'Star Wars' Releases Cute 'I Wish I Had A Wookiee' Children's Book

So Cute!

By Culture SlatePublished 3 years ago • 3 min read

Chewbacca has been one of the most popular characters in the Skywalker saga for the past 40+ years. The iconic Wookiee fights in the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War, and the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance. A legendary Wookiee warrior and Han Solo’s longtime co-pilot, Chewbacca continues to serve as a faithful first mate in the Star Wars saga.

Chewie was based on Indiana, an Alaskan malamute dog owned by the creator himself George Lucas in the 1970s. Over time, there were many early versions of Chewbacca's appearance (including one bit of concept art that eventually became the basis of the Lasat). His final appearance in the movie is based on a 1976 piece of concept art by Ralph McQuarrie, which in turn was based on an illustration by John Schoenherr for George R.R. Martin's novelette "And Seven Times Never Kill a Man," published in the July 1975 issue of Analog. The Schoenherr illustration also includes a weapon that became an inspiration for Chewbacca's bowcaster.

The badass but loveable character captures the hearts of many fans out there, and we are grateful for Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo for portraying everyone’s favorite walking carpet. Chewie has been featured in various media over the years, including various novels, comics, and video games. But Chewbacca will enter one of the most challenging ventures in the near future… a children’s poetry book!

In the upcoming new book, Star Wars: I Wish I Had a Wookiee, poet Ian Doescher explores the joyous hallmarks for children with a collection of over 75 original poems illustrated by Tim Budgen.

Recently, StarWars.com revealed the heartwarming cover art for the upcoming book, as well as two very exclusive spreads featuring the highlighted poem of the book and “Dad’s Luke Skywalker Figurine.”

"In a format reminiscent of the often absurdly hilarious books by Shel Silverstein, Budgen’s artwork visualizes a 10-year-old’s dreams of playing fetch with a pet AT-AT, a little girl escaping the Empire in her T-16 Skyhopper, and more while Doescher, who previously penned the Shakespearean versions of the Skywalker saga, captures the precocious and imaginative play inspired by the Star Wars galaxy, with rhyming poems that are suitable for young fans and the young at heart."

It’s great that we the fans are getting something special from Ian Doescher, because the American fiction writer is best known as the author of the William Shakespeare's Star Wars series, which retells the nine saga films in blank verse and 16th-century style of William Shakespeare.

After the first draft of the first William Shakespeare's Star Wars book was shown to Lucasfilm, their response was, "'We like this and it’s fun, but we’d like to see Ian do more with it. Go ahead and have some more fun with it, and go out of bounds of movie itself", so he rewrote it."

As for Tim Budgen, according to his official website,

"the illustrator is has a real passion for character design and storytelling. His illustration work has been described as ‘story telling with whimsical charm, warmth and humour’ and he’d like to think that is pretty true!
His clients include
Simon and Schuster
Scholastic
Disney/LucasFilm/Quirk Books
Usborne Children’s Books
Penguin UK
Penguin Workshop
Little Tiger Press Miles
Kelly Publishing Hachette
Children's books Usborne
Graffeg Random House
US ABRSM
Maverick books
Hashtag Press Folens
Highlights Magazine
Oxford University
Press Storytime
Magazine Yoyo-Books"