Luke Skywalker’s Amazing Story is a DK Readers book that came out last year. My five year old spotted it at the library and immediately wanted me to take it home. He has recently started reading, and since this was a level 1 book, I was anxious to see how it would go (level 1 is for kids who are just beginning to read). This is a 32 page book that does a nice job of following the saga from Luke’s perspective. To learn more, click on the link.

The book starts by introducing Luke as he was first seen by audiences in A New Hope. The page gives a little background with a lead-in sentence drawing you to turn the page where you will be introduced to a new character (or set of characters). This pattern repeats through most of the book, taking you through his journey in the movies, to his introduction to his father – and only in the last two two-page spreads are we brought out of that pattern (because it revisits Vader and Anakin) as we conclude Luke’s interactions with him in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

At first my older son resisted reading any of the book, but that was just because he was more in the mood to have me read. At the same time, he just couldn’t help himself at times, and easily read many of the words that were used. For the most part, the commonly used words were what we call “sight words” – words they teach kids to know on sight. The exception to that of course would be the names of the characters – but like a good book for this level, the pictures on the page give an obvious indication as to what the more complex word is.

It’s the kind of book I can see I would have liked at their age, and both my boys enjoyed reading it. There is a quiz at the back, with pictures of famous characters from the story where it asks you to identify them. My sons enjoy making up the most ridiculous answers (like “who is Luke’s father?” with a picture of Vader – answer from my sons: “Slappy Skywalker”) to these things – but they’re another fun part of these books and I’m glad DK puts them there. This is the first level 1 Star Wars book we’ve read, and I can definitely recommend it for kids who are just starting to read – just make sure they’re already familiar with the saga – this will ruin the ‘surprise’ reveal of Luke’s father.