36 OF THE BEST CHILDREN’S + YOUNG ADULT BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES
Books made into movies are some of my favorite movies to watch with my kids. For a while, I felt I could really embrace our family’s love of movie watching as part of homeschooling. But we LOVE movies in our house. Books and movies are our favorite family activities, but movies sometimes get a bad wrap.
TV watching has been dubbed as a not-so-desirable mode of education, but I’ve always felt like it was such an important part of ours.
Movies can create memories! You can talk about plot, characterization, acting, the setting, and even film editing!
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Yes, please!
I love adding the movie version to the end of our current read aloud to tie it all together.
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So today I want to mash together those two loves of books and movies and share our best picks for children’s + YA books made into movies. As always, please read parental reviews or preview the movies yourself before showing to the fam, as some may have sensitive content depending on the child.
Here’s the list:
The best children’s books made into movies
Obviously such a heart-tugging read aloud for even the smallest listeners…and the movie! One of my favorite kids movies. Julie Roberts is Charlotte and it’s such a perfect match. Love the scenery in this movie too!
Roald Dahl is one of our favorite authors, you’ll see him a lot in this post! Several of his books have been made into movies and we love James and the Giant Peach. The cinematography is really interesting and we loved that. If your kids are really into Roald Dahl, the book to movie comparison after the movie might make for interesting conversation.
This classic is hard to do justice to with a movie or TV show. There are many different versions, but my 9-year-old has dubbed this one as her favorite.
I know, I know, there’s a newer version of this movie. But to be honest, we don’t really like the Johnny Depp version. We love the old Gene Wilder version, but I’d love to hear how you feel about the two!
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we actually like the movie version of this book better!! What?! The book is still great, but the movie (and George Clooney as Mr. Fox!) is so good! Lots of adult humor in this one. 🙂
Ya, another Roald Dahl! We really love his books. Matilda is a wonderful book, but we really love this movie. Matilda and Miss Honey are so good, but Ms. Trunchbull takes the (chocolate) cake in this one!
One of our VERY favorite read alouds together, The BFG! It took us forever to read through because the fun accents were too good not to do through the whole story. The movie was good, but the book was better, as it usually goes. 😉
The sweetest story and movie! Love them both so much. GO read, watch, and play the Glad Game!!
You guys, this movie is weird…but guess what…the book is even more weird. Great comparison between the two on this one.
The book holds a special place in my heart because it was the very FIRST book I ever read aloud to my kids. We sat in the sunroom in our old house in South Dakota. Eight-year-old on one side of me, 5-year-old on the other, 2-year-old on my lap for so many summer evenings reading through this book, Yorkshire accent and all. Such great memories. I’m happy to say I love the movie just as much as the book. The music and scenery is so so good.
Our current read aloud with a fantastic movie to see at the end!
My boys adored this book series for year! They loved the books much more than the movies, but still such a great series to get wrapped up in!
OH, such a favorite!! We absolutely loved reading this book together. It’s quite different from the movie though. Julie Andrews is a much sweeter nanny than the book version. I’ve also linked to Saving Mr. Banks because it is such a great movie! Not necessarily for young viewers, but perfect for mama to do a little deeper dive on her own!
This book is special because my Jack learned to love to read with this book! Great winter read aloud/movie night too!
This book is on our “to be read” book, but we LOVE the movie! Great adventure story!
Ohhhhhhhhhhh how we are obsessed with this series!! We are currently on book 11 in the 13-book series and can’t wait to see how it ends! There is a lot of talk about murder, just a heads up. This movie is from several years ago, staring Jim Carrey and it’s great! We are also way into the Netflix series staring Neil Patrick Harris. Season 2 starts again at the end of March!
Gorgeous book and gorgeous movie!
Our favorite young adult books made into movies
*NOTE: a few of these movies/books are not technically YA novels, but I’ve included them because they would make perfect reading for your high school student. I’ve included some of my favorite titles that I plan on reading alongside my teens, discussing and then watching the movie together.
**One of my favorite books of all time! The movie is really good too, in my opinion.**
This movie is actually not based on the book but on an older film. The movie and the book are so good!
Making the most of your movie viewing together
Like I said, movie-watching is a big part of our family’s culture together. We love them and watch at least one movie per week together. I hope this list is helpful in picking your next read alouds AND movies.
Happy Family Fun Night!
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