Star Wars: Are You Scared, Darth Vader?

by Adam Rex

Darth Vader isn't scared! Nothing can scare Lord Vader.
Right?

Genres: Picture Books, Star Wars, Childrens, Humor, Science Fiction, Storytime, Halloween

48 pages, Hardcover

First published July 3, 2018

About the author

Adam Rex grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the middle of three children. He was neither the smart one (older brother) or the cute one (younger sister), but he was the one who could draw. He took a lot of art classes as a kid, trying to learn to draw better, and started painting when he was 11. And later in life he was drawn down to Tucson in order to hone his skills, get a BFA from the University of Arizona, and meet his physicist wife Marie (who is both the smart and cute one).

Adam is nearsighted, bad at all sports, learning to play the theremin, and usually in need of a shave. He can carry a tune, if you don't mind the tune getting dropped and stepped on occasionally. He never remembers anyone's name until he's heard it at least three times. He likes animals, spacemen, Mexican food, Ethiopian food, monsters, puppets, comic books, 19th century art, skeletons, bugs, and robots.

Garlic and crosses are useless against Adam. Sunlight has been shown to be at least moderately effective. A silver bullet does the trick. Pretty much any bullet, really.

Reviews

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute delight for all ages.

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so much fun! Just what does scare Darth Vader?! Nothing has the power to scare him, or so he thinks. He’s not afraid of a wolfman’s bite as he’s wearing armour. He’s not afraid of a vampire, a ghost (no, it’s not the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi), or a witch. I loved his deadpan responses, especially to the question of whether he’s afraid of the dark.

“Is that a joke?”

I love villains and have a soft spot for this one. I admit I felt bad for Darth Vader when he talks about being cursed and looks so dejected.

I loved the illustrations, particularly the delightful ghost and the way Darth Vader’s feelings were expressed through his posture. The narrator’s words are yellow, which stand out well against the greyscale backgrounds. Darth Vader’s responses are in black speech bubbles, not that you’d expect any other colour. The various monsters and other characters are detailed and realistic.

I especially liked the Death Star cameo and the design on the inside of the front and back covers. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong but it looked to me like a combination of Stormtroopers, TIE Fighters and the Galactic Empire symbol.

I enjoyed the twist at the end and want to read it again. I expect this to be a popular read for Star Wars fans, particularly around Halloween. While aimed at kids, kids at heart will also find a lot to like about this book.

[Scottsdale Public Library]

It's not Goodnight Moon, or even Goodnight Goon by this same author. Nevertheless, my kids made me read this book to them ten times last night. We laughed every time. Perfect for your Star Wars fans! - Alexis S.

[AleJandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Hallowen in a galaxy far far away... STARS

Este libro es una montaña rusa de emociones, con todo y plot twist.


Tierno, triste y muy entretenido, no esperaba mucho para ser un libro infantil, pero resulto ser una historia cargada de emociones.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a somewhat bizarre but thoroughly fantastic take on The Monster at the End of This Book, one of my (and my children's) favorites. Great art, fun text and lettering. This is one of the best Star Wars books (and "everything's canon" now, so . . . ), a perfection of the always reliable "ridiculous Vader" theme. If my kids were still small, I'm sure we'd be reading this together a lot.

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf. Yay, Reviewers list is fixed, as far as I can tell. Still waiting for the Readers list to be fixed, though.

On the one hand, it's Rex, and the art is really cool, and the concept is okay. On the other hand, I don't really love the whole Star Wars universe, and I have nothing but contempt for the Disney Corp., particularly the whole bit of not bothering to pay writers their royalties, not to mention what they've done to copyright, and what they did to all the parks employees in the pandemic, and just the tendency to make the worst possible human decision at every opportunity. And don't even get me started on the taxes they don't pay.

So it's a wash. All the adoration for Rex, all of the loathing for Disney. Moving on.

Library copy

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fun book, made especially for Halloween!

The young child's imagination will be inspired by this one. Is there anything at all that Darth Vader is scared of? Well, he is asked about and prompted by all the types of characters that make appearances during Halloween.

The illustrations were fun and their style and the setting made me think of the cover art for the "Splinter of the Mind's Eye" paperback (1978).

I read this one to my toddler using my finest Darth Vader voice with a little scuba gear type breathing interspersed.😁 I enjoyed that my toddler enjoyed it, but I also enjoyed that the Vader in this book harkened back to the Vader I first saw on the big screen in 1977. He was scary but also more of a type of comic book character - just the big baddie in a mask. When Darth didn't have much if any regrets about being a baddie. 😉

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the font change from narrator to Vader. It MAKES you read it in his voice, and it's perfect. Pew pew pew killed me. I AM MOST DISPLEASED killed me. Good carbonite reference. A bit of a dramatic pose when yelling Child! at the end and a bit of an overdone ending for me, but kids will LOVE it with a dramatic reader doing a Vader voice. This better fly off the shelves.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is adorable, hilarious, and even a little tragic. Perfect for Star Wars fans, but also a great Halloween read, our whole family loves it!

[Roshan]

"جادوگر هم هست! ببینم، ترسیدی جناب ویدر؟
- لابد جادوگر هم گاز میگیرد؟
نه! ولی جادو جمبل میکند! آدم را نفرین میکند!


...

- من خیلی وقت است نفرین شده ام."
😢😢😢

(...در دفاع از خودم بعضی کتاب های کودک خیلی بامزه ان و همه سنین میتونن ازشون لذت ببرن فقط نمیدونم اد کردنشون به گودریدز is frowned upon or not)

[Shantel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. It’s funny, it breaks the fourth wall, it’s just a teensy bit sad, and it’s beautifully drawn. Highly recommend to any fan of Star Wars, and to any kid, regardless of age.

[DaNae · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE OLD LADY WHO WAS NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING meets THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK. I'm going to roll it out as a read-aloud next Halloween. I do worry that if might rely too much on a knowledge of the Star Wars franchise.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite. Expands the star wars lore in interesting ways that really make you think. Have read this book 50+ times. Only downside is that the funny voices I do make my throat scratchy if I have to read the book more than once.

[Nicole McCabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was super cute!
I have never related so much to a children's book or Darth Vader before, because I too am afraid of children 🤣

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is Darth Vader scared of? The wolf man? A witch? A vampire?

No, his only real fear is that the reader will close the book.

Who can resist Darth Vader as a character in a book? Lots of fun silliness, and a little moment or two of poignant sadness.

[Rebecca Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the play between the narrator voice and the Darth Vader voice. Perfect for Star Wars fans or fans of Adam Rex.

[Beth (YA Books Central) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, cute, beautifully illustrated childrens book. What scares Darth Vader? Not wolfman, vampires, ghosts or kids! Darth Vader is only scared of the book closing and the story ending! Which is usually the reaction a parent gets when the nighttime story book is over and its time to go to bed.....

Are You Scared Darth Vader? is a cute book to read to any child during the Halloween season but especially great for fans of Star Wars!

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection

[Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stopped by my local bookstore yesterday and was advised I should stop what I was doing and read this book immediately, and the bookstore owner who told me this said she wanted to see my reaction. So naturally, given the chance, I read it out loud for all the customers (and employees) to hear. This was a truly awesome book. Where was Adam Rex when my kids were kids? I absolutely loved (heavy breathing) the litany of things Darth Vader (heavy breathing) was not afraid of, only to find in the surprise ending what he... may or may not have been scared of after all. Great humor, great drawings, and great sound effects (well the sound effects were mine). I may have to buy this for my godson who is still of the age to appreciate such kids books. Or buy it just to read to my high school+ age kids anyway. A+ to Adam Rex! (Only afterward was I reminded that Rex brought us the lovable The True Meaning of Smekday. So of course, now I realize, this was going to be a great book all along!)

Update July 2020: I read this book for a BenTime StoryTime. Join me!

https://youtu.be/zwlW1rNvUeI

[Milton Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is Darth Vader scared of anything? This fun children's book asks just that question! We see Darth Vader asked this question about many Halloween related characters, such as; vampires, ghosts, witches, wolfmen, and children. Kids will love this Halloween themed Darth Vader story as he interacts with all of these creatures for the first time. The die hard Star Wars fan with love the wit of Vader's responses to questions and will find some of what he says to be very poignant to his story. I was pretty impressed with the illustrations as well. What a great book!

Find it today: https://ent.sharelibraries.info/clien...

Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL

[Jason]

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS!!!
It's funny and well-written, but DARTH VADER IS NOT A CHILDREN'S CHARACTER! HE *KILLED* CHILDREN, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Which is honestly all I could think of when they were piling up on him. "Run away, children! RUN AWAY!!"

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is totally a picture book for us middle-aged Star Wars fans. I think I enjoyed it way more than my 6-year old, although no one can resist my Darth Vader voice. The ending kind of felt like a cop-out, but this is still fun and a happily referential to carbonite and Vader breathing hard.

[Eva B.]

"I am already cursed" broke me, thanks.
Also as soon as the kids were revealed I whispered "oh God no" before remembering that this is a kids' book and therefore will not have Darth Vader slaughter another group of children.

[Dain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this hilarious gem while working at my library coincidentally right before going for a weekend visit to my 2 young nephews, so of course I brought it. They got such a kick out of it (ages 5 & 8) they had me read it to them multiple times over the course of the weekend. So many great things in here for Start Wars fans. Plus, sweetness. Thus began Auntie Dain's tradition of bringing specially selected library books when she comes.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is everything I wanted in an original Star Wars picture book. It needs to grace my shelves if Andre and I want to continue feeling like fans of both Star Wars and Picture Books. This is not even the best page but I don't want to spoil the best page <3

[Mandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darth Vader? AFRAID? No, it couldn't possibly happen, could it?

This is a great book for nerdy parents who want to pass Star Wars on to their children. It would be a great bedtime (or anytime, really) book.

[Robyn Schultz (ladyrobyns) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fan of Star Wars will LOVE this book. Even if you're not a super fan, there is still plenty of punny humor to make this a favorite read. Plus you can't go wrong with this one, since it's written by Adam Rex.

[Maude P. Ragsdale Hiram Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is stinkin hilarious! :D :D :D

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Rex is my hero.

[SilverNediya · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتب جالب و بامزه‌ایه؛ موضوع و پرداخت و تصویرهاش خوبن
منتها راستش نمی‌دونم برای مخاطب واقعی در ایران چقدر جذابه. حتماً باید کودک خواننده این شخصیت‌ها رو بشناسه تا طنز و مفهوم رو بهتر درک کنه و بتونه با کتاب ارتباط برقرار کنه