(Photo: Flickr)
Reading a good book, then watching it come alive on the screen (in a 'didn't-ruin-it-with-terrible-acting-like-in-Twilight' kind of way) can be so much fun for kids and adults alike.
This list is meant to help you choose books that can be paired with a movie to make the reading process that much more fun for your students. Some books might work better as read-alouds, while others could work as guided reading or novel units.
These books are not categorized by age, so please use your discretion when choosing an age-appropriate movie or book for your class. And as always, read the book and screen the movie before using it.
A few ways you can use book/movie combinations:
- Have a special 'movie day' to follow up reading a longer novel unit.
- Award students who reach their AR goal with a book-turned-movie time.
- Have a goal for students to read a certain book and if they reach it, they can watch the movie.
- Give this list to parents, highlighting books that are age-appropriate for their children. Encourage them to have a family movie night when their kids finish reading that particular book.
- Use as a follow-up to a book you've read-aloud in class.
- Use as a holiday party. Ex: Read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, then watch the movie during your Christmas party.
Now, without further ado...
150 children's books that were turned into movies:
(Movie titles are the same as the book title unless otherwise noted.)
My personal favorites are in bold.
My personal favorites are in bold.
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
- Amazing Adventures from Zoom’s Academy (Movie Title: Zoom)
- Anne of Avonlea
- Anne of Green Gables
- The Ant Bully
- Arthur (This series was made into a PBS cartoon series by the same name)
- Arthur and the Minimoys (Movie Title: Arthur and the Invisibles)
- Babar (Movie Title: Babar the Elephant)
- The Baby-sitters Club
- The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1)
- Basil of Baker Street (Movie Title: The Great Mouse Detective)
- Because of Winn-Dixie
- The Bernstein Bears Series (turned into a PBS cartoon series)
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
- The BFG
- Black Beauty
- Black Stallion
- The Borrowers
- The Brave Little Toaster: ABedtime Story for Small Appliances (Movie Title: The Brave Little Toaster)
- The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
- Bridge to Terabithia
- The Call of the Wild
- The Cat in the Hat
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Charlotte’s Web
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Clifford the Big Red Dog (Movie Title: Clifford’s Really Big Movie)
- Coraline
- Curious George
- David Copperfield
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: RodrickRules
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
- Doctor Dolittle
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant (Movie Title: Dumbo)
- Ella Enchanted
- Eloise (Movie Title: Eloise at the Plaza)
- Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle, #1)
- Escape to Witch Mountain
- The Face on the Milk Carton
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Freak the Mighty (Movie Title: TheMighty)
- Freaky Friday
- From the Mixed up Files of Mrs.Basil E. Frankweiler
- Gone with the Wind (& sequel: Scarlet)
- Great Expectations (TV and Movie adaptations)
- The Great Gatsby
- Green Eggs and Ham
- Guardians of Childhood (Movie Title: Rise of the Guardians)
- Gulliver’s Travels
- Harriet the Spy
- Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’sStone (along with all the Harry Potter books)
- Hatchet
- Heidi
- The Hobbit
- Hoot
- Holes
- Horton Hears a Who
- Horton Hatches an Egg
- Hotel for Dogs
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- How to Eat Fried Worms
- How to Train Your Dragon
- The Hundred and One Dalmatians
- The Hunger Games (Trilogy)
- The Incredible Journey (Movie Title: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey)
- The Indian in the Cupboard
- Inkheart
- The Iron Man (Movie Title: The Iron Giant)
- The Invention of Hugo Cabaret(Movie Title: Hugo)
- Island of the Blue Dolphins
- James and the Giant Peach
- Judy Moody (Movie Title: Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer)
- Jumanji
- The Jungle Book
- Lassie Come Home
- The Last Unicorn
- Lemony Snicket’s: A Series ofUnfortunate Events (Movie based on first 3 books)
- The Lion, the Witch and theWardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia Series)
- A Little Princess
- Little Women
- Little Men
- The Littles
- The Lorax
- Lord of the Flies
- Madeline
- The Magic Bed Knob (Movie Title: Bedknobs and Broomsticks)
- Magic School Bus Series (TV show series on PBS by the same name)
- Mary Poppins
- Matilda
- Mars Needs Moms!
- Meet Kit (Movie Title: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl)
- Millions
- Misty of Chincoteague (Movie Title: Misty)
- Mr. Popper’s Penguines
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Movie Title: The Secret of NIMH
- My Dog Skip
- My Friend Flicka
- Nancy Drew
- The Neverending Story
- Nicholas Nickleby
- Nim’s Island
- The Night at the Museum
- Northern Lights (Movie Title: Golden Compass)
- Nurse Matilda (Movie Title: Nanny McPhee
- Old Yeller
- Oliver Twist
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians
- Peter Pan
- The Phantom Tollbooth
- Pinocchio
- Pippy Longstocking
- The Polar Express
- Pollyanna
- Pride and Prejudice
- The Princess Diaries
- Ramona (Movie Title: Ramona andBeezus)
- Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
- The Rescuers
- Robinson Crusoe
- Romeo & Juliet
- The Scarlet Letter
- The Secret Garden
- Shrek
- The Snowman (by Raymond Briggs)
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
- Stuart Little
- The Sword in the Stone
- The Tale of Despereaux
- The Tale of Two Cities
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Toby Tyler
- Treasure Island
- The Trumpet of the Swan
- Tuck Everlasting
- Undercover Cat (Movie Title: That Darn Cat)
- War Horse
- The Water Horse
- Watership Down
- We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story
- The Westing Game (Movie Title: Get a Clue)
- Where the Red Fern Grows
- Where the Wild Things Are
- The Wind in the Willows
- Winnie-the-Pooh (many movies and tv shows based on this book series)
- The Witches (Author: Roald Dahl)
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- A Wrinkle in Time
- The Yearling
- Zathura
One of my favorite books that I remember reading as a child is Pagemaster, which later became a movie starring Macaulay Culkin. I am surprised it did not make this list, it is really good.
ReplyDeleteOoooh- that IS a good one, Allyson! Thanks for suggesting it.
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