Suvudu Universe

On September 16, 2014 Disney’s World of Reading is going to a galaxy far, far away with the new book, Star Wars: Escape from Darth Vader. Written by Michael Siglain and illustrated by Stephane Roux, Escape from Darth Vader is a “Level 1″ reader. The book is intended for an audience of children at the Pre-K to Grade 1 (or ages 6-8) reading level.

The book retells the action from approximately the first ten minutes of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, from the capture of the Tantive IV until the landing of C-3PO and R2-D2 on Tatooine. The story focuses on Princess Leia and the droids during these scenes.

Publisher’s Summary:

C-3PO and R2D2 must keep Darth Vader from discovering the Rebels’ secret plans! This fully-illustrated level 1 reader retells the classic scenes from A New Hope where the droids crash land on the desert planet of Tatooine and meet a young farmer named Luke.

 

With an intended audience that is very new to reading the text of this book is very simplistic. For example the Star Destroyer is referred to as “big ship” and the Tantive IV is referred to as “small ship.” It is interesting that despite this the author introduced the term “Sith Lord” in reference to Vader in the book, a cool touch that could either capture a kids imagination or simply fly right over their head.

What sells this book is the art by Stephane Roux. I love the cartoon style that is taken with Leia. This is a book that I think will suck kids in as they flip through the pages of cool artwork. As a first introduction to the story of Star Wars this could be a great introduction to children who may not be ready for the full film.

If this is the first in a series it would provide some very manageable storytelling chunks to introduce Star Wars to a new generation. At an affordable MSRP of $3.99 it is impossible not to recommend this book to Star Wars fan parents who want to introduce their kids to the saga at an early age.

For more on the book visit Disney Publishing Worldwide’s website.

Editor’s Note: A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher Disney | Lucasfilm Press.