Kids books that have been made into movies

M

Misty Cato

New member
My son has hit a plateau in his reading. We've found a good way to keep him motivated is to let him watch a movie based on a book after he successfully finishes the book.

So far he's done the Chronicles of Narnia, Indian in the Cupboard, Holes and is in the process of Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

I'm looking for other ideas (Harry Potter is out for the moment). Help?
 
White Fang is a favorite of my boys. In fact my older son would only read books with animals in them LOL. And we all loved the movie
 
Not sure what level he's reading yet, but what about: Swiss Family Robinson (DS loves this old movie!), The Jungle Book, Holes, Neverending Story, Dr. Doolittle, fantastic mr fox, pippi longstocking, a series of unfortunate events...
 
YepBrook said:
Not sure what level he's reading yet, but what about: Swiss Family Robinson (DS loves this old movie!), The Jungle Book, Holes, Neverending Story, Dr. Doolittle, fantastic mr fox, pippi longstocking, a series of unfortunate events...
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Oh good ideas Brook, I think almost all of those would work for him. He loved Holes; probably his favorite so far.
 
rach3975 said:
My 3rd grader is reading Mr. Popper's Penguins at school, and I think there's a recent movie.
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Yes, it was actually pretty good.
As for others, I took a look at the list Libby found and looked for ones I've read and that might appeal to boys his age.
I would recommend the following (none of them are more grown-up than Harry Potter, I'd say):
The Water-Horse by Dick King-Smith, Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Pyrdain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Doctor Dolittle, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Guardians of Ga'hoole by Lasky, How to Eat Fried Worms, How to Train Your Dragon, The Incredible Journey, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Tale of Desperaux.

Walden Media has done some of the best kids' book adaptions (into movies) in recent years, IMHO, including Charlotte's Web, Bridge to Terabithia, How to Eat Fried Worms, Nim's Island, Hoot, Because of Winn-Dixie, Holes, etc. They've done some pretty cheesy stuff too, haha
wow this post is long, sorry, I worked in a library so I love spreading word of good books. :)
 
solagratia said:
Yes, it was actually pretty good.
As for others, I took a look at the list Libby found and looked for ones I've read and that might appeal to boys his age.
I would recommend the following (none of them are more grown-up than Harry Potter, I'd say):
The Water-Horse by Dick King-Smith, Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Pyrdain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Doctor Dolittle, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Guardians of Ga'hoole by Lasky, How to Eat Fried Worms, How to Train Your Dragon, The Incredible Journey, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Tale of Desperaux.

Walden Media has done some of the best kids' book adaptions (into movies) in recent years, IMHO, including Charlotte's Web, Bridge to Terabithia, How to Eat Fried Worms, Nim's Island, Hoot, Because of Winn-Dixie, Holes, etc. They've done some pretty cheesy stuff too, haha
wow this post is long, sorry, I worked in a library so I love spreading word of good books. :)
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Thanks so much - some of those, like How to Eat Fried Worms, we've read and I didn't even know there were movies.

He loves, loves, loves Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They are the only chapter books he'll read without being required to. Reads them through in a day.

Thanks everyone, you ladies are always full of great ideas.
 
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This is a great idea - and I'm actually liking it for myself - tons of great books/movies on that list Libby linked to!
 
This works for my son too. He has really loved Mrs. Frisby, the Narnia books, Indian in the Cupboard, Desperaux.

One that hasn't been mentioned yet is the Series of Unfortunate Events.
 
Great idea, Misty! I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my dd and I have recorded the movie, we are going to watch it soon. The only thing that tempers my dd's enthousiasm is that it's with subtitles (in Dutch) and she can't read fast enough yet.
If anyone has any tips for more girly books/movies, I'd love to hear!
 
Luke just finished The Invention of Hugo Cabret and loooooved both the book and movie. Then, the author has another book- Wonderstruck. It's not a movie, but maybe if he loves Hugo he'll want to read the other book too.
 
Spiderwick Chronicles was a huge hit in our house, both the book and the movie. Adventures of Tin Tin, as well.

Fantastic Mr. Fox, Guardians of Ga'hoole, and Night at the Museum are ones we read after seeing the movies. Great discussion on what changed happened, too, which is a great skill to learn.
 
Freckles said:
Great idea, Misty! I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my dd and I have recorded the movie, we are going to watch it soon. The only thing that tempers my dd's enthousiasm is that it's with subtitles (in Dutch) and she can't read fast enough yet.
If anyone has any tips for more girly books/movies, I'd love to hear!
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Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
Ramona and Beezus
 
One movie that we liked that is also a book is Nim's Island. I was surprised how much I liked that movie. I've not read the book, but it is ages 8+ and is rated 5/5 stars. I might pick that one up for Logan in fact.

A book we've loved but I haven't seen the movie is the Westing Game. I guess the movie is called Get a Clue.

My husband read and watched the movie Eragon and loved both. The reading level is age 12 though. The books are a series, but I think only one movie has come out.
 
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