite a lot of text (and it's a thick book) but what I really love about it is the pictures chosen : drawings, scripts, letters, pictures of "how they make this happen" and rare behind the scenes pictures... Just the pictures alone are a delight !
Need help to find these books ?
2) Star Wars the complete saga, scholastic edition
3) Star Wars The Jedi path (and I see that there's also The Sith version)
4) Star Wars The visual dictionnoary (the entire saga) by DK
So here you go for today, for my Star Wars books.
If you have any questions leave it in the comment section at the botom of the page :)
In the future I'll probably post about my stunning "Harry Potter pages to screen" book, my Doctor Who The Vault, and probably tons of kids books that we have and that I'd like to show you !
