10 Amazing Movies To Get Your Kids Excited About Reading

November 10th, 2010

Reading isn’t just a habit or pastime that keeps your kids out of trouble: it’s also an easy way for kids to improve spelling, vocabulary, reading comprehension, critical thinking, argument development, and their ability to analyze. These skills provide a solid foundation from elementary school through college and into the real world. Of course, not every kid is interested in picking up a book, especially when gadgets, video games and the TV are all vying for attention, too. If you want some help encouraging your kids to read, try viewing things from their perspective, literally. Show them films that inspire themes like imagination and creativity, which are the cornerstones of children’s literature. And the movies in this list were actually inspired by books, so you can hook your kids onto characters and story lines in just a couple of hours, before turning them on to the book versions, which should inspire them to read for a lifetime.

1. Harry Potter: J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter legacy started inspiring kids and adults to get back to joy reading with the release of the very first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which came out in 1997 in the UK and a year later in the United States. Since then, the books that chronicle a young wizard’s journey from under-appreciated orphan to soul-searching teenager have won numerous awards, and an equally successful series of movies about each of the books has been made. The films have been released by Warner Bros. and directed by legendary directors like Chris Columbus, David Yates and Mike Newell, and adequately capture the magic, danger, and earnestness of the books which have appealed to so many young and mature readers over the years.
2. Anne of Green Gables: The 1985 TV movie depicting Lucy Maud Montgomery’s bildungsroman Anne of Green Gables is still the most popular interpretation of the novel. Telling the story of Anne, another orphan, who is mistakenly sent to an aging woman and her brother living on Prince Edward Island in Canada, the Primetime Emmy-winning movie very beautifully portrays the wonder of Green Gables, as perceived through the overly romantic Anne Shirley’s eyes. Although she has a good heart, Anne is a daydreamer and has a fiercely stubborn streak, which gets her into trouble with neighbors, teachers and schoolmates. But Shirley — who is a hopeless literature geek — quickly becomes the best student in school and shows interest in becoming a teacher and ultimately, a writer. It’s an enchanting movie about potential, second chances and forgiveness that’s spawned remakes, animated books, and film versions of Montgomery’s other Anne books.
3. Bridge to Terabithia: Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia is a moving children’s story about the power of imagination and friendship, as two young neighbors teach each other how to deal with change, tragedy, and the complications of growing up. The book was published by HarperCollins in 1977 and won the Newbery Medal the next year. A colorful film version was released in 2007, and it creates such a sparkling, charming version of the world of monsters that the children have created for themselves that kids will love reading the book, too.
4. Nanny McPhee: Emma Thompson plays a bewitching new nanny to the seven misbehaving Brown children in this boisterous film, which was released in 2005. The movie is based on the series of books about Nurse Matilda, by Christianna Brand with illustrations by Edward Ardizzone, which were first published about fifty years ago as Nurse Matilda, Nurse Matilda Goes to Town, and Nurse Matilda Goes to Hospital. With great costumes, delightful set, and silly performances by Thompson and Colin Firth, kids will want to learn more about Nanny McPhee, and should be entertained by the rest of the stories in the books.
5. The Chronicles of Narnia series: C.S. Lewis’ classic series features seven children’s novels, first released between 1950 and 1956, in London. Lewis’ consistent Christian themes are communicated through allegorical characters like the White Witch and Aslan, the lion and enslaved ruler of Narnia. But readers of all religions — and ages — can recognize the simple lessons of basic morality versus the dangers of temptation, selfishness and pride. First reinterpreted for film as a TV miniseries in the 1980s, Hollywood released stunning, hyper-visual feature films in 2005 and 2008. The first movie told the story of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first book, and the sequel tells the second story, in Prince Caspian: the Return to Narnia. Lifelike animal characters collaborate with the perfectly cast Pevensie children, and Tilda Swinton plays a frightening White Witch. Liam Neeson voices Aslan, and dramatic war scenes are irresistible.
6. How to Train Your Dragon: When first released, How to Train Your Dragon turned out to be a sleeper hit: kids who had never heard of the books had a blast, and even adults without kids appreciated the silly but smart Viking-era story. The DreamWorks computer-animated film is only loosely based on the first book, which was released in 2003, but with actors like America Ferrera, Kristen Wiig and Gerard Butler voicing the main characters, no one really seemed to care. It was the fifth most successful DreamWorks animated film in the U.S. and Canada, and the sweet story, which is centered around a young Viking named Hiccup who befriends — instead of killing — his new dragon named Toothless. Kids entertained by the movie can read the eight books in the series, and one more is slated to be released in 2011.
7. Alice in Wonderland: Lewis Carroll’s innocent but absurd tale was first adapted for film in 1903, and has since been explored by filmmakers in nearly 20 different movie and TV versions. Disney’s 1951 animation is arguably the most famous interpretation, and Tim Burton’s artistically directed and designed film is truly magical. The story is pure silliness on the outside, but full of references to mathematics, the classics, English history and French puns, and poses provocative questions about morality, identity and self-confidence, justice, deception, and more. It’s all just a dream, but children are perpetually amazed at the bizarre tricks that imagination can play on your mind and the creative potential we all have — great inspiration for reading.
8. Little Women: Louisa May Alcott’s Civil War era novel about four financially challenged sisters raised by a feminist, Transcendentalist mother in Concord, Massachusetts, is perfectly portrayed in the 1994 film version directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Winona Ryder, Christian Bale, Susan Sarandon, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Trini Alvarado, Mary Wickes and Gabriel Byrne. Constantly reminded of what they don’t have and may never be, the March girls embody four distinct personality types who have their own independent ambitions, and readers undoubtedly find a character with whom to relate and empathize. The story is told from the perspective of Jo, played by Winona Ryder in the film, and a restless tomboy who aspires to be a writer. Ryder expertly captures Jo’s desperate appreciation for — and therapeutic dependence on — books, literature and writing, cultivating a performance that is moving, even to those who don’t consider themselves particularly literary.
9. Polar Express: This is the movie for kids who think only movies are capable of such beautiful visual effects: in fact, this film was actually inspired by the beautiful and then-cutting edge illustrations of the book. Robert Zemeckis directed this 2004 holiday movie about faith, imagination and the sometimes superior powers of innocence, in which Tom Hanks voiced most of the characters in the story, including the rough conductor and Santa Claus. It’s a movie that’s both quietly stimulating and also exhilarating, and a great example of how provoking and influential a storybook can be.
10. The Beatrix Potter Collection: Peter Rabbit and his mischievous, cuddly friends have found themselves on nursery and children’s bookshelves for decades, and Beatrix Potter’s classically illustrated stories have been put onto DVD by BBC Video, who originally decided to share the books via film. Savvy kids used to CGI and special effects should still be affected by Potter’s watercolor illustrations and gentle plot-lines of the country animals, which "star" in several short books like The Tale of Peter Rabbit an dThe Tale of Squirrel Nutkin.

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