Books to Movies

Books made into MoviesVideo Camera.png

One way to get kids excited about reading is to select books that have been made into movies.  After reading the book aloud, independently, or as a family, watch the movie together.  After the movie, discuss things that are the same and things that are different. 

Discussion Questions

Characters:  How did the characters look in your mind vs in the movie?  Were any characters missing from the movie?  Why do you think that character was removed?  Were any new characters introduced?

Timeline:  Was the sequence of events changed in the movie?  How?  Why do you think that was changed?

Plot/Story:  Was the story changed?  In what ways?  Why do you think the screen play changed the story?  Was one version "better" than the other?  Why?

Picture Books, suggested for any age to enjoy

Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

Cat in the hat

Clifford the big red dog

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

Curious George

Eloise

Green eggs and ham

Gruffalo

Horton hears a Who!

Hortan hatches the egg

How the Grinch stole Christmas!

Jumangi

The Lorax

Lost and Found

Madeline 

Polar express

Shrek!

Snowman by Raymond Briggs

Stellaluna
Where the wild things are

Zathura

Chapter Books, suggested for elementary age students to enjoy

Alice’s adventures in wonderland

Anne of Green Gables

Babe: the gallant pig by Dick King-Smith (movie: Babe)
Ballet shoes

Because of Winn-Dixie

BFG by Roald Dahl

Black beauty

Borrowers (movie:  Secret World of Arrietty)

Boxcar Children

Bridge to Terabithia

Charlotte’s web

Charlie and the chocolate factory

Chitty chitty bang bang: the magical car

City of Ember

Diary of a wimpy kid

Ella enchanted

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Felicity, An American girl adventure

Freaky Friday

Great Gilly Hopkins

Harriet the spy

Heidi

Holes

How to train your dragon

Hundred and one Dalmatians

Incredible journey

Indian in the cupboard

Inkheart

Invention of Hugo Cabret

James and the giant peach

Jungle Book

Kitt Kittredge, An American girl

Lightning thief, Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Lion, the witch and the wardrobe (chronicles of Narnia)

Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Little princess

Matilda

Molly, an American girl
Mr. Popper's penguins
Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins returns (3rd movie option, Saving Mr. Banks)

Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH

Neverending story

Nim’s island

Night at the museum

Paddington

Peter pan

Pippi Longstocking

Ramona

Ramona and Beezus

Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm

Rescuers

Samantha, an American girl

Secret garden

Spiderwick chronicles

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Stuart Little

Sword in the stone

Tale of Despereaux

When calls the heart

Where the red fern grows

Wind in the willows
Winnie the Pooh

Witches by Roald Dahl

Wizard of Oz

Wrinkle in Time

 

Chapter Books, suggested for middle school students to enjoy

A Monster calls

A series of unfortunate events

Around the world in 80 days

Book thief

Boys in the boat

Call of the wild

Divergent

Emma

Everything, everything (8th grade and up)
The Fault in our stars

Giver

Gossip girl

Gulliver’s Travels

Harry Potter

Hate U give (8th grade and up)

The Hobbit
Hunger games

Journey to the center of the Earth

Little Women

Lying game

Martian
Maze runner

Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children

Oliver Twist

Pretty little liars

Tuck everlasting

Twenty thousand leagues under the sea
Unbroken (for WWII fans)

Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

White Fang