ANAKIN IN ACTION!<br> <small>a STAR WARS/Clone Wars book by Simon Beecroft </small>

Anakin in Action! is a book drawn from the animated Clone Wars television series. The story in this one brings Anakin and his student Ahsoka to a world where they are going to try to save a young Hutt named Rotta. They attempt a rescue of the adorable little fellow only to meet up with a mysterious lightsaber wielding baddy named Ventress. They manage the escape, but not before facing off with Ventress in a fight that involves a monster called a Rancor.

THE SKINNY:::

Anakin in Action! is going to be popular with young fans and those of you with reluctant readers in the appropriate age and reading range should check it out.

The artwork is from the animated series and is interesting, if not particularly bright and vivid. The text is VERY large and there are info-boxes which explain details which children might not know. For example, there is one for Ahsoka which says:

Alien Jedi
Ahsoka is an alien.
Aliens are different
from humans.
They come from
other words

I am not particular happy with the narrative. For something at the 2.9 AR level I thought the sentences were babyish and stilted. (Some of the Amelia Bedelia books, as an example, are at the 2.5 level.)

Here's an example of what I mean:

Some important people
are inside the gunships.

One of them wears
a robe with a hood.
His is called Anakin.
He is a Jedi Knight.

A soldier stands next to Anakin.
This soldier is Captain Rex.
Captain Rex wears a special
helmet over his face.
His body is protected by armor.

To me this is too simplified a sentence structure to be using with 2nd and 3rd Graders; but I can't deny that most of them will ignore this fault and read-on! (Which is what it's all about.)

Not my favorite Beecroft book, but adequate and enjoyable.

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs

Anakin in Action!