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![[Children's Books]](images/banner.jpg) |
| A guide to Star Wars children's books. |
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Of the 600+ books and comics listed on Star
Wars Books at least one fifth of them are written for
younger readers. Even in 1977, with the release of the first Star
Wars film Episode IV: A New Hope, stories for children were
available: as well as a junior novelisation to accompany the film,
there was also Star Wars' first comic story from Marvel Comics -
beginning with their own adaptation of the film and then spreading
into new and exciting stories furthering the adventures of Luke
Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C3P-0 as
they battled Darth Vader and the evil Galactic Empire.
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Star Wars children's books are
divided by target age group, thus there are books and stories for Kindergarten
(Pre-School) ages (under 4/5 years old), Elementary
School ages (4/5-8 years old), Junior High School (or Middle
School) ages (9-12 years old) and High School ages
(teenagers). Many books aimed at Kindergarten and Elementary
School ages are educational in nature, i.e. teaching reading
skills, numeracy skills, etc (it should be noted that for UK
residents these books are American and therefore may be
inappropriate for the teaching of UK children, e.g. spelling),
whilst all the books for the older age groups are fictional books or
comic books.
This guide will concentrate primarily on the books and stories
available for the older age groups: 9-12 year-olds and teenagers; as
these are the largest market and offer the greatest diversity of
material, although much material maybe suitable for younger ages
depending upon their reading skills and levels. |
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LATEST NEWS & NEW
RELEASES | A-Z TITLE
INDEX |
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GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S FICTION
BOOKS | GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S COMIC BOOKS |
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Fiction books:
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Star
Wars fiction books for children have been published since 1977 and
apart from the three-year publishing gap between 1987 and 1990
(which affected almost all forms of Star Wars publishing), they have
been continuous since 1992. On the whole, fiction books for younger
readers usually take the form of a book series that concentrates its
storyline over several books and features one or two primary film
characters.
Recommended books are:
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Suitable
age groups |
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<4 |
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4-8 |
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9-12 |
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13+ |
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![[Jedi Apprentice]](../empire/jedi-apprentice/images/rising-force-lg.jpg)
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Jedi
Apprentice
Written by Jude Watson (first book written by
Dave Wolverton).
Published: 1999 - 2002 by Scholastic.
Follow the training of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi by his Jedi
Master Qui-Gon Jinn and their adventures prior to The
Phantom Menace.
18 books[1] plus 4 specials[2]
published: view
all
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Suitable
age groups |
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<4 |
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4-8 |
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9-12 |
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13+ |
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![[Star Wars Journal]](../arcana/images/star-wars-journal/anakin.jpg)
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Star Wars Journal
Written by Jude Watson, Todd Strasser, John
Peel, Donna Tauscher
Published: 1998 - 2000 by Scholastic.
Six people, six stories: the private journal entries for Luke
Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Anakin
Skywalker, Queen Amidala and Darth Maul.
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Prior to the release of The
Phantom Menace in 1999, there were other book series' published,
however these books are no longer in print and can therefore be
difficult to acquire: |
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Notes:
[1] With each passing year the availability of these books grows
more and more acute and as such general availability cannot be
guaranteed.
[2] In 2001, Deceptions,
and in 2002, The
Followers, were published. These two special
"crossover" books featured storylines that affected
both Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest series. Then in 2003, Legacy
of the Jedi, and in 2005, Secrets
of the Jedi, were published. These two special
"crossover" books take place prior to and during the Clone
Wars. In 2006 they were combined into a single
paperback. |
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Comic Books:
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Star
Wars comic stories have been around since the first film, A New
Hope, was released in 1977. Back then, Marvel Comics and the Los
Angeles Times produced comic stories up to 1986. In 1991 Dark Horse
Comics took over with their first comic story Dark
Empire, since then Dark Horse Comics have produced over 600
individual comic books (equating to some 100+ stories). While
fiction books can be targeted towards a specific age group, the
modern Star Wars comic story (those produced after 1991), are
marketed towards older audiences including adults, but all comic
stories must maintain Star Wars' standards for content: no
gratuitous violence and no explicit sex. Also in most cases a
comic's themes can be understood by younger readers as they are
themes expressed in the films: themes of right and wrong, good
versus evil, redemption, journey of discovery, etc. More importantly
is how younger readers can relate to the
primary characters in many comics, especially if those characters
are from the films or a television series, and so many comic stories
contain such characters, thus the most popular comic stories amongst
children are those that feature Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker,
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, Padmé Amidala, Princess Leia, Han
Solo, Ahsoka Tano et al. This guide will therefore favour comic
stories that prominently feature one or more recognisable film
characters.
Recommend comics are:
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Suitable
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<4 |
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4-8 |
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9-12 |
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13+ |
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![[The Early Adventures]](../rebellion/images/gn-early-adventures-lg.jpg)
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Classic Star Wars and the Early
Adventures
Published: 1977 - 1986 by Marvel Comics,
LATimes, Dark Horse Comics
Collecting the Marvel Comics published 1977-1986 and the Los
Angeles Times comic strip published 1981-1984 detailing the
furthering adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and the
droids.
11 books published: Doomworld,
Dark
Encounters, Resurrection
of Evil, Screams
in the Void, Fool's
Bounty, Wookiee
World, Far,
Far Away, The
Early Adventures, In
Deadly Pursuit, The
Rebel Storm, Escape
to Hoth,
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