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Disney and Star Wars at The BookCon 2014

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Created by ReedPOP, the largest producer of pop culture events around the world, The BookCon brings consumers, brands, authors, publishers, celebrities, and content creators together to celebrate books and the power of reading. A variety of exhibitors were in attendance, including Disney Publishing Worldwide, Scholastic, Random House, and much more.

With over 300 people ahead of me on the line at 7:00 AM (doors opened at 9:00), the event was crowded and unorganized. There was no room to walk, promotional material had run out an hour after doors opened, and getting into a panel was beyond impossible. All that said, this was the first BookCon, so there is room for improvement in the future.

The first booth I went to visit was Disney Publishing Worldwide. There, I stood on the line to pick up a few Star Wars items, including a Star Wars Journeys: The Phantom Menace poster, a stack of postcards with artwork from Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, and an advanced proof of Star Wars: The Addventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. Visit The Wookiee Gunner’s Facebook page for a detailed look at the postcards and the advanced proof.

Unfortunately, there were no Star Wars Rebels booklets at the booth, which were previously advertised by the Disney Hyperion Twitter account on Friday, May 30.

#StarWars goodies, booth 3016, NOW! http://t.co/i16B9P9nZe
—
Disney Hyperion (@DisneyHyperion) May 30, 2014

To rebel or not to rebel, that is the question! #StarWarsRebels @DisneyHyperion booth 3016 http://t.co/33mgOM12A7
—
Disney Hyperion (@DisneyHyperion) May 30, 2014

At the table, I asked about the “apps” that were mentioned at the bottom of the Star Wars Rebels #StormtrooperSelfie cardboard stand. According to the marketing assistants there, the Apple iOS apps are story-based and set to debut in August with other Star Wars Rebels books and e-books. These apps will probably resemble the Star Wars Journeys: The Phantom Menace app currently available for iOS, where readers tap and swipe through the story.

While touring the rest of the show floor, I happened upon the Studio Fun International booth, previously known as Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing. There, I found the display for Star Wars Rebels: Rebel Journal by Ezra Bridger. Although it was a dummy book, the first few pages were available for preview.

In addition to the October 2014 date mentioned in the Edelweiss book description of Star Wars: A New Dawn, the book catalog entry for the Rebel Journal also states that Star Wars Rebels will premiere October 2014. The journal itself will debut on October 7 with a total of 96 pages aimed at children aged 6 to 10 and in grades K to 3.

Based on the Star Wars Rebels television series, this book follows the adventures of Ezra Bridger through a replica of his own journal. In addition, sixteen pages in the end of the journal invite would-be rebels to continue the adventure with their own words and drawings.
Experience the adventures of one of the main characters from Star Wars Rebels through their own writings and sketches. Find out the thoughts and secrets behind the action in episodes from season one of Star Wars Rebels. Plus there exists an extra section in the back of the journal to record your own secret codes and plans for stregthening the rebellion!

In the journal, we discover that Ezra resides in a comm tower. His activities used to involve trading weapons for food, weapons he might have stolen from Imperial troops. He talks about how the Imperial presence has destroyed local farms by building new mines to extract mineral resources. Ezra makes it his personal job to wreak havoc on the stormtroopers, jotting down how many he’s taken down and analyzing a stormtrooper helmet to find weaknesses. The preview pages provide great insight into his character–he’s cocky, a dreamer, and likes to take risks.

What I really like about the journal is that it invites children to write their own thoughts and sketch their own drawings. It’s an instrument for learning and to incorporate in the classroom or at home. If I had my own classroom of children, I would have put an order for this book because it inspires the imagination and it gets children interested in what Star Wars is all about. To find out more about how to introduce Star Wars to your youngling(s) or a child you may know, please visit Star Wars Kidscast and Star Wars in the Classroom.

Also at The BookCon was the Scholastic booth with a poster and buttons promoting Jeffrey Brown’s Star Wars: Jedi Academy #2, which will be released on July 29, 2014.

With four more months until the premiere of Star Wars Rebels, an official day for the one-hour special and the premiere remain unknown. Given that New York Comic Con is October 9-12, we could possibly see the pilot or the first episode of the season premiere during that event. Fans at San Diego Comic Con in July could also have first access to the pilot or more details about the series in general.

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