I missed the Academy Awards. I am sure on some subconscious level I must have known they were happening. I am sure I robotically read the cover of magazines at the grocery store, or sound bites on the radio floated into my ears, but didn’t get filed in the Urgent file reserved for, well, urgent things -like the exact date time and channel that The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown will be on. I was not aware on the surface that it was indeed Oscar night until I turned on my computer and saw that some celebrity almost fainted after winning an award. Pathetic.
I am especially chipper that I missed the pre-coverage, as people were elegantly gliding down the Red Carpet; I think I was busy scrubbing the mysterious sticky substance off two of the shelves in my refrigerator – syrup perhaps. The Red Carpet, Red Schmarpit. I want to hear someone say “Oh this is the same dress I wore last year, how wasteful to buy a thousand dollar dress to only wear one night, instead I donated the money to (fill in whatever cause)” or, “Thank you, but I borrowed this from Jennifer Anniston, she has much better taste than me and I just love her hand me downs.”
But I digress; the real topic of this blog post is about movies that were books first. I was curious, is there an award for such a category?
I did some research, a fancy way of saying I did a Google search. “Academy Awards for movies that were books first.” What I found was a lot of books about the Academy Awards. (I am actually losing IQ points writing this)
I’ve compiled my own list of books that were made into movies. Stories that first sparked the imaginations of children reading in the laps of their parents on a big arm chair, cozily tucked into their beds late at night, or lying in the grass on a lazy sunshiny day. The first four books listed were made into movies that won at least one Oscar.
So without further ado… The List.
CHILDREN'S BOOKS THAT WERE MADE INTO MOVIES
The Yearling, Marjorie Kinna Rawlings - Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography in 1946. (Was also nominated for best actor, actress, directing and best picture)
Mary Poppins, PL Travers - 6 Academy Awards including best actress (Julie Andrews)
The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling – Best Song.
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, - JRR Tolkien – 11 friggin Oscars!
A Series of Unfortunate Events –Lemony Snicket
The Ant Bully – John Nickle
Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
Cat in the Hat – Dr. Seuss
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory –Roald Dahl
Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
Cheaper by The Dozen – Frank Gilbreth
The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
Curious George - Margret and H.A. Rey
Doctor Dolittle – Hugh Lofting
Gentle Ben –Walt Morey
Holes – Louis Sachar
Hoot – Carl Hiaasen
Horton Hears a Who – Dr. Seuss
How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Dr. Seuss
How to Eat Fried Worms – Thomas Rockwell
Indian in the Cupboard - Lynn Reid Banks
James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl
Jumanji – Chris VanAllsburg
Jurassic Park – Michael Chrichton
Nancy Drew – Carolyn Keene
Nanny McPhee – Christianna Brand
Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgrin
Polar Express – Chis Van Allsburg
The Spiderwick Chronicles – Holly Black
Stuart Little – E.B. White
The Tale of Desperaux – Kate Di Camillo
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Frank L Baum
Where the Red Fern Grows – Wilson Rawls
Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
Winnie the Pooh – A.E. Milne
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Twilight....I made Abby read it before we saw the movie.
I find if the children read the book first, the movie becomes more interesting because of the changes, or character development that isn't always explained in a 90 minute film.
Right now, Abby is reading A Wrinkle in Time.
I think one of the best books made into a movie is "one flew over the cuckoos nest." Keep writing, you have a lot to say.
Post a Comment