As a kid I always loved being assigned a book to read in school that had a movie.  I knew that meant we’d spend at least a day or two of that class watching the movie.  Sometimes the movies were good, more often they were bad, but they always lead to great discussions afterwards.  I have patterned our homeschool reading lessons after the same model, a book and a movie (you’ll see that hashtag all over my Instagram feed).  I assign my kids books, wediscuss them, and then watch the movie.  It has become a cherished family tradition.

As I go through the books we’ve read and the movies we’ve watched I’ve realized it might be helpful to everyone else reading my posts if they had a general idea of the reading level of these possible book and a movie combos.  I am ranking these solely by reading level, not content.  So, for instance, Twilight is listed as a fourth-grade reading level because of the difficulty of the words.  The content is clearly intended for older kids, and probably wouldn’t be of great interest to fourth graders. I’ve changed it to closer to intended audience levels because it bothered me so much.

I’ll also never assign Twilight to my kids as a book and a movie because I personally believe vampires are evil and should be staked. Not portrayed as creatures to be pitied.

But that’s a different discussion

So here goes broken down by grade level. I’ve linked to our relevant movie nights if we’ve already read those books.  I’m also updating as I think of/learn of more movies (I’m updating it for the first time 8 months later and it’s doubling in size).  When you get to the bottom, I’ve got a special printable for subscribers! I put it up at the top. These bookmarks are FREE for subscribers (with a coupon code) or you can buy it for $2.99.

Also, all these Amazon links are going to be affiliate links, so I don’t have to keep marking it.

 Picture books made into movies

These the reading level is usually more difficult than the intended audience.

1. Jumangi book   movie
2. Zathura (Jumanji’s lesser-known sequel) movie
3. How Grinch Who Stole Christmas     cartoon and live action
4. Shrek (though the book is even less like the movie than usual)
5. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs   movie
6. Pickles to Pittsburgh (the sequel) movie
7. Cat in the Hat   movie
8. The Lorax   movie
9. Where the Wild Things Are    movie
10. Polar Express     movie
11. Horton Hatches the Egg   movie
12. Madeline     movie cartoon series
13. Babar (wow the hardback $163, paperback $16)    movie   cartoon series
14. Eloise (I always was amused as a kid by how naughty she was)   movie
15. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day     movie
16. A Day with Wilbur Robinson     movie (I think this movie got a bum rap, and I love it a lot)
17. Curious George   movie
18. Night at the Museum    movie
19. Clifford    movie

I start our book and a movie nights after the kids were mostly done with picture books, we’ve started doing some with their cousins, but I haven’t written about it yet.

3rd Grade Chapter books made into movies

I was quite surprised to learn a number of books I read in 3rd grade were actually 4th-grade books.

1. Ramona books– This was one of our favorite movie adaptations it kept the feel of the books quite well
2. Judy Moody    movie
3. Stuart Little     movie
4. Doctor Dolittle    movie with Rex Harrison     movie with Eddie Murphy  (my kids are reading this one right now, yes it’s too easy)
5. Paddington    movie (I read this book a lot as a kid)
6. Nim’s Island    movie
7. Mr. Popper’s Penguins  I loved this book, the movie had some of the same heart
8. Secret Garden* (I did not expect that reading level) movie (or get the double feature with Little Princess) BBC version
9. Wind in the Willows*    claymation movie (my kids did not like this version) Disney movie
10. Winnie the Pooh*    movie

*I included these in 3rd grade as read alouds. The topics are perfect for this age (Secret Garden might be harder, but still a good one, and this is a great way to introduce classic books).

That’s 29 book and a movie combos.

4th Grade books made into movies

1. James and the Giant Peach– I loved the surrealness of this book as a kid, my kids did not love the James and the Giant Peach movie
2. Best Christmas Pageant Ever– Every year now we have a Best Christmas Pageant Ever movie
3. Because of Winn-Dixie– I love this book so much and our Because of Winn Dixie movie night was awesome
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox– I personally would rate this a solid third-grade book and will probably move it in a soon update     movie
5. Twilight*- I’m not even going to link to it, and it’s obviously not for 4th grade
6. Charlotte’s Web     live-action movie     cartoon
7. Holes– we just finished reading/watching this in February of 2017 and it was a huge hit, our Holes Movie night was popular.
8. Tale of Despereaux– I could just sit and read Kate DiCamillo all day long, so I loved The Tale of Despereaux movie night
9. The Witches– I remember reading this book in 4th grade, and it was awesome, we had many discussions about The Witches movie  night
10. Bunnicula (I remember reading it in 3rd grade)- Our Bunnicula movie night is the standard for horrible book adaptations, I just found out there’s a TV series
11. Inkheart– Cornelia Funke is another of the authors who I love her world-building    movie
12. How to Eat Fried Worms– a book my kids will probably never read because I find the idea gross   movie
13. Sarah, Plain and Tall     movie
14. Spiderwick Chronicles    movie (I particularly love this because it’s twin boys and a girl)
15. Pippi Longstocking     movie Swedish movie
16. Matilda    movie
17. How to Train Your Dragon   movie
18. Trumpet of the Swan     movie
19. Harriet the Spy    movie
20. 101 Dalmations     movie
21.  The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe– One of my absolute favorite movie nights was our movie night

That’s 50 book and a movie combos. I’m getting up there.

5th Grade books made into movies

1. Tuck Everlasting– I read this in 6th grade, but it can work in 5th    movie
2. Ella Enchanted– This movie is second to Bunnicula in being brought up as a terrible movie night
3. Book Thief    movie
4. Justin Morgan Had a Horse– I read this book so many times as a kid    movie
5. Johnny Tremain– great movie for an American Revolution unit (and our Johnny Tremain movie night was a huge hit)
6. Howl’s Moving Castle– I wish more of her books were adapted, but it made for a great movie night
7. Old Yeller (this and Johnny Tremain are on the verge of too mature for 5th grade)    movie
8. Misty of Chincoteague– my childhood copy of the book is well-worn    movie
9. Pollyanna     movie
10. Black Cauldron– I happen to dislike the Black Cauldron movie because it so messed up the book
11. Indian in the Cupboard– This was our very first book and a movie night
12. The Giver– I was a few years too old for this to be on my required reading, but my friends three years younger than me rave about it    movie
13. Alice in Wonderland I read this book so much and watched the movie so much I quoted it when we watched it recently
14. Nancy Drew I read these books so much in 5th grade, and Jeff recently showed them the movie he found on Netflix
15. My Friend Flicka     movie
16. BFG– Confession, I don’t really like the book, and I didn’t like the movie
17. Lassie    movie
18. Heidi    movie

That gets us up to 68 book and a movie combos.

6th Grade books made into movies

1. Jungle Book– I love both the animated movie and the live action that just came out
2. Bridge to Terabithia     movie
3. Peter Pan– I personally own about 5 copies of this book and the cartoon, and live action movie, oh and the musical
4. Black Stallion– I read the entire series as a kid, and it made for a decent movie
5. Percy Jackson– the movie made me so mad I’m not even going to link to it
6. Hunger Games     movie
7. Maze Runner     movie
8. Divergent Series      movie
9. The Hobbit– We basically redid our Lord of the Ring snacks when we did the movie marathon
10. Dracula– oddly enough I read it in high school in Spanish, though most movies are n0t something you’re going to show your 6th grader…..
11. My Side of the Mountain– my kids love this book, but the movie……
12. Harry Potter– I love this book series, and we also had a Harry Potter movie marathon one year
13. Treasure Island     movie  Muppet movie
14. Redwall    movie
15. To Kill a Mockingbird    movie
16. Where the Red Fern Grows    movie
17. Wizard of Oz     Wizard of Oz

That’s 85 book and a movie combos.

7th grade books made into movies

1. Around the World in 80 Days     movie    Jackie Chan movie
2. Dark is Rising– This movie stinks, it’s absolutely terrible, and yet I watched it because I wanted to torture my kids, okay I have no clue why I did this to myself, but the book series is awesome
3. Princess Bride– It is inconceivable that you have not read this book.  Also, I love this movie.  It’s one of the rare times I broke my rule about reading the book before seeing the movie.
4. A Christmas Carol– there are more versions of this book made into a movie than I can count, but I’m partial to the Muppet Christmas Carol
5. Little Princess     movie
6. Mary Poppins– This would be the only other book I broke my rule on and let the kids watch the movie (oh wait, I also did for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but that book is so different from the movie and very weird)
7. Tom Sawyer    movie
8. Anne of Green Gables     movie
9. Watership Down     movie
10. Journey to the Center of the Earth     movie

That’s 95 books made into a movie combos. I’m almost to 100 books made into movies, and I haven’t reached high school…..

8th Grade books made into movies

1. Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children– I took Batman to see this movie as a special date and then found out it was a book
2. Huckleberry Finn  I read this as a junior during our American literature year   movie
3. Gulliver’s Travels     movie
4. The Fault in Our Stars    movie
5. Little Women– I searched awhile to find one I liked the cover picture, I’ll be honest, and then cheated and used the one from my Mom’s book I read growing up.    movie
6. Swiss Family Robinson– Okay, it must be this grade range because my kids have also seen this movie.  But, I’ve stayed strong on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea…..
7. Diary of Anne Frank    movie
8. The Lord of the Rings– we did this as a Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon, complete with meals and everything
9. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea    movie
10. Prince and the Pauper  I read this in 9th-grade   movie
11. Ender’s Game     movie

Again haven’t really read and watched these book and movie combos…..

And that gets us up to 106 book and a movie combos.

9th-grade books made into a movie

I’m going to fully confess the high school books can be moved around, and some of these are more pop culture, but have fun conversations to have. I also left out vast scores of John Grisham movies and other popular authors, though I could have padded my numbers with those……

(Some of these may have lower reading levels, but are traditionally assigned during high school)

1. Sense and Sensibility– watching this movie addicted me to Jane Austen
2. Great Expectations (Complete honesty, I hate this book, it’s the only required reading book I threatened to burn)   movie
3. Three Musketeers– my husband is looking forward to the kids reading it so they can watch the 1970s movie, I like the 90s Disney movie
4. Scarlet Letter        movie
5. Jurassic Park– the movie changed modern cinema and there’s great ethical questions to discuss
6. Jane Eyre– I have tried several times to read this book      movie
7. Grapes of Wrath– I read this as a junior because that is when we read American Literature         movie
8. Animal Farm– I loved reading this book so much that I only vaguely remember the movie
9. Horatio Hornblower– we are listening to the audiobooks      movies
10. Zookeeper’s Wife        movie

And now I’m up to 116 movies. Each high school grade is going to add 10 because I kept it just to 10, though I could probably add more.

10th-grade books made into movies

1. Pride and Prejudice– I would recommend reading something like Bridget Jones Diary or Lizzie Bennet Diaries to compare a modern remake (I personally like Lizzie Bennet DiariesLizzie Bennet Diaries better, YouTube playlist)   mini-series that I love
2. 1984    movie
3. The Man in the Iron Mask    movie
4. All Quiet on the Western Front      movie
5. Scarlet Pimpernel     movie
6. Phantom of the Opera     movie
7. Tale of Two Cities    movie
8. Importance of Being Earnest     movie
9. War of the Worlds     movie
10. War and Peace     movie

That is 126 book and a movie combos.

11th-grade books made into movies

At my high school, junior year was American literature, so it was a very different reading list from what I’m recommending, I opted to spread American literature throughout the grade levels.

1. Emma    movie
2. Les Miserables     movie
3. Catch-22     movie
4. Anna Karenina     movie
5. The Great Gatsby     movie  DiCaprio version
6. Gone With the Wind     movie
7. Last of the Mohicans     movie
8. Count of Monte Cristo     movie
9. Of Mice and Men     movie
10. David Copperfield     movie

And 136 book and a movies combos.

(These may have lower reading levels but are traditionally assigned as reading for high school, so I didn’t check the reading level, just being honest)

12th-grade books made into movies

1. Mansfield Park– I might like Jane Austen books    movie
2. The Color Purple     movie
3. The Age of Innocence     movie
4. DaVinci Code (I almost didn’t include it because I think the writing is THAT bad, but it also has some great conversations to have)     movie
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest     movie
6. Oliver Twist     movie
7. Wuthering Heights     movie
8. Beowulf     movie
9. Time Machine     movie
10. Lord of the Flies     movie

We’re up to 146 book and a movie combos. Now I’ve got some bonus books.

 

More high school books made into movies

1. Frankenstein     movie
2. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde     movie
3. The Green Mile      movie
4. Hunt for Red October      movie
5. The Godfather      movie
6. The Outsiders      movie
7. Gump and Co.      movie
8. Roots      movie
9. Sherlock Holmes (it could easily be read in junior high)     movie
10. The Pelican Brief      movie
11. Silence     movie
12. Unbroken     movie
13. War Horse     movie
14. Seabiscuit      movie
15. The Help      movie
16. James Bond books     movie
17. Schindler’s List     movie
18. Ten Little Indians  (now renamed And Then There Were None)    movie
19. Memoirs of a Geisha     movie

I am not up to over 150 movies. It’s almost midnight and my brain doesn’t want to process math.

Do you love this information and wish you could take it with you to the bookstore?  Then I’ve got you covered because you can sign up for my newsletter and get this all as a cute PDF that can easily be made into a bookmark for stowing in your books or your purse.  Each grade or interest level is broken down into its own bookmark, and as I find new books I’m updating the bookmarks (I just doubled the book and a movie combos). You can buy it for $2.99 OR you can subscribe and get these bookmarks for free.

Check out more great reading lists over at iHomeschool Network Must Read books and 100 Things Link Up (there are so many great ideas on there)