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Star Wars: The Last Jedi- Rose And Finn’s Secret Mission and Star Wars: The Last Jedi Read-Along Storybook And CD Reviews

Young “Star Wars” fans may be drawn to these two recent children’s book releases.

As is the case with the release of each new “Star Wars” film, Disney and Lucasfilm Press release a plethora of tie-in books for each film. For “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” 2 such releases were “Star Wars: The Last Jedi- Rose And Finn’s Secret Mission” and “Star War: The Last Jedi Read-Along Storybook and CD.”

In “Star Wars: The Last Jedi- Rose And Finn’s Secret Mission,” author Ella Patrick recounts the beginning of the film with Finn waking up to the beginning of Rose and Finn’s escape from Canto Bight after DJ frees them from prison. Why only half of the mission is recounted here, I do not know. Maybe because things got much darker after that? Regardless of the answer, the book is what it is. It’s written in a hurried and truncated fashion and doesn’t offer up much depth. On the plus side, the book contains cool art by Rian Rood (who seems to animate stills from the films) AND comes with 19 foil stickers (including one for Admiral Ackbar!).

“Star War: The Last Jedi Read-Along Storybook and CD” is certainly the better of the two options here. Once again Brian Rood provides illustrations while author Elizabeth Schaefer adapts Rian Johnson’s script. The story is, of course, condensed and written over 32 pages, but it’s a solid summarization of the film. Yes, some material is left out (including the big lightsaber battle strangely), but it’s fast paced and is sure to keep kids and even adults entertained.

As for the audio CD portion, the narration by Michael D. Hanks is sadly not the best. He’s a bit wooden as he hurriedly reads the material. He’s also not nearly animated enough in his reading. Thankfully, the CD does contain “Star Wars” music, sound F/X, and dialogue quotes from actual cast members. These moments are easily the highlight of the entire 21 minute runtime.

March 31, 2018 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Book review | Disney, Lucasfilm Press, Star Wars Book Reviews, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Read-Along Storybook And CD Review, Star Wars: The Last Jedi- Rose and Finn's Secret Mission Book Review