Learn The Secrets of the Jedi

Wouldn't we all like to know the secrets of the Jedi? How to attune ourselves with the Force and become a powerful guardian of peace in the galaxy?

That may not be entirely possible just yet, but a new book from Insight Kids (Insight Editions) seeks to give young Jedi a start on their path of unraveling all of the Jedi order's mysteries...and secrets.

The Secrets of the Jedi is journal of sorts, told by Luke Skywalker himself (actually Marc Sumerak), detailing a brief history of Jedi lore, techniques, philosophies and more. Presumably Luke took a few hours to himself to get all his thoughts down before appearing at the battle of Crait at the end of The Last Jedi.

Over 32 beautifully illustrated pages (illustrations by Sergio Gómez Silvan), "Luke" discusses topics like the Old Republic, The Force, The Light Side, The Dark Side and more. He also goes into detail about lightsabers, Jedi combat techniques, and Force abilities.  

The Secrets of the Jedi really feels like an extension of the earlier book The Jedi Path by Daniel Wallace, like it's Luke's additional notes on that text. In fact one of the sections inside is titled The Jedi Path.

Not only is this large-size hardcover book illustrated, it also contains fold-outs, pop-ups, envelopes to open, and a poster of the cover artwork.

Author Marc Sumerak (Star Wars: Droidography) truly captures the voice of the troubled older Luke, looking back on the successes and failures of his teachers and his own teachings. He reflects on what he had learned from Masters like Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, but also what younger students like Ben Solo and Rey taught him. Luke frequently refers to Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader as his father, personally connecting himself to these stories.

Not to be confused with this one!

Occasionally Luke here knows something where one must stop and ponder HOW Luke would know that. Some are easy to sort out, others pose interesting questions. Like how did Luke know the true circumstances of Mace Windu's death? Only Darth Sidious, and newly named Darth Vader, walked out of that office alive. Perhaps through the Force he was able to learn the truth. The official Imperial account of the events would have been much different.

I have mentioned this in previous more recent book reviews, but it bears repeating, that one of the wonderful aspects of the Disney era of Star Wars books is that the entire saga can be used and referenced. There are many examples here of Luke discussing not only details we saw in the movies, but also characters and events from The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels too. Treating the saga as one big story really makes it feel like a cohesive and interconnected galaxy. Years ago had this book been written, it would be much more limited in scope.

For younglings, Padawans, and older fans looking to dive into the teachings of the Jedi, and especially Master Luke Skywalker, The Secrets of the Jedi is an excellent start.

(Publisher's Recommendation: 8 - 12 years)
 
See also:

Also "by Luke Skywalker"

Read, You Must: The Last Jedi A Junior Novel

With October being Star Wars Reads month, we're going to try to get caught up on reading and reviewing as many Star Wars books as possible. Let's face it, with The Last Jedi and Solo coming out so close together, there have been ALMOST too many new books to handle in the past year. Almost, because really is there such a thing as "too much Star Wars"? Nope.

Released earlier this year, months after the movie release, The Last Jedi A Junior Novel is a great way for middle-grade readers to look at the film from a different perspective.

With 202 pages, author Michael Kogge (The Force Awakens Junior Novel, Poe Dameron: Flight Log) offers a surprisingly serious and powerful take on the Rian Johnson screenplay. "Surprisingly serious" only because his take on The Force Awakens was so much fun to read. This time the adventure is there, but the story feels much more complex and at times somber, which is appropriate for the tone of this particular Star Wars movie.

Kogge doesn't try to gloss over or lighten up the story for young readers. Instead the author treats the story very seriously, sticking very closely to the screenplay, and respects that kids can handle the situations as presented. Nothing jumped out as missing from the movie-to-book translation, so if any key moments were omitted, they must not have been very crucial after all.

Readers will notice a few moments sprinkled throughout that are not from seen in the film, but are in most cases seen in the blu-ray Deleted Scenes. These are the "Exclusive Scenes" advertised on the cover.

The Last Jedi A Junior Novel also contains 8 pages of colour photos from the movie, which is always a fun bonus!

Basically if you loved The Last Jedi but don't get to watch it very often, here's a way to relive the movie whenever you like!

Read, You Can: The Last Jedi pt. II

While there are several new books out now to tie-in with Solo: A Star Wars Story (definitely more info on those coming soon!) let's not forget there's plenty of fun books for young fans of The Last Jedi out there!

In Part 1 of this, we looked at middle-grade books for older kids and confident young readers. Here are a few books for younglings still learning to read, or enjoying stories read to them.

Storybook by Elizabeth Schaefer

Packed with striking illustrations by Brian Rood, the 128-page hardcover The Last Jedi storybook by Elizabeth Schaefer (Rey's Story) is a full retelling of the movie. Like The Last Jedi: A Junior Novel, there are also a few moments that did not make it onto the screen. Great fun to expand and enhance your enjoyment of the film!

Longtime readers (and listeners of our podcast) know we love Star Wars Read-Along books, and we're happy to say The Last Jedi Read-Along Storybook & CD is now available. Also written by Elizabeth Schaefer, this retelling simplifies the story quite a bit. The accompanying CD features character voices, music and sound effects from the movie too! 


The Last Jedi: Rey's Journey (World of Reading Level 2) also by Ella Patrick is a leveled "reader" book, graded as a "Junior Reader: K-Grade 2" with a focus on, you guessed it, Rey's side of the story of The Last Jedi. The book tells about Rey and specifically her time with Luke Skywalker. Illustrations by Brian Rood.
 
The Last Jedi: Rose & Finn's Secret Mission by Ella Patrick is a 24 page picture book (once again illustrated by Brian Rood) focusing solely on Rose & Finn's part of the story from when they meet, to their escape from the jail cell on Canto Bight. Anyone wanting to read about their wild ride through the city should check out that story in Star Wars: 5-Minute Stories Strike Back.

The Last Jedi: Heroes of the Galaxy by Ruth Amos is a photo-filled look at who's who and what's what in the movie. Like most DK Readers, it comes with a glossary and a quiz at the end. It is a Level 2 "Beginning to Read" reader.


LEGO Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a fun overview of the characters and situations of the movie by Beth Davies, full of photos of LEGO Star Wars characters and building sets. It is also a Level 2 "Beginning to Read" DK reader.

With so many The Last Jedi books available for different interests and reading levels, there's plenty of reading material for fans of all ages. May the Force be with your reading!

Coming Summer 2018!

Read, You Can: The Last Jedi

With The Last Jedi now available for home viewing, or coming soon depending on where you live, you may be looking for ways to expand on your enjoyment of the movie. Or perhaps you're looking for something to do between repeat viewings?

Here are several books for young readers that expand or enhance the story from the latest Star Wars film.

The Last Jedi Junior Novel - Author Michael Kogge (The Force Awakens Junior Novel, Poe Dameron: Flight Log) retells The Last Jedi for middle-grade readers, with deleted and extended scenes, as well as exclusive scenes you won't find anywhere else featuring Rey, Chewbacca, R2-D2, Finn, and more! This book also includes an 8-page full-color insert.

The Legends of Luke Skywalker - In The Last Jedi, the issue of Luke's status as a hero and legend has become a concern for the aging Jedi. This collection of tales (written by award-winning author Ken Liu) told by the crew aboard a cargo ship gives readers an idea of the kinds of stories floating around about Luke. But are the stories true, or merely tall tales passed from one corner of the galaxy to another? Readers will have to decide for themselves!


Colbalt Squadron - Author Elizabeth Wein offers this adventure starring sisters Rose and Paige Tico sets up their stories in The Last Jedi. Similar to previous middle-grade novels like Weapon of a Jedi and Moving Target, which both also featured art by Phil Noto, this story goes into the lives of the Resistance flight crew members. Like Before the Awakening did for The Force Awakens, Colbalt Squardon leads up to the events of The Last Jedi.

Bomber Command - covering similar ground to Cobalt Squadron, frequent Star Wars author Jason Fry creates the journal of Paige Tico, the ill-fated sister of Rose. This covers many aspects of The Last Jedi from the perspective of the Resistance fighter. Much like previous journals from Studio Fun (Rey's Survival Guide, Sabine: My Rebel Sketchbook) it is fully-illustrated with Paige's notes plus diagrams, sketches and fold-out sections.


Star Wars The Last Jedi The Visual Dictionary - Can never say enough good things about the Visual Dictionary books. In-depth details and photos of nearly every alien, droid, weapon, helmet, vehicle and more.

Star Wars The Last Jedi Incredible Cross-Sections - for the extremely detail-oriented fans, the Incredible Cross-Sections books show all the ins and outs of key vehicles and spaceships and more! Plus gorgeous large-size photos from the movie. Illustrated by the amazing Kemp Remillard (The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections) with descriptions by the above-mentioned Jason Fry.

That's not every tie-in book but it's sure a great start to expanding on your enjoyment of The Last Jedi!

Read, You Must: Chewie and the Porgs

Viewers of The Last Jedi may be particularly curious of how the relationship between a hungry Chewbacca and the adorable bird-like porgs of Ahch-To translates into a kid-friendly picture book.

That’s certainly understandable because in the movie, Chewbacca takes an interest in the porgs, but it’s not to become friends!

Chewie and the Porgs (Disney-Lucasfilm Press) is the second in a new wave of beautifully illustrated picture books based upon the most recent Star Wars films. Following BB-8 On the Run, Chewie and the Porgs shows how they meet, how they help each other and become friends.

Where BB-8 On The Run offers a between-the-scenes look at what happens offscreen during The Force Awakens, Chewie and the Porgs is an alternate look at the first meeting between the wookiee and the small island creatures. 

It is similar but very different to how they become acquainted in The Last Jedi.

Author Kevin Shinick introduces young readers to the mysterious planet and it’s cute little inhabitants while the familiar wookiee searches for food. Luke Skywalker and Rey are barely seen as this is truly Chewie’s story.

Artist Fiona Hsieh captures the cuteness of it all with a colourful retro style similar to the recent Star Wars Golden Books series.

For those who desperately need to know if this story is officially part of the Star Wars timeline, referred to by fans as the canon, the answer is no. This story specifically states that “fishing season is over and all the fish are gone”, where in The Last Jedi, Luke clearly has caught a big fish while Rey and Chewbacca are on the island. That’s just one example.

If you can forget about the events of the movie for a few minutes, it’s very easy for kids and parents to enjoy this touching story about cooperation and friendship.

And it's SOOO cute!

Highly recommended.

(Publisher’s Recommendation Ages 5 – 8 years)

Read, You Must: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary

Readers who enjoy the DK visual dictionaries that accompany the release of each new Star Wars movie will not be disappointed with Star Wars: The Last Jedi - The Visual Dictionary. Fans of the latest Star Wars adventure will enjoy 80 pages of full-colour photos of new characters, droids, aliens, vehicles and creatures.

Like with 2015's The Force Awakens The Visual Dictionary, DK has enlisted Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo to tell the stories to expand on so many things only seen momentarily on screen.

Readers who want to know all sorts of new Star Wars trivia have plenty to dive into here. What's that character's name? What alien species is this? What kind of starship is that? It's (almost) all in there.

"Almost", because there are a few moments of The Last Jedi that were not included in this book on purpose. Since the book was published almost the same time as the movie's release, a few key details were left out to keep a few surprises secret. Certain Jedi Masters appearing or disappearing are not mentioned here.

Previously with The Force Awakens The Visual Dictionary, there were no pictures of Supreme Leader Snoke or Luke Skywalker's whereabouts. Thankfully that's all in The Last Jedi The Visual Dictionary.

Also included are some glimpses of moments cut from the film, including more of the Caretakers from Luke's island hideaway and more aliens from the Canto Bight casinos.

Since it's a visual dictionary, these books can also be enjoyed purely for their many detailed photos from the movie. There's plenty to pour over here!

Either way, these books are must-haves to accompany the Star Wars movies! Recommended for Star Wars fans of any age.

Big News for Young Star Wars Fans!

Star Wars Celebration 2017 has come to an end and over the 4 days in Orlando, Florida fans were treated with plenty to get excited about. Yes, of course the biggest news was the first look at the upcoming movie The Last Jedi (out December 2017). Seeing moments of Rey training, Finn recovering, Leia leading and more were unquestionably the highlight of the weekend. If you haven't yet seen the teaser trailer, view it here. 

In the months up to the December premiere, books, comics and more will be released under the banner "Journey to The Last Jedi".

Nearly every site on the internet will have something to say about the new images, teaser poster and trailer for The Last Jedi, so we're going to focus on a few pieces of news that will be specifically interesting to Star Wars Kidscast readers and listeners:

New Comics!

Comic publisher IDW announced that in September 2017 they will begin publishing Star Wars comic books specifically aimed at younger readers. The Star Wars Adventures will have familiar characters from many eras of our favourite galaxy. 

There have not been Star Wars comics specifically created for younger readers in several years so it's exciting to see that happening again! Here's more information.

Marvel Comics will continue publishing their excellent Teen-rated comics as well. It's a great time to be a Star Wars comics reader!




New Books!

Daring Adventures Volume 1 & 2!

Lucasfilm/Disney Publishing announced several new books for younger readers, including a BB-8 picture book (above), more additions to the World of Reading leveled reader series, a new book called The Legends of Luke Skywalker and a Leia-focused YA novel. As well, there are "Daring Adventures" books to tie directly into the new Forces of Destiny cartoons coming soon!

DK Publishing also announced new titles, including an update to 2015's Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know and new book for tech-minded younglings: Star Wars Coding Projects! 

New TV!

A bittersweet announcement was made regarding Star Wars Rebels - yes, there's a new season of Rebels coming this fall, but it will actually be the final season of the show. What happens to the crew of the Ghost in the next season is anyone's guess but it sure looks like it'll be exciting!

Before we see any more Rebels though, this summer will debut a brand-new animated series of short stories called Star Wars: Forces of Destiny. We wrote about these new shows here. There will also be new toys and books connected with this series too! More on this as announcements are made! Here's a new clip:

Fans of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures have a second series to look forward to starting May 4. The fun and excitement continues as the Freemakers start to fight in their own way against the Empire! More info on season two is available here.

This is far from a complete list of everything we're excited about from the past few days, but it sure is plenty! More new info on upcoming fun Star Wars stuff is coming soon!

What are you most excited to see that was announced at Celebration? Comment below!