The Train To Crazy: Summer Fun: Read the Book, Watch the Movie

June 13, 2011

I love reading books to my kids. They get so excited about a good novel now. We love snuggling up and sinking into a world unlike our own. The problem is, much of the modern "chapter books" are absolute trash. Bratty kids with bad behavior. Unimaginative plots and shallow language.

Fortunately, if you look further than the "early reader" section at the local bookstore you'll find some great books. This summer I've decided to read through some of the good ones. After making a long list of good reads I noticed that a few of them were made into movies.

This summer the kids and I will be reading a book and then watching the movie adaptation.

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread

The Secret Garden

Fantastic Mr. Fox

The Complete Tales of Winnie-The-Pooh

There are so many more as well. We could spend a whole year on this series. Of course, some of the children's books made into movies aren't great specimens of literature and some of the movies adapted from great books are terrible adaptations.

Here are some others I've got my eye on;

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables, Because of Winn-Dixie, Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Danny the Champion of the World, Harriet the Spy, Harry Potter, Heidi, Holes, How to Eat Fried Worms, The Incredible Journey, James and the Giant Peach, Meet Kit: An American Girl 1934, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Little Women, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Nim's Island, Ramona & Beezus , Stuart Little, Treasure Island, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, A Wrinkle in Time, The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1)