Read, You Must: The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections

My grandfather would’ve absolutely loved the Incredible Cross-Sections books from DK.

Admittedly that’s a weird endorsement from a site that focuses on KIDS and Star Wars but it does connect with my childhood.

My grandfather was an enormously talented technical illustrator who designed everything from home blueprints to machinery diagrams. His works look like they were created on a computer, and would be today, but everything he drew was done by his skillful, steady hand. Though our styles were wildly different, our fondness for the craft of drawing drew us together.

Another way he and I connected was through my Star Wars (and G.I. Joe) toys from the early 1980’s. The vehicles usually came with diagrams or blueprints for assembly or so you’d know where to put stickers. I can’t remember how it started – likely a Christmas morning or my birthday – but Grandad really appreciated those insert pages. So much so that whenever I got a new toy I’d save the blueprints for Grandad. He admired the work that went into those diagrams and it gave us a reason to talk about the toys I loved. After he passed away in 2001 I discovered he still had some of those blueprints from my childhood toys.

As I look at these beautifully detailed pictures of the vehicles and starships in DK’s latest Star Wars Incredible Cross-Sections book I can’t help but think “save it for Grandad”. He would've loved it.

Like previous books in this series, The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections is a large size, coffee-table type book filled with 48 pages of intricately detailed illustrations of the ins and outs of space ships and vehicles from the film. A highlight is a giant four-page foldout spread detailing the First Order Star Destroyer the Finalizer.

The hero of this book is illustrator Kemp Remillard although author Jason Fry, no stranger to Star Wars readers, gets to shine too with all sorts of details and information in the text.

The illustrations in Incredible Cross-Sections books are so detailed and comprehensive you can almost believe that these ships actually exist in real life. Vehicles are compared side-by-side as well so you can see how big Kylo Ren’s shuttle is compared to the Millennium Falcon or Poe’s X-wing. Also included are looks at some vehicle that were barely visible on-screen, like First Order Snow Speeder.

There are several photographs from The Force Awakens in here and seeing them in such a large format – almost poster size - is fantastic. Perhaps they are some sort of “filler” to make the book meatier but even so they are still welcome. No other book I’ve seen has pictures from the movie this big. Another nice plus is the paper itself is noticeably thick and hefty, which should make this book part of any young fan’s collection for years to come.

The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections is an excellent and rich resource for younglings (and adults) who really want to dive into the details. Grandparents might love it too!

Publisher’s Recommendation: Ages 8 – 12 years

Check this one out too!