Early Review: Knitting the Galaxy

Normally we stick to reviewing children’s or younger reader books here, occasionally dabbling in “all ages” titles and even “Young Adult”.  Then from Insight Editions (publisher of last years’ very cool The Secrets of the Jedi) comes Star Wars: Knitting the Galaxy by Tanis Gray!

Knitting the Galaxy is none of the above. It’s not specifically for kids, but kids could sure benefit from someone in the family making these items! It would be fun for kids to look through and make requests, but even the beginner patterns look somewhat challenging.

Admittedly I don’t even know how to review this book. I know nothing about knitting. I honestly couldn’t say if it’s easy-to-follow or even helpful for knitters. Having said that, there’s plenty to appreciate for non-knitters here in this 208 page hardcover.

The “28 official patterns” for knitting projects are divided into the categories of Toys, Costume Replicas, Inspired Apparel and Home Decor. There is also a Glossary and “Yarn Resource Guide”. Each project is ranked one to three lightsabers, depending on skill level. Looking through it there do seem to be very few “Beginner” projects.

In Toys, knitters can make Pocket Yodas, Porgs and more. In Home Decor there’s blankets, pillows and other ideas. The Costume Replicas are cozy warm renditions of character items like Rey’s Vest and Padme’s battle wrap. The Inspired Apparel section is the biggest with plenty of mittens, socks, pullovers, scarves and more, all of which would be pretty amazing hand-made gifts for Star Wars fans young and old.

What must be said about this book is that it's absolutely gorgeous! The photography of the finished projects is terrific and very Star Wars-y. Peppered throughout the book are iconic Star Wars images of the characters and moments that inspired each project.

There’s also behind-the-scenes trivia and more to keep non-knitters entertained. One special treat is on page 176, the clearest, coolest picture of Darth Maul (as he appears in Solo: A Star Wars Story) you’re likely to find anywhere. 

This book will make Star Wars fans want to learn how to knit, or want to find a family member or friend who does!

Read, You Must: Star Wars Galactic Storybook

Brand new from Disney/Lucasfilm Press comes Star Wars Galactic Storybook, a complete retelling of the events of the cinematic Skywalker Saga! 

From Episode I: The Phantom Menace to Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, the major events of the lives of Anakin Skywalker, Leia, Luke and Rey are all captured here in an age-appropriate, adorably illustrated way.

Author Calliope Glass and illustrator Katie Cook have previously collaborated on several fun Star Wars books for kids including ABC-3PO, Search Your Feelings and Creatures Big and Small. While those books all use rhyming poetry, Galactic Storybook tells the story in a more straightforward, narrative way.

As usual Katie Cook’s illustrations are light-hearted and incredibly cute. Even Jabba the Hutt is cute here!

This 72 page squishy hardcover book would be great for short bedtime reading and would certainly appeal to readers who enjoyed 5-Minute Stories and 5-Minute Stories Strike Back.

Galactic Storybook is divided into six chapters or stories:

1. A Jedi Tale (Episodes I - III)

2. A New Adventure  (Episode IV)

3. The Battle Continues (Episode V)

4. Against All Odds (Episode VI)

5. New Heroes for the Galaxy (Episodes VII - VII)

6. The Final Fight (Episode IX)

Also available!

Combining The Force Awakens with The Last Jedi makes sense as those movies flow right into each other, whereas combining the entire prequel trilogy into one story may be a little confusing to some young fans, depending on how familiar they already are with the movies.

If you want a good recap of the entire Skywalker saga, or a cuddly way to present the stories to a youngling, Galactic Storybook is a great addition to your library!

Boba Fett: The Bigger Story

With the popularity of The Mandalorian there has been a renewed interest in the mysterious character that introduced the infamous and iconic Mandalorian armour to Star Wars so long ago. 

Boba Fett has captured the imaginations of Star Wars fans since his animated on-screen debut in The Star Wars Holiday Special back in 1978. His appearance in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back was limited but had a huge impact on audiences. Suddenly Darth Vader wasn’t necessarily the coolest bad guy in the galaxy! That armour was just so cool, and he barely speaks but you know he means business. And he dares to talk back to Vader!

The 1978 Screen Debut!

While it may have appeared that the notorious bounty hunter died in the belly of the horrifying sarlaac creature in Return of the Jedi, there has always been speculation of how that armour could have saved him. Maybe he blasted his way out? Maybe he killed the sarlaac? Fans loved the character so much that many created their own storyline of how Boba Fett could have plausibly escaped.

Jango and Boba Fett

Knowing the ever-growing popularity of the character, Star Wars creator George Lucas made young Boba and his father Jango into key characters in 2002’s Attack of the Clones. That’s when fans learned for the first time that Boba is a clone of his father, that bounty hunting is the family business, and that Boba has a very good reason to dislike the Jedi.

What happens next for young Boba Fett was originally explored in a series of six middle-grade chapter books from Scholastic publishing. While entertaining and still fairly easy to find, these stories are not the official story of Boba Fett and are now out of print. 

When The Clone Wars was in its second season, young Boba Fett was introduced into the animated series in 2010. Once again Boba Fett was on the small screen, animated just as he had debuted almost 32 years earlier! Unlike the earlier novels, those seven episodes are part of the official Star Wars chronology, or “canon”, and expand on the story of the vengeful youth and his loathsome bounty hunter mentors.

Anyone wanting to know the whole story of Boba Fett would be well-advised to watch those episodes. Several of them were adapted by frequent Star Wars author Jason Fry (The Weapon of a Jedi) into the illustrated chapter book Star Wars: The Clone Wars Boba Fett: Bounty Hunter in 2010.

While not entirely in sync with the official Star Wars chronology, 2013's The Bounty Hunter Guide is also an excellent read for fans of The Mandalorian and Boba Fett.

More recently, some of Boba Fett’s young appearances on The Clone Wars were adapted into short stories in the 2020 collection Star Wars: The Clone Wars Tales of Light and Dark.

However you dive into the story of the fearsome bounty hunter Boba Fett, there may be more to the story than you realize. There’s probably plenty more to come too! Without spoiling too much, Boba Fett fans really need to check out The Mandalorian!

Read, You Must: The Star Wars Book

DK Publishing has for been creating amazing guidebooks for Star Wars fans for nearly 25 years. From Star Wars Encyclopedia, to Star Wars Year By Year, each sounds like it’s the final, definitive book, THE book for Star Wars lovers.

In 2015 alone they published Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know AND Ultimate Star Wars!

All the above titles are wonderful, must-have books but Star Wars is an ever-expanding galaxy of stories and characters, planets and aliens, spaceships and droids, and a LOT of Star Wars has happened since 2015!

Which leads us to the brand new guide book, simply titled The Star Wars Book. The subtitle “Expand Your Knowledge of a Galaxy Far, Far Away” holds true as even the most dedicated fans will probably find some new information in here.

As the Skywalker Saga has ended and The Mandalorian is the main new Star Wars story coming out right now, and before the launch of the High Republic era, this is a great time to capture the story so far, in so many facets.

The Star Wars Book looks at all aspects of the saga as they relate to the bigger story. Where the Visual Dictionary books simply look at one film at a time, The Star Wars Book draws connections between books, comics, tv and video games and how each aspect relates to the bigger picture. A topic like the Force might refer to moments from the movies, episodes of The Clone Wars and Rebels, novels and more.

Authors Pablo Hidalgo (Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary, and many more), Cole Horton (Absolutely Everything You Need to Know) and Dan Zehr compile each subject into easy to read but insightful segments.

Zehr (aka Dan Z) is a first-time Star Wars author here, but longtime host and co-creator of the popular Star Wars fan podcast Coffee With Kenobi, a teacher and a very positive face in the fan community. Its great to see him contributing officially!

The are many wonderful Star Wars books, but only one that bears this title. Do yourself a favour and get the book, The Star Wars Book!

Read, You Must: Complete Vehicles New Edition

A whole lot of Star Wars has happened since the last North American edition of Complete Vehicles!

Despite only being 7 years ago, this book was due for an update. Now available from DK Publishing: Star Wars Complete Vehicles Incredible Cross Sections (New Edition)!

For those of you not familiar with these lavishly illustrated, extremely detailed "Cross Sections" books, here's our previous reviews of The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections and Star Wars Complete Locations.

This new "Complete" version is like a "Best of" of all the previous cross-section vehicle diagrams previously published in various DK books, with the addition of two brand-new spreads: The Knights of Ren's Night Buzzard ship and the massive Sith Star Destroyer, both from The Rise of Skywalker. It is a 264-page treasure trove of rich details, stunning images and tons of information about the vehicles of the Star Wars galaxy.

From the smallest one-person transport to the colossal Death Star, this book spans the entire Skywalker saga. This "New Edition" includes vehicle diagrams from The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One and Solo, all released after the previous 2013 edition.

Since this is a compilation of works from previous books, there is a whole team of authors and illustrators involved. Many of the biggest names in Star Wars books have been involved in this one!

Unlike many of the recent books about Star Wars, this one seems to solely focus on the theatrical movies. There doesn't seem to be any content from The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance or even the smash hit The Mandalorian. There could easily be a 2nd volume made to focus on the vehicles in those TV series!

Also a noticeable change from previous books is that there are no fold-out pages this time. 

For detail-oriented Star Wars fans, especially those who missed out on previous Cross-Sections books, this hefty compilation of amazing technical illustration is a must-have!

Read, You Must: Even MORE Little Golden Books

The Skywalker Saga is now complete in Little Golden Book form! 

With the recent release of the Little Golden Book adaption of The Rise of Skywalker, it is now possible to read the entire saga as part of this classic children's book series.

The interior art is by Alan Batson (We Are the Resistance, I Am a Pilot, The Last Jedi), with a cover by Caleb Meurer (The Force Awakens, A New Hope). For some reason no author is credited for this book unlike the previous Star Wars Golden Book titles.

In the typical retro cartoonish art style of the previous books, The Rise of Skywalker retells the events of the film in a fun and kid-friendly way.

With this release, young fans can now enjoy reading all nine Skywalker saga "episodes" as well as Solo. The only Star Wars film to date that has not been adapted to this series is Rogue One. 
 

Also out now: The Mandalorian: This Is the Way Little Golden Book! Written by Christopher Nicholas and Illustrated by Shane Clester (I Am a Padawan), The most exciting Disney+ series gets its own picture book. There are more cool The Mandalorian books coming for young readers, but this appears to be the first one available.

Click the links above to see more fun Little Golden Books Star Wars adventures!

Discover Use the Force!

What does it take to be a Jedi? Do you have what it takes? A brand-new book from DK poses those questions for young readers in a fun, entertaining way.

Use the Force! Discover What It Takes to Be a...Jedi is a 128-page guide book of sorts, but more of a light-hearted look at Jedi culture and famous Jedi in the Star Wars movies and TV shows. Not quite an In-Universe book, but still kind of is, this book explores the world of the Jedi in its own cheeky style.

Covering similar ground as more serious books like The Secrets of the Jedi and The Jedi Path, Use the Force! is a middle-grade "hybrid" book, meaning it's not really a graphic novel like the Jedi Academy series but still illustrated throughout with black and white photos and sketchy drawings. The design of this book is unique: LOTS of different fonts and plenty of yellow.

Fans of the Jedi Academy series and Tom Angleberger's Origami Yoda books will appreciate author Christian Blauvelt's humorous approach to the usually very serious topics of Jedi training, lifestyle, philosophy and more.

It's wonderful to see the continued practice of including TV characters and storylines in these books and not just focusing on the movies. Also Use the Force! is very current as it mentions a few things only revealed in the recent The Rise of Skywalker movie.

The overall look of the book may not appeal to some. DK is known for their amazing Visual Dictionary and other stunning Star Wars guide books but here the images are all black and white, or intentionally-amateurish line drawings.

One small complaint: the author makes it seem that Luke Skywalker himself trained Rey in the Jedi ways, but it was Leia who did that. Luke famously REFUSED to train her in their short time together in The Last Jedi. As seen in The Rise of Skywalker, Leia is the one training Rey. Here Leia is not mentioned as having been trained or teaching Rey as a Jedi, only that Leia "helps" Rey redeem Kylo Ren.

Use the Force! covers some pretty familiar territory as other books, but in very light-hearted way many younglings will enjoy.

(Publisher's Recommendation: Ages 7-10)

Also by Christian Blauvelt: 

 

Read, You Must: Force Collector

Every teenager goes through dramatic changes. Karr Nuq Sin, a teen on the planet Merokia, is experiencing something entirely unique. In an era long past the end of the Jedi, Karr is realizing he is Force-sensitve, and possibly more directly connected to the Jedi than he could ever imagine!

Force Collector is YA novel from Disney/Lucasfilm Press published last year as part of the "Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" promotion. Author Kevin Shinick previously penned the adorable picture book Chewie and the Porgs and now brings us his first Star Wars novel.

The story follows the teenage Karr as he more and more frequently has to deal with his "episodes" - blackouts and seizures - when he comes in contact with items with a connection to the Force or past Force-users. Karr's parents expect him to follow them into the family business. Karr sees his destiny on another path...

Along the way he connects with and befriends a fellow student named Maize. With her rebellious spirit and his longing for answers they set out on an adventure seeking more and more artifacts across the galaxy. They hope to learn more about the Jedi in their travels, but little do they know the secrets they may uncover.

Also by Kevin Shinick

What follows is a 379-page planet-jumping adventure, virtually a tour of the Star Wars galaxy as we know it. Instead of exploring new and exotic worlds, Karr and Maize travel to parts of the galaxy we as readers are quite familiar with. Tatooine, Jakku, Takodana, and even Batuu from Galaxy's Edge. Kajimi makes an appearance here too, before the release of The Rise of Skywalker happened.They learn about the Star Wars galaxy from a fresh perspective, meeting familiar faces like Maz Kanata and Unkar Plutt.

Set shortly before the events of The Force Awakens, Force Collector offers a unique way to explore the Star Wars galaxy. The reader is probably already very familiar with the places Karr visits so we often know more than Karr simply by having seen the movies. That is until the last quarter or so, where we are just as in the dark as Karr and secrets are finally revealed!

Force Collector is fairly light-hearted by modern Young Adult standards, and very mild on the "Adult" part of the YA moniker. While it has it's serious parts and pretty raw emotions at times, it is an excellent YA starting point for young teen readers stepping up from middle-grade novels like Join the Resistance, Ezra's Gamble and the Adventures in Wild Space titles.

Add Force Collector to your collection!

Fatherhood in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Bail and Brea Organa, with their new baby Leia

For an epic tale like the Star Wars saga, which places plenty of importance on who

is who's father, there aren't a ton of great examples of day-to-day fatherhood to be seen. There are a few moments to be sure, but it's takes a little digging to see great moments in fatherhood in Star Wars.

Of course there’s quite a few examples of terrible fathers like Darth Vader. There's also completely absent parents like Rey’s, Han Solo's or Ezra Bridger’s. But on a positive note, here’s a few of our favourite examples of fatherhood in the saga…

Bail Organa and his daughter Leia are only seen on screen together when she is a baby, but clearly there is great love and mutual admiration between them. As a founding member of the Rebel Alliance, Organa obviously influenced Leia's world-view of politics, justice and rebellion. Bail even states in Rogue One that he trusts her with his life, and Leia soon after goes searching for Obi-Wan Kenobi because he served her father during the Clone Wars.

 
Galen Erso in Rogue One clearly loved his family and of course his beloved "Stardust", his daughter Jyn. Unfortunately to keep her safe from Director Krennic and the Empire he had to leave her to be raised mainly by Saw Gerrera. The two were never able to properly reconnect, but Jyn clearly inherited a spirit of rebellion from both of her parents.

Cleigg Lars seems like he was decent person and devoted husband, so presumably he was a pretty good dad, too. He freed Shmi Skywalker from slavery and then later lost his legs trying to save her from Tusken Raiders!

Cleigg’s son Owen Lars, though he probably only knew Shmi for a few years at most (and apparently only met Anakin Skywalker once), took on the task, with his wife Beru of course, to be guardians of Anakin's secret son Luke.

This may seen like an unlikely one, but arguably the most involved father shown in any Star Wars movie is Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones! While Boba Fett isn't technically Jango's son but rather actually a CLONE of Jango, Jango raises him as his son and seems to be teaching Boba many of the tricks of his bounty hunter trade along the way.

We never really got to see what kind of father Han Solo was when Ben (aka Kylo Ren) was a child but certainly at the end of The Force Awakens Han shows nothing but love for his son. Clearly by then Han has regrets about his life so maybe he wasn't the kind of father he wished he'd been, but it's easy to see the emotional attachment he shares with Ben. There are glimpses of what kind of a dad Han might've been when he interacts with Rey throughout the movie.

Near the ending of The Rise of Skywalker there is a hint that Lando Calrissian may be interested in learning more about who Jannah's parents are. The junior novelization and Visual Dictionary take this one step further by pointing out that Lando is indeed a father and had his daughter taken away to be part of the First Order. It is certainly possible that Jannah is the long-lost daughter he misses but that is not made completely clear.

Did you know that Jabba the Hutt is also a dad? That was a new revelation in the movie of The Clone Wars that preceeded the release of the TV series. Little Rotta the Hutt, nicknamed "Stinky" by Ahsoka Tano, was only an infant at the time and perhaps the rest of his story will be told at a later time. It's really hard to imagine crime lord Jabba as a father, but it's true!

Who is your favourite Star Wars dad? Who did we miss? Leave a comment below...