Are you looking for something to read? Or maybe something to watch?
There is nothing better than when a good book is made into a great movie, and there are so many good kid’s books that have been made into great family movies!
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Kid’s Books that are also Great Movies
From picture books, to chapter books, there are so many great book to movie adaptions for kids. These are a few of my kids’ favourites books and their matching movies.
Picture Books that are Great Movies
The Book – The Lorax by Dr Seuss.
The movie – Dr Seuss’s The Lorax.
This is my smallest child’s favourite book and one of our family’s favourite movies. Such a great adaption and so many catchy songs!
The book – Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
The Movie – Where the Wild Things Are.
This movie is kinda deep, and sad, but beautiful. It’s aimed at a slightly older audience than the book.
The book – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judy and Ronald Barett.
The Movie – Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
The movie isn’t a retelling of the book, more inspired by it, but both are good.
The Book – Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.
The Movie – Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.
This is a gorgeous and relatable book and the movie adaption is just as lovely. A really good family movie.
The book – Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
The Movie – Polar Express.
This book has beautiful evocative images and a lovely story, and the movie adaptation captures that really well.
The Book – How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss
The Movie – Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
My kids were a bit scared of this movie when they were smaller, even though they loved the book. But when they got older they adored this fun movie as much as the book. If you are doing this book or movie as part of a learning unit try these Grinch reading comprehension question worksheets.
The book – Paddington by Michael Bond and R. W. Alley
The Movie – Paddington
There are lots of lovely Paddington stories, and the movie does a great job of bringing Paddington to life with a bit of action and adventure thrown in to make it a great family movie.
Chapter Books that are Great Movies
The book – Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr
The movie – Nim’s Island.
This is a great adventure story with a fiercely strong girl as the main character and the movie is lovely. We haven’t read any of the other Nim books, or seen the other movies, if you have let us know what you think.
The book – The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.
The movie – The Tale of Despereaux.
This is a lovely book to read aloud (the audiobook version is great too) and a great family movie.
The books – The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The movies – The Chronicles of Narnia: Lion Witch & Wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
The Narnia books are a fabulous action fantasy read, and I think the three movies might even be better than the book!
The book – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Paperback by Roald Dahl
The movies – Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
We can’t decide if we like the new movie version or the classic movie version of this great book best, they are both good! And if you like Roald Dahl books there are lots of other great movie adaptations – Matilda, The Witches, The BFG, Fantastic Mr Fox, James and the Giant Peach.
The book – The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
The movie – The Secret Garden.
One of my girls was totally enchanted by this classic book when she was younger, and the movie brings all the magic and those glorious accents to life!
The book – The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Movie – The Secret World of Arrietty
This lovely classic fantasy book about little people living under the floorboards has been adapted into a movie by Studio Ghibli, so you know it will be awesome!
The Book – Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Movie – Howl’s Moving Castle
Another great Studio Ghibli movie adaption, but in this case, definitely read the book first as it has lots more details and interesting quirks!
The book – The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
The movie – The City of Ember
This is a great dystopian fiction book for readers who aren’t quite ready for The Hunger Games just ye. The movie misses some of the details in the book which frustrated my book lovers, but is a really lovely family movie with great characters.
The book – The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The movie – Hugo
This is a beautiful book full of gorgeous pictures and an intriguing story. The move is just as beautiful with lots of great actors bringing the characters to love.
The book – Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Movie – Charlotte’s Web
Even if you’ve seen the movie, which is great, go read the book… it’s lovely.
The book – Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The movie – Coraline.
This is a dark and intriguing story with a very cool stop-motion animation movie adaption. But it freaked my kids out when they were younger, so I’d say save this for ages 10+
The books – The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black.
The movie – The Spiderwick Chronicles.
They condense these great books into one movie adaption which will annoy some, but I think it works well and it’s a great movie.
As always, every child and family is different and you know your children best. Please check out these books and movies thoroughly first to make sure they are a good fit for your family.
Look out for Swallows and Amazons… a book we loved, but lots of people cant want to read for all the descriptiveness… Anyhow, there is an older version which we enjoyed and then a thoroughly updated more recent version… it brings in a bit of “potential spy” excitement… as a family of book purists, who hardly ever enjoy the movie… we all enjoyed this one!!!