Review by Booklist Review
In this neatly canonical Star Wars spinoff, Poe Dameron's small, bulbous droid BB-8 encounters both physical and ethical challenges while rolling over the rugged deserts of Jakku. Recalling Poe's dictum that You do good things, and good things will come back to you, BB-8 evades attack by a flock of birdlike steelpeckers and other hazards, but pauses in its frantic flight to lead a starving scavenger family (with a pair of really cute children) to a cache of ration packs in a wrecked starship, fetch medical help for a huge and slobbery happabore with a hurt leg, and, at the cost of being left behind, help another droid escape the planet. Myers opens with BB-8 escaping a fiery ambush by Imperial storm troopers, but otherwise portrays settings and figures in cartoony ways that tone down any sense of danger or menace. An ending cameo by Rey cues 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens to take the story from there. Not really a stand-alone episode, but a sweet bonbon for younger fans. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Daywalt, author of the best-selling The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) and its sequel, now tackles one of the most beloved characters of a mega-popular franchise. Of course it's going to soar off the shelves.--Peters, John Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
Droid BB-8 journeys alone across Jakku's desert with a top-secret map for the Resistance and helps strangers along the way. The unfortunately overt do-gooder message and unnecessary font-color and -size changes distract from a story already requiring prior knowledge of the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The acrylic, oil-paint, and Photoshop illustrations add significant texture and drama to the proceedings. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Everyone's favorite Force Awakens droid gets his own picture-book prequel, and he does a slew of good deeds.Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit, chronicles the trials of BB-8 as he makes his way across the desert planet of Jakku. After an explosion in the town of Tuanul, BB-8's separated from pilot Poe, who's given BB-8 a map to find Luke Skywalker. Now it is up to the droid to get the map to the Resistance. BB-8's scared, but he remembers what Poe told him: "You do good things, and good things will come back to you." When BB-8 comes upon Teedo, whose luggabeast is stuck, BB-8 tries to helpbut it's a trap. In captivity, BB-8 meets F3-ZK, who goes by "Fez," and the two hatch a plot to escape. Once free, the two are separated in an attack by steelpeckers. To complete his mission, BB-8 wants to get to Fez's spaceship before it leaves, but he stops to help a scavenger family and a wounded happabore. Teedo reappears just as Fez and BB-8 are boarding the ship, and BB-8 distracts Teedo so Fez can escape. What about Poe's words of wisdom? Happily, a young woman appears and saves himthe adventure's just beginning. Daywalt's clearly told story, long on event if short on flair, and Myers' paintings (with digitally added special effects) mesh well enough. Young Padawans will be over Endor to get a bit of background on the endearing BB-8, but the story's unlikely to reach beyond that admittedly huge audience. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
