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A review by justthatstarwarsbookgirl
DK Readers L3: Star Wars: Finn's Mission: Find Out How Finn Can Save the Galaxy! by David Fentiman
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I appreciate how large the words are in the book and how descriptive and detailed they are on their topics while keeping it basic and with good enough simplicity to keep it on a natural level for child readers. I thought the full color photos included in the book and the glossy pages were absolutely vividly beautiful and gorgeous, although some of the photos looked modified or slightly inaccurate, such as Leia, to my memory at least. I love how some of the pages were laid out into fact files or other interactive and unique layouts, such as the Stormtrooper arsenal and weapons kit as well as the First Order Vehicles, Maz’s Castle Rules Certificate, Rathtar Beast Research Page and Jakku Animals fact layouts. I especially liked how the Jakku Animals fact layout looked like somebody had “sketched” the animals onto the page of a book inside this book. The concise and centered minor character layouts weren’t bad either (such as for Maz and BB-8) for providing basic necessary information while not taking up too much space. I think my favorite part of the book, funnily enough, was “FN-2187”’s Stormtrooper Training Scorecard and reading the scores, that really seemed a very interactive element for kids and even me as an adult and I like that it added an extra fact to the movies in this book that wasn’t shown anywhere else, that would definitely intrigue kids and make them feel special for knowing that extra tidbit of information that maybe others don’t know. I thought I remembered that Starkiller Base was created on the planet of Ilum, which the Jedi used to visit to harvest Kyber Crystals, which was why it was chosen, but this book references it as a unnamed ice planet. I don’t know if I’m wrong or the book itself is inaccurate, and I’m unsure at the end of the day. Also it is stated on that same page that they aren’t sure about the whole Hosnian system being devastated, but in the movies they seem pretty certain the whole system was blown up and destroyed completely. I thought the quiz at the end of the book was easy enough to be fun yet allow me to keep my confidence in my answers at the same time testing me on a few of the questions really provoking my thoughts and thinking on what I had just previously read; truly tempting me not to flip back in the book for the answer but when it occurred to me in my mind it was exciting to flip back in the book to see if I was correct after all all on my own. I also liked how the page numbers were marked very clearly and in large font for child readers to mark their place in the book and their progress as well as if they have to do book reports for school that makes it easier. Also, for DK books, I like how at the back for the parents it is explained what children should be able to do if they are ready for a Level 3 book, such as being able to read many words in succession and beginning to read silently. My favorite tip for parents was to encourage your child to talk about what THEY liked about the book, the words and details they found interesting and important. Also encouraging the parents to ask questions about the text is an interesting method. Plus, I like how DK explains that when a child is excited to flip to the next page that’s a good thing!! Lastly, I like that it’s stated that it should be encouraged to reread favorite works, texts and books to increase confidence. I never thought that doing that would increase confidence, but now that I can think about it, that would definitely do so! To learn a book by heart word by word would definitely increase your confidence as a child. I thought this book overall was a very concise and accurate summarization of Finn’s role and all of his point of view of the events that take place in Episode 7: The Force Awakens. The only downfall is that it ONLY expresses these events from what Finn witnesses and takes part in, but I suppose that’s why the book is called “Finn’s Mission” and not something else Star Wars overall. As a focused topic book, this is definitely a great book!!