Summer Reading List | Books that are Movies! | MapleSeeds Home Blog

I'm really trying hard to have some activities organized for my kids before summer starts. I'm not one of those people who believes they need structure all day every day, but with how much they squabbled last summer, I want to be prepared this summer! Last summer we read through The Chronicles of Narnia books, well at least the ones that had a movie that went a long with them. My oldest son is a reluctant reader, so attaching a movie to the book was something he thought was totally cool. So this summer I am creating a reading list of books that have been made into movies! I'm going to aim for 10 books, but there is a good chance we won't get through them all, but this can always carry over to next summer as well. My son will be heading into third grade this fall, so the books are for ages 7-12, some are classics, some are adventures some are fantasy themed. I will be reading the book aloud to all the kids. 

I browsed around on PINTEREST, and the WEB for some ideas of books that were movies and made a list of about 20 books, here is what I have narrowed it down to for this summer's list:

• OLD YELLER (Fred Gipson)    (book)    (movie)
• SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (Johann D. Wyss)  (book)    (movie)
• WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (Maurice Sendak)    (book)  
• WHITE FANG (Jack London)   (book)   
• THE NEVER ENDING STORY (Michael Ende) (book) (movie) 
• THE WIZARD OF OZ  (Franks Baum) (book)  (movie)  I'd love to take the kids to see the new animated OZ movie as well. 
• TREASURE ISLAND (Robert Louis Stevenson) this version is abridged (book) (movie)
• THE SECRET GARDEN (Frances Hodgson Burnett) (book)   (movie) 
• MARY POPPINS (Dr. P.L. Travers)  (book)  (movie) 
• THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAYWER (Mark Twain)  (book)   (movie) 

Most of the books I plan on buying, but the movies I will rent or borrow from our local library. 

Here are some other books that we have already read and watched:

The Chronicles of Narnia

Where the Red Fern Grows

Charlotte's Web

I also have younger boys and I may do a few books for them that are cartoon movies:

• The Jungle Book
• The Iron Man (The Iron Giant)
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 

I'd love to hear your suggestions for reading books that are movies!