Full-color illustrations, cross-section artwork, film stills, blueprints, models, and scale drawings, all accompanied by informative captions, capture in rich detail the exotic locales of The Phantom Menace, depicting the water world of Otoh Gunga, Mos Espa, and the epic Battle of Naboo. Where does a Jedi go to unwind? Why, to a Contemplation Station, of course. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant has three of them. But you'd already know that if you had Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I , yet another lushly illustrated and obscenely detailed Star Wars reference from the folks at DK Publishing. Much like their other excellent cross-section books, most of which focus on vehicles, this title pulls apart Episode I 's exotic locales, from Otoh Gunga to the N-1 hangar in Theed to poor Anakin and Shmi's pathetic excuse for a home in Mos Espa. Each illustration includes a few paragraphs of background information (along with some well-chosen stills from the movie in some cases), but the meat is in the copious call-outs pointing to minute details that would otherwise go unnoticed. In the honeycomb of "species-friendly" offices surrounding the Senate, for example, you can see the Wookiee napping rooms (oh, the Jedis only wish that they had hammocks in their Contemplation Stations) and learn about re-orgs in the Neimoidian diplomatic corps ("To enforce competitiveness, Neimoidians assign identical work to two teams of worker drones, with the incentive that the successful team eats the other"). The book's biggest set piece is a fold-out rendering of the Mos Espa Arena, but fans will likely enjoy the diagrammed blow-by-blows of Episode I 's most dramatic scenes even more: What route did the Queen and her retainers take as they scurried through occupied Theed? Exactly how and where did the Trade Federation deploy its droids? And which turn is the tightest on the Boonta Eve Classic? Thanks to DK, it's all there in meticulously drawn detail. --Paul Hughes Gr. 3-6, younger for reading aloud. This oversize (14" x 10 3/4" volume features very detailed drawings and scenes from the Star Wars movie The Phantom Menace, contributed by Richard Chasemore and Hans Jennssen . Each double-page spread introduces a new topic to be explored through the colorful pictures, brief explanatory text, and many captions. Only the biggest fans, those who would happily vacation on Naboo or Coruscant, will want to read every word, but plenty of kids will find at least some of the drawings and their detailed labels and captions of interest. With foldout pages extending the already large double-page spreads, this visual extravaganza will delight Star Wars devotees. Carolyn Phelan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Kristin Lund was 13 in 1977 when her mother took her to a Cape Cod mall to see the new movie, Star Wars. Graduating cum laude with a degree in philosophy from Smith College, she writes story, dialogue, and manual text for Lucas Learning Ltd., George Lucas's educational software company. She is also a contributor to Star Wars Kids magazine, and has written numerous articles and short stories. She lives in Northern California with one husband, two daughters, and three dogs. Used Book in Good Condition