“Touch Me”: Shiny as a Droid: Things to See, Touch, and Smell from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Shiny as a Droid

Author: Virginia Holt
Illustrator: Feito
Medium: Picture book
Publication Date: April 1986
Timeline Placement: 0 ABY

 

Another day, another Droids animated series tie-in. Unlike the four picture books we read previously, however, Shiny as a Droid contains a brand-new all-original tale of our favorite robots! Let's dive on in and see what wacky hijinks they get up to this time.

 

R2-D2 and C-3PO are trying to get to Tatooine aboard their gold starfighter, but there's bad news: they're out of the space crystals that fuel their ship! Fortunately, they just so happen to be on a planet where space crystals can be found in the depths of the deepest cave. Threepio must put a giant serpent to sleep by rubbing its belly, evade the grasping claws of a hairy green plant, stroke the paw of a furry four-armed creature to convince it to give them directions, and scratch and sniff an orange cave fungus to locate the crystals. Their starship refueled, the droids are finally able to take off and resume their voyage to Tatooine.

Like Heroes in Hiding, Shiny as a Droid depicts the droids operating independently from Luke, Han, and Leia, a fairly rare occurrence in the EU. This book shows them piloting their own ship on an interstellar mission, which as far as I know is a unique event. The post-ANH era features the Heroes of Yavin back on Tatooine for several adventures, so given no other timeline indications, some take Shiny as a Droid as the lead-in to those stories. Works for me!

 

This is one of two books in the Star Wars "Touch Me" series, which features interactive tactile features for children to feel, smell, or move. Sad to say that the scratch-and-sniff paperboard no longer works in my copy, leaving me to forever wonder at the scent of orange cave fungus. A rare and unique EU classic, highly recommended.

 

The droids examine what should have been retconned to be the technological successor to the Attack of the Clones-era Jedi starfighter.