"Galaxy of Creatures" YouTube show and Galaxy of Creatures (World of Reading Level 2) children's book by Kristin Baver
Galaxy of Creatures (World of Reading Level 2) by Kristin Baver, illustrations from the show
The illustrations are all screen caps from the episodes themselves and most are well chosen. The formatting of the book is really nice, too, with all but the wampa (who got 4 pages) getting a two-page left/right spread with the picture and text placement differing for every spread. This kept things interesting and I can imagine it being a very engaging technique for young children!
My only real negative about the book was that it didn't include the fact files shown at the end of each episode of the TV show. These fact files present SO much information like homeworld, diet, fun facts, and more! And this information wasn't presented in the text itself either nor do the fact files on the show stay up on screen long enough to read them--so all this great info gets lost in the aether, unfortunately.
The book opens with an introduction to SF-R3 who is referred to as Aree throughout the book. It says, "Aree must be brave to learn all about wildlife, creatures both big and small. Aree must be smart to befriend the beasts he meets. And sometimes Aree must be fast to outrun danger. Good thing he was built to explore!" This is a perfect description of what Aree goes through on his travels, succinctly summing up the crux of his adventures.
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Below I've separated out each of the 12 species and do a combined summary of the show's episode and the book's spread for each one. I've also included the all important question asked for each episode. And there were a ton of pictures I wanted to share, so I hope you enjoy those!
Tauntaun: "How do you tame a tauntaun?" They love jogan fruit pie--see Aree leading one with such a pie as he attempts to ride the creature below.
Wampa: "How do you cure a wampa's cold?" The cure was more cold!! See the cured wampa making a snow angel below.
Rancor: "How do you clean a rancor's teeth?" Don't! Let nature take it's course because it turns out that native birds clean the rancor's teeth for them!
Bantha: "How do you wash a bantha?" By following the lead of a Tusken Raider, Aree is able to get a bantha sparkling...with bows to boot, lol. And it turns out that banthas have beautiful eyes hidden beneath all that fur!!! See the washed bantha below.
Blurrg: "How do you herd blurrgs?" Aree crashes into a blurrg pen on Endor and has to solve a problem on the fly. Turns out that blurrgs will follow the sound of music! See this below.
Nexu: So this one doesn't actually have a question, instead Aree just wants to study a Nexu in its natural habitat. The book adds more to the story that's not in the video like Aree knowing that the Nexu was protecting her babies and that's why she was attacking him...and that this happens before the poachers come...and that Aree decides to help the Nexu because of the babies. None of that happens in the video and you don't even see the babies until the very end after Aree and CAM are already flying away. Poachers do attack, but Aree only helps because he gets nervous seeing that the Nexu isn't escaping.
Voorpak: "Can voorpaks be trained as guards?" I LOVE these guys because of "Star Wars: Resistance" and Buggles...I've gushed over him many times in reviews of that show, lol. I had no idea they were native to Naboo!! The answer to the question is no since the voorpak Aree tries to train is WAY too distractable.
Tooka is the name of the video but in the book it says Loth-cat: "How do you foster a tooka?" Poor Aree tries feeding the tooka everything he can possibly think of...but the feline is only interested in Loth-rats which appear once the snubbed food ends up on the floor. The tooka plays on a custom built playground courtesy of Aree and goes to sleep on the weapons buttons in Aree's ship! As the narrative says, "What a picky kitty!" CUTE!
Charhound: "Can you play fetch with a charhound?" Aree tosses all sorts of cylindrical ship parts to the charhound he comes across, but each one melts in the hound's mouth. Finally, Aree notices natural heat-resistant crystals in the charhound's cave and is able to play fetch using those! So precious. See a ship part melting in the charhound's mouth below.
Mynock: "How do you find a mynock?" Aree and CAM land on an asteroid and proceed to lure a mynock out of a crater using charged batteries...but Aree forgot one very important thing...he's full of energy just like the batteries!! So it's all downhill from there, but the two droids do safely escape. The mynocks in this are crazy adorable--see below.
Kowakian Monkey-Lizards: "How do you befriend a Kowakian Monkey-Lizard?" Aree attempts to befriend them by going through their stomachs, but it ends up that humor is the answer! By splatting a fruit in one of the monkey-lizard's faces, Aree gains the respect of the rest of the bunch once they get a good laugh out at their fellow monkey-lizard. Luckily, this prompts the creatures to fix Aree's ship...which they had taken apart.
Porgs: "Can Porgs be trained to do tricks?" The answer is most definitely no as they refuse to do anything Aree says. This is not helped by the fact that each trick-training attempt leads to a disaster! But they do teach the droid to run when he hears a Batuuan braga bear growl!!
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The book ends with a really sweet sentiment that spurs the reader into thinking positive thoughts about the critters they see everyday: "In a galaxy of creatures, Aree learned that all critters have a purpose. And whether big or small, they should all be treated with caution and care." But...I don't feel like the droid did learn that all critters have a purpose. He learned instead, that all creatures have inherent worth and should be valued as they are. Which I think is perhaps an even more important lesson.
So a fun book and an absolutely adorable series. It's silly for sure, but overall does a good job of being a super short child's wildlife docuseries...for Star Wars!
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