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We are not a big screen family. In fact, prior to this summer, we had only done occasional movie nights with my 5-year-old (and some drawing videos). I love family movie nights, though, and find they are such a wonderful addition to our family culture. I aspire to do more of them. We started doing them occasionally when my son turned 4. My 3-year-old does not yet join in for them.
This summer, we decided to do something new: book and movie nights. In the past, I read James and the Giant Peach aloud to my son, and we then watched the movie. This year, however, I challenged him with a list of high-quality books to read himself (he was an early reader) and then watch the corresponding movie together. All of these books could also be done as read-alouds. As independent reading, they fall at around a 3rd-grade reading level. They are considered middle-grade reading. When searching for good options, I was looking for books at a third-grade reading level but appropriate for a younger child. I will share reviews of the movies we did along with a list of movies I have had recommended. I will edit this post and add reviews as we do more of those! It is worth keeping in mind when reading these reviews that my son has had very limited screen exposure. His favorite movie has been the original Winnie-the-Pooh. I say this simply to be aware, as his reviews may not always match an older child’s view of the movie (as you may see with his first review below).
We had so much fun doing some themed dinners as well. We made sure to get marmalade when doing Paddington!
The first book my son chose from the reading list was A Bear Called Paddington. This is such a cute story about a bear who is rescued from the Paddington train station. It is filled with cute antics and is beautifully appropriate for my 5-year-old while maintaining a higher reading level. He enjoyed the book, and I was charmed by it as I read, attempting to keep up. The movie, on the other hand, was a major letdown. It was nothing like the book at all. All the cute antics were gone, replaced with over-the-top drama and some violence. My son did not enjoy the movie and rated it 1 star. He has said, over and over, that the movie wasn’t very good. However, one thing that was so fun about Paddington was that it inspired a whole Paddington- and British-themed dinner, including marmalade, of course!
Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Movie: ⭐️
The Mouse and the Motorcycle was one of my son’s absolute favorite book and movie combos this summer. The story itself is very cute, and the movie was very true to the book. If you are more of a movie connoisseur, you may find the movie a bit lacking. It is clearly very low budget. But, for us, that was actually part of the charm. It was so true to the book, which I find to be rare in big-budget blockbusters. You can find the movie on YouTube.
Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Movie: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Charlotte’s Web has actually been made into a movie more than once. The version we watched was the more recent live-action movie. We were really happy with this adaptation as it stayed pretty true to the book. I was incredibly impressed that for a bigger-budget film it didn’t try to add in a bunch of unnecessary drama. As for the book itself, my son really enjoyed reading it. This is such a classic that I think every child should read at some point (or multiple points!). We also did it two years ago as a read-aloud.
Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Movie: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The book version of Stuart Little was so beautifully charming. It is full of mild and sweet adventures. For my little New Yorker, so much of it was somewhat familiar in terms of setting, and he really enjoyed the book. In terms of the film, it strayed considerably from the book. There were major changes made that, in my opinion, detracted significantly from the story. The switch to them having adopted Stuart, frankly, made no sense. Of course, the idea that she gave birth to Stuart requires suspension of belief, but the idea that they adopted him is even more preposterous to the point that it just doesn’t work. My son was bummed that Margalo was nowhere to be seen in the movie, as that storyline was his favorite. My understanding is she does appear in Stuart Little 2. However, unlike Paddington, we did enjoy the movie. It seemed there was enough overlap with the book to have conversations about what was changed and what stayed the same. My son was able to hypothesize that some of the scenes in the movie were (loosely) based on scenes in the book that served a similar purpose. This actually allowed me to see how deep my son’s reading comprehension is, which was wonderful.
Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Movie: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
My son really enjoyed this book. I was a little nervous that Ramona’s behavior would be a bad influence, but I don’t think that was the case at all. It is clear that she is behaving in ways that are not appropriate, and my son found it funny. The movie was so different. I didn’t actually expect the movie to be exactly the same or anything. I had a feeling that it was the sibling ethos they would work to capture, not the actual events. That was true, but it was more extreme than that. In the movie, Ramona is about the age that Beezus is in the book. There isn’t a single event that overlaps between the book and the movie. My son enjoyed the movie, but it was hardly an adaptation of the book. He gave the movie 3 stars, which surprised me, honestly. I did find a lot of the movie enjoyable but a bit emotional with the cat dying! I was not prepared for that.
Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Movie: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
My son loved this book. This was definitely his favorite book of the summer, and he read it incredibly quickly. He wasn’t bothered by the background fact that the parents were dead, though I know for some children that is upsetting. When I initially saw pictures from the movie, I was pretty turned off by the animations. This film is also clearly low-budget, and I am not a huge fan of animation to begin with. This animation was not my style, and I went in with a bit of judgment there. That said, when we actually watched the film, I was very happy. It stayed very true to the book. My son pointed out several places where it wasn’t exact, but overall the book and movie were very similar. Bonus: there is a sequel with a movie as well! This was the movie he rated the highest. No critical reviewer would agree, but I think his rating was shaped by his love for the book and the fact that the movie stayed fairly faithful.
Book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Movie: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
More Chapter Books for Children Adapted to Movies
Above was our book and movie list for the summer, but here are some more book and movie options! Reading level on these books varies a bit more than the ones above, as those were specifically chosen with that in mind. I am working on creating a list for my son of books he can choose to read that we will then do a family movie night for. Many of those books are on this list.
More children’s books with movie adaptations we have watched
The Wild Robot: My son read this one right at the end of the summer. It is a bit higher level than the books above, but the chapters are very short and easy to read. This was an interesting book-to-movie adaptation because the overarching plot itself was very similar, but nearly every detail was changed. In other words, unlike, say, Paddington, if you gave a high-level summary, they would seem pretty much the same, but many changes were made.
Winnie the Pooh: Winnie the Pooh is such a favorite. We love the original movie, and it is very similar to the book (to the extent that there are pages from the book turning on the screen!). This is a wonderful first adaptation.
James and the Giant Peach: I liked this book more than most Roald Dahl books for young children, but the book and movie are very different. Major events, such as what happens to the aunts in the end, are drastically changed. The robot sharks really bother me. It particularly bothers me when changes are made that undermine the purpose of the event in the book. That happens a lot in this movie. While the book was a good read-aloud for my son at 4, the movie was a bit scary and too action-packed.
Alice in Wonderland: This was one of the first movies we did with my son after I did the book as a read-aloud at 4. We really enjoyed it, and I felt it was a good book and movie combo. I am adding it to our list of books he can read himself to watch the movie together in the future.
Children’s books with movie adaptations we have not yet tried
These book and movie combinations are on our list to explore, but we have not yet done so (note that unlike those above, I have not screened these but received them as suggestions. They may not all be appropriate for young children. If you have read my past chapter book reviews, you know our experience with Matilda, for example):
Harry Potter (obviously! We are actually doing this in the next several months)
