11 Thrilling New Star Wars Books for Young Fans

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary, by Pablo Hidalgo
Even after your 15th viewing of the new Star Wars movie, there will still be details you miss—not to mention character backstories that weren’t even included in the movie. But the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary covers all of that and more. The book explains in great detail the costumes, weapons, and accessories for every major and minor character. Plus, it’s filled with 80 pages of beautiful, full-color images from the movie. It even includes a map of the galaxy to help you get your bearings.

Star Wars The Force Awakens: Before the Awakening, by Greg Rucka and Phil Noto
For those who haven’t seen The Force Awakens yet, Before the Awakening serves as a great primer for the film. The book focuses on the lives of main characters: Rey, a Jakku scavenger; Finn, a former Stormtrooper; and Resistance pilot Poe, leading up to the events of Episode VII. And for fans who have seen the film, the book still makes an excellent companion piece, giving more insight into these characters and how they come to join the Resistance.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections, by Jason Fry and Kemp Remillard
Ever wanted to take a look under the hood of the vehicles from The Force Awakens? Now’s your chance with Star Wars: The Force Awakens Incredible Cross-Sections. This visually compelling volume includes cross-sections from 12 of the vehicles featured in the film, including the Millennium Falcon, Poe’s X-Wing, and Rey’s Speeder. Star Wars fans will geek out on the painstaking detail in each of these cutaway illustrations.

Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, by Adam Bray, Cole Horton, Michael Kogge, Kerrie Dougherty
The title of this book pretty much says it all. Jam-packed with trivia you never knew you had to know, Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know has cool and bizarre facts and Q-and-A’s about the characters and everything happening behind the scenes in Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the Star Wars movies. This stellar volume also has more than 200 pages filled with dynamic infographics.

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure, by Jason Fry and Phil Noto
What exactly was Luke Skywalker up to between Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back? Find out in this exciting middle-grade read in which Luke, along with droids C-3PO and R2-D2, becomes stranded on jungle planet Devaron, where Luke must use the Force to rescue a native girl and confront a new villain. Illustrator Phil Noto’s artwork only enhances an already compelling story.

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Smuggler’s Run, by Greg Rucka
The adventures continue in a galaxy far, far away with this all-new story about Han Solo and Chewbacca the Wookie as they head out on a top-secret mission aboard the Millennium Falcon. The tale takes place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and is part of a collaboration between Disney Publishing Worldwide and Lucasfilm. Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens includes more than 20 digital and print titles for middle-grade readers and young adults.

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure, by Cecil Castellucci, Jason Fry, Phil Noto, and Lucasfilms
Princess Leia gets a starring role in this middle-grade novel told from her perspective. It’s set in the time period between Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi and tells the adventurous story of the princess leading a group of Rebels on a treacherous mission against the Empire. A must-read for every Star Wars fan!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Lightsaber Adventure, by Editors of Phoenix International
Even the littlest Jedi-in-training can get in on the Star Wars: The Force Awakens reading fun with Lightsaber Adventure, which includes seven sound buttons to help bring the story of Resistance heroes Rey, Finn, and BB-8 to life. A lightsaber that really lights up and colorful stills from Episode VII only add to the excitement of this awesome story that kids will be requesting over and over.

Star Wars: Han & Chewie Return!, by Michael Siglain and Brian Rood
It’s not all new faces in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Han Solo and Chewbacca were on the scene well before any of these newbies. And now they’re back for Episode VII and this all-new young readers’ adventure. The youngest Star Wars superfans can follow Han and Chewie as they venture through the galaxy.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Mix & Match, by Benjamin Harper
Now that you’ve thoroughly explored the Star Wars universe, it’s time to mix things up a little with the Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Mix & Match book. With a cool three-panel design, readers can create unique character mashups, like the head of Kylo Ren, the body of Poe, and the legs of Rey. There are more than 200 crazy combinations to try out in this colorful addition to the Star Wars books.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Junior Novel (Deluxe Edition), by Michael Kogge
Keep the Force going strong off-screen for your little Jedis with the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Junior Novel. The middle grade retelling follows the same plot as the latest film, in which the evil of the First Order and Kylo Ren are growing stronger and presenting a new threat to the galaxy. It’s up to the Resistance to defeat them and try to find Luke Skywalker. May the force be with them—and with young readers as they explore the Star Wars galaxy.
What’s your favorite Star Wars book for kids?