Read, You Must: Quick Look at Two Star Wars Rebels Books

August has been a great month for young Star Wars readers! Here's a quick look at 2 of the 6 brand new Star Wars Rebels books from Lucasfilm Press/Disney Book Group released already...

Star Wars Rebels Rise of the Rebels is a 118 page chapter book that tells some of the stories that will be featured in the upcoming Star Wars Rebels TV show. Author Michael Kogge, writer for Star Wars Insider magazine and Star Wars role-playing games, adapts the scripts of several soon-to-air  episodes. Each of the main characters gets their own section. The stories introduce the characters through individual adventures.

The design of the book inside is very cool with all sorts of new Rebels artwork and imagery. The title really could've just been "Meet the Rebels" but that was taken. This isn't really a story of the Rebellion taking shape. It's more a fun, detailed introduction to all the main heroes. Suggested for ages 8-12.

Also released the same day was Star Wars Rebels Chopper Saves the Day, a much shorter story (24 pages) for even younger fans. This picture book tells the same story as the first section of Rise of the Rebels, a short skirmish in space between Hera, Kanan, Chopper (of course) and Imperial TIE fighters.

This fun book reminded me very much of the kind of tie-in kids' books popular in the 1980's, to the point it feels like it should come with a read-along record or cassette tape! Sadly it doesn't but it does come with a bunch of stickers.
Suggested for ages 6-8.

Have you read either book? What did you think? Comment below...
Chris @SWKidscast

Read, You Must: Star Wars Rebels The Visual Guide

Star Wars Rebels is the brand-new animated series coming this Fall to Disney XD, set between the Episode III and IV films, about 5 years before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

In fairness to anyone avoiding info about the new show before it premieres, this review of DK Publishing’s brand new Star Wars Rebels The Visual Guide will not spoil any secrets.

If you really don’t want to know much in advance then wait until October to buy this book! It’s crammed full of the kind of details, trivia and pictures we Star Wars fans love. If you’re eager to know everything you can about the show though, then this book is a must-read!

Rich and colourful images fill nearly every page in this 128 page hardcover book along with informative and entertaining writing from What Makes a Monster? author Adam Bray. This book has been released months before the show’s premiere so I was concerned that very few secrets would be shared. Happily, I was wrong! Yes there’s a LOT left to discover once we see the show, but until then there are all kinds of nuggets and info in here. In fact, even though I’ve seen all the clips and trailers on StarWars.com, I still learned about several brand-new Star Wars Rebels characters I’d never seen before reading this book.

Star Wars Rebels The Visual Guide gives a two-page profile to each of the major characters, then highlights the key weapons, locations and vehicles you can expect to see in the new show. Sidebars of information and statistics are everywhere. What could at first glance appear to be a thick picture book has plenty of text to take in written by an obvious Star Wars fan.

There's a forward by Executive Producer Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and also a few pages of behind-the-scenes images and interviews, the kind of stuff I loved as a kid...and still do!

I have no real complaints about this book but even though it contains a LOT of new information, it does also raise many questions and we’ll just have to wait to see if answers come in the show.

For a quicker introduction to the new characters and settings from Star Wars Rebels, and for the younger readers in your house, check out the new DK Reader Star Wars Rebels: Meet the Rebels by Sadie Smith. This is a 32-page Level 2 (Beginning to Read Alone) paperback. The title pretty much sums it up as the book provides an easy-to-read overview of the main characters, including two of those aforementioned completely new characters.

Both of these books are of the same high quality you’d expect from DK and reading them has got me more excited than ever to see the new show. The artwork is amazing and the show looks like it’ll be a LOT of fun. Bring on the Rebels! 

Also now available: Star Wars Rebels Ultimate Sticker Collection (DK Publishing) 

Star Wars Kidscast meets Star Wars Magazine!

Issue #2 IN STORES NOW!

USA & Canada friends check your local magazine shop or newsstand for Issue #2 of Star Wars Magazine! Not only does it feature comics, puzzles, trivia and other fun stuff for younglings, it also happens to contain an article written by Star Wars Kidscast host, creator & blogger Chris Hamilton (me!) 

Pages 30-31 are a humourous piece about getting around on Anakin & Luke's home planet: "Traveling on Tatooine". Let me know what you think in the comments section below, or better yet tell the folks at Star Wars Magazine what you think too! 

More to come in future issues! For more info on Star Wars Magazine click here.

For a look back at earlier Star Wars magazines for kids click here.

Learn Well, You Will: New Star Wars Workbooks

Workman Publishing recently launched Star Wars Workbooks, a new line of educational workbooks to help teach younglings. There are three titles for each age/grade level (Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade) focusing on topics of reading, writing and mathematics.

From a Star Wars fan perspective these books are a LOT of fun and feature not only the main characters and planets but also surprise appearances like the Duloks from the 80’s Ewoks cartoon, the Jedi younglings from The Clone Wars. It’s great to see the creators did their Star Wars homework too!

The cartoon artwork throughout each title is superb, often cute and always colorful. The Preschool and Kindergarten books have a visual style reminiscent of the original Clone Wars series and the “older” books remind me of the look of vintage Scooby-Doo or SuperFriends. These are compliments indeed. Looking through these titles makes me long to see more 2-D animation in the Star Wars universe.

Most important, though, is how educationally-sound are they? Do these workbooks...work? These titles are from the creators of Brain Quest and have been crafted to work with U.S. “Common Core” curriculum and reinforce classroom learning. Having discused them with teachers and other parents the educational value these books offer becomes clear. The hook is Star Wars but the strength of these books is truly their lesson content. 

I look forward to working with these with my child and recommend them to other parents as well. As the tagline says on each back cover (in Yoda-ese) "Learn well, you will."

-Chris @SWKidscast

For more information visit Workman Publishing.

For more Star Wars-themed educational resources visit Star Wars In the Classroom.

 Here's a look at other Star Wars educational books both classic and current:

 

Ultimate Factivity Collection: Star Wars

"Not sure what a 'factivity' is, am I. Fun though, it is."

DK Publishing has a fun, new line of activity books for kids called the Ultimate FACTIVITY Collection. Titles in this series feature Spider-Man, LEGO Chima & LEGO City but most interesting here of course is the Star Wars book!

Ultimate Factivity Collection: Star Wars is 96 pages of Star Wars facts, trivia, games, puzzles, how-to-draw, and stickers galore - more than 500! Most of them have a place inside the book but there are many other “extra” stickers too. Like most DK books this one is filled with photos of the characters, costumes & creatures from the six Star Wars films but this is no mere “sticker book” - there’s plenty to read and do here thanks to authors David Fentiman and Sadie Smith.

There are pages for drawing Darth Vader, a lightsaber duel, and even designing the inside of the Sarlacc creature from Return of the Jedi. There’s also a place for you to create your own starfighter and planet and to write your own Star Wars tales.

The book contains a “Journey Across Naboo” two-page spread like a board game and has many trivia tidbits about Padmé & Jar Jar’s home-world. Unfortunately it isn’t a fold-out or tear-out page so actually playing it would be challenging. You’d have to have something heavy holding the book open or carefully cut the pages out.

If you’re looking for a good rainy-day activity book, or a collection of new Star Wars trivia to quiz your friends, check out the Ultimate Factivity Collection: Star Wars.

Further reading: for more Star Wars drawing fun check out Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars and

You Can Draw: Star Wars

For more activities see our reviews of Star Wars Folded Flyers and Star Wars Thumb Doodles.

Did You Know? Star Wars activity books have been around almost as long as Star Wars itself! Here's a few classics from 1978-79!