By Guest Blogger Ellen Bryant Lloyd
When I was young, I remember asking my mother to take me to see Escape to Witch Mountain, a movie that had been based on the book by the same name. My mother said I had to read the book before I could see the movie. She told me the book was always better than the movie and, she believed, people were less likely to read a book a movie is based on if they see the movie first. She was right. I remember liking the movie, but loving the book.
When my children were young, I had them follow the same “rule.” As a parent, I felt that it created more excitement before we went to see the movie if they read the book first. My son and daughter were always big readers, so they never hesitated to read the book. After seeing the movie, we enjoyed talking about the book and movie, what we liked and disliked, and what was the same and different. I cannot remember a time when we preferred the movie over the book.
Consider encouraging your children to read books that have been made into movies before seeing the movie. I created a list of some popular children’s books that have been adapted into movies (from picture books to young adult novels). I have also included questions for you to use to prompt discussion about the book and movie with your children. I think it would be fun to start a book/movie club with a group that first reads the book and then sees the movie together before discussing both. Happy reading and movie-watching!
Children’s books that have been made into movies:
Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrows
Curious George by Margaret and H.A. Rey
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Eloise by Kay Thompson
Paddington by Michael Bond
Holes by Louis Sachar
101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
The Incredible Journey (movie is Homeward Bound) by Sheila Burnford
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Alice in Wonderland by Louis Carroll
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Mrs. Doubtfire by Anne Fine
The Baby Sitter’s Club by Ann M. Martin
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Invention of Hugo Cabret (movie is Hugo) by Brian Selznick
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Stuart Little by E.B. White
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Hotel for Dogs by Lois Duncan
Ramona (movie is Ramona and Beezus) by Beverly Cleary
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Discussion questions:
- What parts of the movie were different from the book?
- What did the movie leave out that you missed?
- What was added to the movie that was not in the book?
- Which characters were true to the author’s description?
- Was the setting what you imagined? Why or why not?
- Are you glad you saw the movie? Why or why not?
- Why do you think this book was selected to be adapted into a movie?
Ellen Bryant Lloyd is the author of FRECKLES and FRECKLES and The Great Beach Rescue. Please visit funwithfreckles.com and facebook.com/funwithfreckles to learn more about Freckles. Ellen writes a blog about her perspectives on life and parenting at mindfulmom.wordpress.com and tweets at @EllenBLloyd. She lives in Greensboro with her husband and two children.
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