Getting our eldest son to read anything is challenging. He's an eight year old boy interested in Formula One and there aren't many novels about that. But a while ago be started enjoying Star Wars so we thought we'd try The Snare by Cavan Scott. It's the first in a series called Adventures in Wild Space a Star Wars spin off aimed at children 5-8 years old.
STAR WARS Adventures in Wild Space: The Snare is the story of Milo and Lina Graf who are on the run from Imperial Captain Korda, the man responsible for the imprisonment of their parents. The children head towards a planet looking for help in finding their parents and are tracked down by the villain. Star Wars fans will enjoy the story that is full of classic items; droids, strange looking aliens, planets, storm troopers, tie fighters and even ...Darth Vader.
The 160 pages are broken into 12 chapters, making them a good length for the suggested age range (5-8). The font size is great for free readers of this age and most chapters have two black and white pictures that support the story well.
I read the book to Anthony and our three year old daughter, Jane. Books are a great way for Anthony is access his imagination. It gives him a framework to work with. Although the plot was too complicated for Jane to follow, Anthony managed to keep up and where the dialogue or scenes lost his focus, the pictures supported his understanding. The pictures of the different aliens sparked his interest and the fact that the main characters are kids probably helped him connect more with the story. Anthony would have liked a few more pictures when he was tired as he is a very visual learner.
Both Anthony and Jane enjoyed parts of the story that typically appeal to kids - the stinky planet where everything smelled bad was particularly popular and made us all laugh. Whereas Star Wars fans will probably like the little technical details like using image messaging etc, it was a bit difficult for Anthony to follow sometimes, but it was also pretty easy to summarise pages. I suspect he was waiting for some character to get their comeuppance. Overall, they enjoyed the book.
The next book in the series is STAR WARS Adventures in Wild Space: The Nest. As this is only the second in a series of several books, I suspect Anthony may have to wait a bit longer to see if everyone gets the fate they deserve.
Links
Our blog - Beautiful Belle has a point about books
Our blog - Rocky reality: Autism and imagination
External links
Cavan Scott - Revealed STAR WARS Adventures in Wild Space
Mumsnet- Buy STAR WARS Adventures in Wild Space
Mumsnet - Book Giveaway and review
We were sent a copy by Mumsnet to review. As with all my reviews, this is impartial and from the perspective of a mum with autistic and neuro-typical kids
I think the fact that the characters are kids would also appeal to my son. I'll have to keep an eye out for this for him. TY for linking up to #FamilyFun 🎉
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a fun read for young free readers who enjoy science fiction books. We will look out for them :) #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteSometimes my house is like the stinky little plant where everything smells bad! Thank you for linking up with #KCACOLS and hope to see you next week! xx
ReplyDeleteMy son is only just 5 and is in the very early stages of learning to read, but I'm fascinated to see what kind of books he will enjoy reading when he's a bit older. I've never really read any sci-fi books, but I have to remember that he might actually love them! This sounds like a good introduction to the genre, with some humour in there! x #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteSounds just what my boys would love to read. My eldest has a better understanding of science fiction based books and my youngest, although 7 would rather be read to than read himself.
ReplyDeletemainy
#kcacols
anything star wars is a winner in our house - this sounds good. Thanks for linking up to #KCACOLS this week x
ReplyDeleteAh, I wish youngest was still within this age range as she would love these. We are going to Star Wars Celebration convention in London next month and she is dressing as Rae! Thanks for sharing and for a thorough and thoughtful review of how your own kids responded to it. #KCACOLS
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