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This is an interesting discussion to me because I will be teaching a class called, 
Books Gone Hollywood, to sixth grade students this year. One of the books we will 
be reading is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We will mostly watch the original 
movie (1971) with Gene Wilder, but I also plan to compare certain scenes of that 
version with the newest one. Do the special effects and new technology make the 
story better? What about how the characters are played by the different actors? 
There is a book called, Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the 
Chocolate Factory. We will talk about the process of writing a book versus making a 
movie. We will also talk about Imagination and how two director's envisioned the 
story a bit differently. Personally I think this will work out to be a great 
discussion, but this is the first time I will be teaching the class.
 
I am often disappointed with movie adaptations myself. Let's take Harry Potter for 
example because I am a huge fan. I have a 1960 Ford Anglia that was restored to 
look like the flying car in Chamber of Secrets. As big of a Harry Potter fan as I 
am, I hated the first two movies because I wanted them to be exactly like I 
envisioned when reading the book. Daniel Radcliffe looked nothing like the Harry 
Potter in my mind. I stopped rereading the books before going to watch the later 
movies and have loved movies 3-6. Once I stopped thinking that the movie had to be 
exactly like the book, I enjoyed the movies almost as much as the book, but they 
are two separate things in my mind.
 
A little bit about my class - Each trimester my students will get to see one movie 
in the theater. First trimester we will be seeing Where the Wild Things Are. I hope 
that Spike Jones does not let me down. I think the cinematography will be there, 
but what of the story? How do you make a 32 page book into a 90 minute movie? The 
students will do an author study and do a readers theater exercise before we 
go...like a you be the director. After watching the movie they will write a movie 
review and compare the two. Kids do think when they watch movies, it is just 
different. I think it will be great to discuss the books with the kids in this way 
because their eyes just light up about getting to watch the movie.
 
The bottom line is movie adaptations get kids excited about reading. When Twilight 
came out, I couldn't keep any copies of any books in the series on the shelf and 
had a waiting list of more than ten students. I hope my Percy Jackson books fly off 
the shelves second trimester. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is being made into a movie to 
and the Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan. I get goose bumps thinking about it. 
I got to meet with some of my students today and they are excited too.
 
Finally I leave you with a plug for the University of Central Florida's Digital 
Booktalks website: http://digitalbooktalk.com/ 
These short book trailers are great for getting reluctant readers excited about 
reading.
 
Kelly Stanchfield
Northridge Middle School
On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 6:53 PM, Maddie Wood <mediamaddie@comcast.net>wrote: >Hello 
Everyone,>I went to the movie today and and while I was leaving I saw movies 
coming>out of old favorite books:>>"Where the Wild Things Are">"Cloudy with a 
Chance of Meatballs">"Alice in Wonderland">>Not to mention the "Cronicle of Narnia" 
series and "Harry Potter." Having>read all the books and series mentioned here, I 
am extremely disappointed>that good books are now being made into movies that take 
the imagination,>skill, discussion and fun out of reading books. Mr. Tumnus in the 
movie came>no where near the one I had imagined so many years ago, and what 
a>disappointment for me as a lover of books and reading.>>Thoughts?>>Maddie 
Wood>Teacher Librarian>Lowry Elementary>Denver, CO>mediamaddie@comcast.net 
________________________
Kelly Stanchfield
Northridge Middle School
Library Media Specialist
482 W 580 N
Crawfordsville, IN 47933
Phone: (765) 364-1071
Fax: (765)362-7985
email: kstanchfield@nm.k12.in.us

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