Read, You Must: Best Books of 2016!

With only weeks left in 2016 it’s time to go back and revisit our favourite Star Wars books from the past 11.5 months. It’s been a fantastic year for Star Wars books for kids (and we haven't even seen the Rogue One books yet!) but some really stand out...

Our pick for BEST BOOK 2016!

Best of the Year: Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (A Graphic Novel) ! This book gets our top honour for a number of reasons. It is accessible to the widest age range, it is faithful to the movies yet fun and creative in its own ways, and it's just really cool! Read our review here, add it to your list and also look forward to the Prequel Trilogy graphic novel coming in 2017!

Micheal Kogge’s adaptation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens A Junior Novel is an entertaining and fast-paced version of the movie, including a few moments not seen onscreen. Some grown-ups even prefer it to the “adult” adaptation. Relive the story in this great retelling.

Intended for the teenage YA crowd, Ahsoka by E K Johnston fills the gaps for fans of Anakin’s former apprentice between her departure from the Jedi Order (in The Clone Wars) to her involvement in the Rebellion (Star Wars Rebels). 

 

Star Wars Complete Locations is an amazingly detailed overview of the fascinating places and spaces of the Star Wars movies. Read our review here.

In 2015, Random House re-launched Star Wars “Little Golden Books” with fantastic retro artwork and age-appropriate adaptations of the first 6 movies. They continued the series into 2016 with The Force Awakens and new titles like I am a Princess & I am a Sith. The series is going strong and hopefully we can look forward to Rogue One titles too!

A last-minute addition to this list is Princess Leia: Royal Rebel, a chapter-book biography of Leia that gathers all the most up-to-date info on the Rebel leader into one story. Look for a Vader book in this series in 2017!

Star Wars: Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens vol. 1 didn’t get the attention it deserved. This middle-grade collection of short stories is full of weird and wonderful moments. Landry Q. Walker’s dives deep into a few of the background characters of The Force Awakens. Give this one another look!

Updated and/or Expanded books

DK’s amazing Star Wars: Year by Year was revised in 2016 making either version absolute must-haves for a Star Wars fan family. Pop culture shapes Star Wars and Star Wars shapes pop culture in a fun, accessible, visual and factual feast for almost any aged fan to enjoy.

Star Wars Character Encyclopedia, specifically expanded to include plenty of The Force Awakens chatacters, this book is light on details but a great quick reference for a LOT of Star Wars characters.

A late addition to the list Star Wars Galactic Maps! Released in the final days of 2016 this book is really worth exploring!

 

Honourable Mentions

Jedi Academy: A New Class, ABC-3PO, LEGO Star Wars Chronicles of the Force, The Amazing Book of Star Wars.

Not quite 2016: Much like what we’ll see next week and beyond for Rogue One, a lot of great books came out right at the end of December 2015 to tie-in with The Force Awakens.

What was your favourite Star Wars book of 2016? Did we miss your favourites? Comment below!