Tara's View on Books: Star Wars

Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts

Friday, May 4, 2012

May the 4th Be With You!

STAR WARS

Complete Cross Sections

Illustrated with more than 60 breathtaking, detail-rich cross-sections, this is the ultimate guide to the vehicles and spaceships of the entire six-film Star Wars saga.

Features all the coolest vehicles from DK’s four best-selling cross-section titles

Includes four all-new cross-sections from the original Trilogy

Produced in association with LucasFilm

Guest Review by my husband Doug

This book made my head spin. I found the adult and kid parts of me in a great deal of tension over this.

The kid part of me was completely enamored with the cutaway views of all the equipment laid out in the book. The adult side of me was totally blown away by the amount of detail that was in these drawings. I kept thinking to myself - wow this would’ve been a great deal of work.

Throughout the whole book though, both sides were enthralled with the material. The images are stunning with an incredible amount of detail and clarity. In addition to the images is the labels and small descriptions surrounding each image. All of this together gives a wonderful impression about how these machines were to have looked and worked.

This book delivers what you expect from the title, cross sections of Star Wars vehicles. Yet it exceeded my expectations greatly.

I enjoyed this book greatly, if you are or know a Star Wars fan, then this would be a great addition to their library.

Happy May the 4th (be with you).

* For every DK Star Wars book sold at Chapters / Indigo stores on May 4-6, they will be making a donation to the Indigo For the Love of Reading Foundation

Here’s some info about the Love of Reading Program:

We passionately believe that when a child has a book put in their hands it changes their life forever. With the support of Indigo customers and employees the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation puts books into the hands of Canadian children. To do date Love of Reading has committed over $12 million to more than 650 high-needs elementary schools across the country so children can develop a love of reading, unleash their dreams and fulfil their potential. For more information about the Foundation visit, loveofreading.org

* WIN a DK Star Wars library worth $200!!

For the entire month of May DK Publishing is having a photo contest where they are inviting people to send them photos of themselves or loved ones reading DK Star Wars books. For each picture they receive, they will make a donation to the Love of Reading Foundation. Find more info about the contest HERE. They will pick an Office Favourite photo and that person will win a DK Star Wars library worth $200 and they will donate a complete set of DK Star Wars Readers to the library of school of their choice.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Lego Star Wars Visual Dictionary

In true DK style, LEGO® Star Wars™:The Visual Dictionary elucidates, illuminates, and excites even the most discerning LEGO Group, Star Wars™, and minifigure fans around the world. Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and more are brought to life with dozens of little-known facts and hundreds of photos, as are accessories, vehicles, weapons, and even the Death Star! Learn about the history, manufacture, and construction of the minifigures of the Star Wars galaxy, and come away a LEGO® Jedi Master.

LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Brick configuration and the Minifigure are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2009 The LEGO Group. ©2009 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Production by Dorling Kindersley under license from the LEGO Group.

MY REVIEW

This book is beyond cool. It combines the two things my son loves more than anything else... Star Wars and Lego. Aiden is positively delighted with this book. He claimed it as his own instantly and I have had to remind him about a zillion times to SHARE it with his brother. Aiden has spent hours pouring over the pages of this book. He is 9 and able to read most of it on his own.

I asked Aiden and Owen to tell me what they thought of the Lego Star Wars Visual Dictionary and this is what they said:

Aiden: MOM it is AWESOME!

Owen: oh yeah it is so cool because it has all the guys in it and there are lots of pictures and it has EVERYTHING in it!

So there you have it folks- it is a definite hit in our house!

Thanks so much to DK Canada for sending me a review copy of this book.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Star Wars Year by Year : A Visual Chronicle

Star Wars Year by Year : A Visual Chronicle

Book: Hardcover | 235 x 159mm | 320 pages | 8 - AND UP years

From the first release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977 to the 2009 second season of The Clone Wars, Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle is an unparalleled chronological journey through the making of the most epic science fiction series ever! Featuring incredible illustrations and stills, the book chronologically details the history and development of the Star Wars movies; the events, press, and logistics surrounding the making of each movie; and exclusive interviews with people who worked behind the scenes. The year-by-year format includes images from the movies, TV series, comic books, video games, and novels as well as movie posters, memorabilia, book covers, and more.

Pablo Hidalgo
An expert on a variety of genre obsessions, from classic animation to shape-shifting robots, Pablo Hidalgo started writing about fantastic subject matters professionally in 1995 as a freelance author for roleplaying games. In 2000, he changed careers from a visual effects concept artist and digital compositor in Canada to a full-time Star Wars authority at Lucasfilm Ltd., working in their online department. Since then, he has overseen the development of websites, co-authored several books and developed a number of online comic books and strips. He is currently managing editor for StarWars.com, overseeing daily publication of content as well as developing special online spin- off projects for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He lives in San Francisco.

Gus Lopez
Gus Lopez created The Star Wars Collector's Archive (theswca.com) in 1994—the first Star Wars collecting website on the Internet. He has written many articles on Star Wars collecting for various publications over the years including a column on Star Wars collectibles for Star Wars Insider. He has given talks on Star Wars collecting at many toy, science fiction, and Star Wars conventions in Europe, Asia, and North America. Gus ran the Star Wars collecting tracks for the four Star Wars Celebration events in the US, Celebration Europe in the UK, and Celebration Japan. He is coauthor (with Duncan Jenkins) of Gus and Duncan's Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars Collectibles published by Completist Publications, the largest Star Wars collecting guide ever assembled. Gus lives in Seattle with his wife, Pamela.

Daniel Wallace
Daniel Wallace is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Characters as well as a dozen more books that explore the underpinnings of the Star Wars universe, such as Star Wars: The Essential Atlas and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. He is a regular contributor to Star Wars Insider magazine and assembled the questions used in the Star Wars Trivial Pursuit game. In addition to his contributions to the galaxy far, far away, he has written for universes including Indiana Jones, Smallville, Supernatural, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics, with books including The Marvel Encyclopedia, The DC Comics Chronicle, and The Art of Superman Returns.

Ryder Windham
Ryder Windham is the author of over sixty Star Wars titles, including Star Wars Blueprints: The Ultimate Collection and the New York Times-bestseller Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide. He has written junior novelizations of Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies and scripted numerous comics. An occasional freelance cartoonist and storyboard artist, he is an instructor and Certificate Program Advisor for Comics and Sequential Art at Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education.

© 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd. ® & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

MY REVIEW

If you have a Star Wars fan in your house than this book will be a huge hit. My husband and both of my sons love it. They have all spent many hours engrossed in its pages. But that didn't really surprise me.

What surprised me was that I actually like it too! I found much of it rather fascinating. The pictures are great and there is a TON of information.

This book would make a great gift.

Thanks so much to DK Canada for sending me a copy of this book to review.