Last week as part of a Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures mailer from Disney Products, I received a review copy of the new children’s book Jedi Training, featuring recognizable characters, locations, and situations from the already-popular new Disney+ / Disney Junior animated series, which premiered back on May the 4th.
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures – Jedi Training was written by Caitlin Kennedy (Star Wars: C-3PO Does Not Like Sand, Star Wars: R2-D2 Is Lost, Star Wars: BB-8 and the Snow Monster) and illustrated by Betsy Bauer, Andy Bialk, Elsa Chang, and Rebecca Nelson, using concept art they created for the show. It starts out by introducing the Jedi-in-training Kai Brightstar, who serves as our narrator, and his fellow initiates Lys Solay and the adorable Nubs. We also meet their mentors Master Zia and Master Yoda, plus their pilot friend Nash Durango and her droid RJ-83. Then Kennedy and the artists run through a series of scenarios pulled directly from the series (the writers of these episodes are credited at the top of the book as well) and we get a bit of a related Jedi lesson to go along with each one. Kids and parents who are already familiar with Young Jedi Adventures via the cartoon will undoubtedly pick up on recurring themes and conflicts from the stories within, and I’m sure they’ll get a kick out of the art, which resembles the animation but in a more hand-crafted form.
The titular young Jedi learn how to trust in one another and the Force, how to make new friends, and how to forgive the past mistakes of others, but mostly how to work together to protect their little corner of the galaxy on the planet Tenoo. As most kids’ books tend to be, this is a very simple and easy-to-read hardcover release that might introduce a couple slightly more advanced words like “rogue” into children’s vocabularies. It also serves as a pretty appealingly synergistic ad to check out the show itself, for those (of any age) who may not have already gotten into it. From Lucasfilm’s perspective, as well as that of its parent company Disney, I can definitely understand the desire to get younger kids into the Star Wars franchise in an effort to launch another new generation of fans. And I think both Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures on TV and in book form as Jedi Training may very well go a long way in making that happen.
Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures – Jedi Training is available now wherever books are sold.