Good Books for Kids | YA and Kid Reviews Since 2006

Join the Rebels is another of the DK books that derives it's material from the Star Wars franchise. I generally like DK's Star Wars books because I think the subject matter is of great interest to a wide range of children, and I think a strong interest in a subject will motivate even reluctant readers to try to master the text.

Join the Rebels basically recaps the highlights of the first 3 movies, which is quite a feat for 32 pages. There are plenty of pictures but certainty there isn't room to explore any one aspect of Luke's adventure as he zooms from Tatooine to the Death Star to the cold planet Hoth into the confrontation with Darth Vader.

The minimal text is at the 4th grade level, and here is an example.

My name is Luke Skywalker.
I live on Tatooine with my
Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.

My uncle wants me to be a farm
but I would prefer to go to the
Imperial Academy.
I want to be a pilot like my friend
Biggs Darklighter.

THE SKINNY:::
In my opinion this book is just 'okay'. It covers a great topic but I've got some reservations that keep me from being overwhelmingly enthusiastic about it.

PROs::: Besides being about Luke and the rest of the gang, this book has plenty of pictures mixed with minimal text. This will certainly work to give children a sense of accomplishment when they finish the book quickly.

Now for the reservations:::
I recently reviewed STAR WARS: Luke Skywalker's Amazing Story and really liked it. The pictures were awesome and the I thought the text, which was only at the 2nd Grade reading level (AR 2.6), was just right. I'm not so sure Join the Rebels is as good.

For example, while the language is at the 4th grade reading level, the sentences are stilted. (This might be good or bad, I suppose, depending on the student.) For comparisons sake, consider that The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and the YA novel Incarceron are also written at the 4th grade level. So how well this book fits your child's needs will depend upon their preferences. There's certainly no harm going to be done by reading something slightly below their ability.

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs

DK READERS (L2): Star Wars: Join the Rebels