Tag: Lego Books

Lego Star Wars Books The Padawan Menace

Lego Star Wars Books – The Padawan Menace

Lego Star Wars Books The Padawan MenaceThe Padawan Menace is part of the range of Lego Star Wars Books available from Scholastic publishing.

The Padawan Menace

The Padawan Menace was a short animated film produced in partnership with Lego and the Cartoon Network. With a run time of 22 minutes it was longer than regular Lego Star Wars shorts like Bombad Bounty and the Quest For R2-D2. As a result you won’t find this particular short film on Youtube (legally) though you can pick it up on DVD and Blu Ray.

The synopsis of the film is as follows:

The Padawan Menace
Star Wars and the LEGO Group join forces for this all-new animated adventure!

A routine Jedi Academy field trip is turned into a rip-roaring comic adventure in LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace.

Tour guide Master Yoda leads a group of rambunctious Jedi younglings through Senate chambers when he senses a disturbance in the Force.

Summoned to help save the Republic, he discovers that one of the younglings, Ian, has secretly boarded his ship… and young Ian has a taste for adventure! Meanwhile, C-3PO and R2-D2 are put in charge of the boisterous group and find themselves in over their heads.

As the evil Sith prepare to wreak havoc, it’s up to Yoda and the Droids to ensure that their young charges aren’t torn to bits!

The Padawan Menace Book

Padawan-Menace-PageThe adaptation of the Padawan Menace was produced by Scholastic and is written in the form of a comic, or more specifically a Photo-comic, or Photo-novel.

It differs from most other Lego Star Wars comics because the artwork is not hand-drawn illustration but screen captures from the movie itself.

Personally, as a fan and mother, I think this detracts slightly from the overall experience of the comic but I realize I might be in the minority here.

For me, books like Darth Maul’s Mission and the other comics in that series can inspire kids to create their own comics more than still-photos from a movie can.

When an artist is able to illustrate the scenes and characters of Lego Star Wars in a dynamic and humorous way, it can inspire kids to try their hand at similar drawings themselves. Photo-comics like this don’t have that similar energy and spontaneity. 

Having said that if your child is a fan of the movie and just learning to read then this would be a wonderful early reader to help them engage with books.

The reading level is appropriate for early grades, with a few larger words like “hyperspace” which young Star Wars fans will probably learn with glee 🙂

Overall The Padawan Menace is an inexpensive book that complements the short animated film well and would be a worthwhile addition to a young child’s collection.

For older fans who like reading comics, try the illustrated series first as this photo-novel won’t have long-term interest for more discerning fans.

Where To Buy

Darth Mauls Mission

Darth Maul’s Mission – Lego Star Wars Book Review

Darth Maul’s Mission is one in series of books from Scholastic that are in essence, Lego Star Wars Comics.

Darth Maul’s Mission

Darth-Maul's-Mission page 4The comics are in a square paperback book format, measuring roughly 7.8 x 8 inches and contain only 24 pages. Having said that, the books are full of humor and gently poke fun at the characters and scenarios of the Star Wars Universe in a way that only Lego based products can.

The humor is clean and aimed at younger readers, though even adults may enjoy reading the stories as well. Each page is generally made up of one full panel of artwork, though a few are split into smaller panels in traditional comic style and others panels are spread across two pages.

Words are in the form of a narration box at the top of the page or dialogue spoken in word balloons – reading level is Grade 1 and up.

Darth Maul’s Mission – The Brick Life Review

While my kids are “too old” for the reading level, they laughed out loud at the comic and it has been shared amongst friends and even used as inspiration for the creation of their own Lego Star Wars comics. The artwork on each page has numerous visual jokes that kids respond to – it really is great fun.

I would recommend Darth Maul’s Mission to all fans of the Lego Star Wars universe, as an aid to early or reluctant readers, for older fans who could use the book to get inspired in their own creations and for adults to giggle at when no-one is looking.

Other books in this series include Save The Galaxy (which is a board book), Anakin: Space Pilot (which is a 3D book) and Anakin To The Rescue which shares the same format as Darth Maul’s Mission.

Where To Buy