Page 21 - Star Wars Insider #182

STORIES FOR YOUNGLINGS

ow do you write an article
H about Star Wars children’s 01
publishing? In the last 40
years, literally hundreds of
activity books, non-fi ction
titles, and junior novels
have been released. A full history would
be an encyclopedia in its own right, so—as
my experience is writing junior Star Wars
fiction—I’ve decided to focus on stories,

drafting in fellow children’s authors to
explore what it takes to write a book for
younglings of all ages.
We start with a big question: What is the
most infl uential Star Wars children’s book of
all time? Michael Siglain, Creative Director at
Lucasfilm Publishing, has no doubt:

“For kids of a certain age, the holy
grail was the Star Wars Storybook.
PROFILE We didn’t have VCRs and couldn’t
CAVAN SCOTT relive the film like kids can now,

Scott is the author of so we read and re-read it from
Star Wars Choose cover-to-cover.”
Your Destiny - A
Han and Chewie Cecil Castellucci, co-author of
Adventure and 2015’s Moving Target: A Princess
one of the writers Leia Adventure, agrees. “The
of IDW’s Star Wars
Adventures comic. Storybook was the only way I could
He also wrote four of keep Star Wars 100 percent in my
the best-selling Star
Wars Adventures in mind. I read it constantly, scouring
Wild Space series the pages for additional details.”
and contributed Published on April 12, 1978, and
to the From A
Certain Point of written by Geraldine Richelson,
View anthology the Storybook condensed the plot
www.cavanscott.com
of the original movie into 60 pages “For kids of a certain age,
and was jam-packed with stills

from the film. Long before DVD the Star Wars Storybook
and Blu-ray special features, it also was the holy grail.”
offered tantalizing glimpses of deleted scenes,
most notably photos of Luke Skywalker talking
to a mustachioed Biggs Darklighter. “We were
all fascinated by Biggs,” Castellucci remembers, released by Buena Vista Records 01 The Star Wars
“Luke has friends? Suddenly the characters to accompany The Empire Strikes Storybook was
published in 1978,
seemed more complex.” Back and Return of the Jedi, and retelling the plot of
The Storybook was the fi rst in a long line the tradition continues to this day, the original movie
alongside numerous
of adaptations aimed specifically at younger with the Solo: A Star Wars Story

film stills.
readers. I still remember receiving the 24-page Read-Along book hitting shelves
Star Wars Read-Along booklet for Christmas this fall.
1979, accompanied by its crackling vinyl
record. Complete with sound effects and Reinterpreting
music, the story was performed by a cast the Classics
that almost sounded like the real thing, with In fact, every movie in the Star
cheerful beeps from R2-D2 urging you to turn Wars saga has been adapted
the pages. Further Read-Along packs were numerous times, from Little

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