MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU… Star Wars Day is an excellent time of year to refresh your library’s Star Wars book collection. Did you know there are over 500 Star Wars themed books available? In anticipation of the new Star Wars movie coming out in December, many youth will be seeking out books.
Jeffrey Brown’s Darth Vader and Son; Vader’s Little Princess; and Goodnight, Darth Vader; and Darth Vader and Friends (April 2015) are funny books that explore what would happen if Darth Vader had raised Luke and Leia.
Jedi Academy books include Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Return of the Padawan, and The Phantom Bully (June 2015). This humorous trilogy that mixes text with comics focuses on a boy named Roan who attends the Jedi Academy. Also look for Attack of the Journal in August 2015.
The LEGO Star Wars books are popular with the primary and middle grades. The 24 page books tell stories featuring LEGO mini-figures for younger children. The new 64 page LEGO Star Wars Chapter Books are longer and include Yoda’s Secret Missions and Vader’s Secret Missions (April 2015).
DK is a publisher known for their Star Wars books. The DK Readers Star Wars books for grades 2-4 and DK Adventures: LEGO Star Wars for grades 3-7 include new books coming out Summer 2015. Look for three new DK books published in April 2015 including Ultimate Star Wars (April 2015), LEGO Star Wars in 100 Scenes, and LEGO Star Wars Characters Encyclopedia Updated. Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know will be available September 2015.
Chronicle Books has published three new books (April 2015) for preschool children called Star Wars Epic Yarns.
Star Wars books include a wide range of topics. For instance, Star Wars Crochet (May 2015) shows readers how to crochet Star Wars characters with yarn.
For young adults, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy by Ian Doescher is an amazing retelling of Star Wars in the style of Shakespeare. The trilogy includes A New Hope, The Empire Striketh Back, and The Jedi Doth Return.
Marvel is introducing lots of graphic novels in the Summer and Fall of 2015 beginning with Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope on May 5, 2015.
For some other Star Wars fun, check out The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger along with the other interesting books in this series.
With Disney producing the new movie, look for Disney books and other movie tie-ins. For younger children look for the World of Reading Star Wars books for ages 6-8 and Star Wars: The Original Trilogy Stories for ages 3-5. The Star Wars Rebels books include both 32 page books for children and 144 page chapter books for older children.
To learn more about Star Wars Day celebrations, go to http://www.starwars.com/may-the-4th.
