My 4-year-old son has a thing for villains. I know this because as soon as he heard about Star Wars, he wanted to be Darth Vader. His 7-year-old sister is a little more modern and would rather be the scavenger Rey. Needless to say, my house is littered with red and blue lightsabers, various Star Wars costumes, and my husband’s Star Wars action figures from the ‘80s, now getting their second chance at life through my kids. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
As die-hard fans, my husband and I didn’t waste much time introducing our children to our beloved Star Wars universe. It started when my oldest was only a toddler and I showed her my husband’s old Star Wars action figures that were tucked away in a keepsake box. She was already obsessed with all things outer space, so I started telling her about the different characters and their stories.
In 2015, when Star Wars: A Force Awakens came out, my kids were only 1 and 4, but my oldest saw that there were suddenly posters, toys, and advertisements featuring all the characters she knew from her special toys. She started asking us if she could see the new movie, too. Four isn’t a great age to watch movies with intense action scenes and violence, so instead, we turned to books to let her indulge her curiosity.
Star Wars has inspired many different books for kids, from detailed biographies of Darth Vader and Princess Leia, which are aimed at elementary schoolers, to Jason Fry’s Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which condenses the first six films in the series into a kid-friendly book that includes stills from the actual movies. Babies can learn their hues from the Star Wars: Colors board book, and older kids can move things within “The Force” in the Star Wars: Science Fair book. My youngest even used a Star Wars Phonics book, which was among his favorite bedtime reads when he was a toddler.
Books helped us share Star Wars with our kids in an age-appropriate way and got them excited for the time when they could watch the movies. Last summer, we finally had a family viewing of the 1977 Star Wars: A New Hope, the first movie in the original trilogy, and they absolutely loved it. Reading about the characters first played a big role in that!
Falling in love with Star Wars is about the magic of getting to know the characters as well as you know your best friends, and becoming wrapped up in how their unique stories unfold. That magical feeling might fade a little bit for us adults as the years go by, but it comes around again just as clearly when you finally get to watch your children experience it, too — and great books are the perfect place to start.
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