#48 Watch These Films and #49 Read These Books

For this thing to do the book gives 2 very long lists of classic films and books that the authors think all kids (and adults) should watch and read. There are some real beauties in the lists. ET, Flight of the Navigator, The Goonies, The Lord of the Rings and The Star Wars series' are my personal picks from the film list.



The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the Adrian Mole and Harry Potter books are all favourites that I agree every one, of any age, should read.



I can't claim to be able to tick off all the titles, there are a few I've never heard of: Paper Moon? (film) Kite Rider? (book) Thief Lord? (book) Christmas Story? (book) And there are a few that I've always meant to catch up with but haven't got round to yet - Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Swallows and Amazons for example. So, the list has prompted me to go back and fill in some gaps.

My assumption when I first glanced at both lists was that I would be able to tick off more of the books than the films but I was surprised to find it was the other way round. I was an avid reader when I was a kid, still am in fact. I love buying second hand books and tend to hoard them. I can't wait for the day I live in a big enough house to have a library where I can surround myself with my beloved tomes. Interestingly, a lot of the titles cross over both lists. I guess children's literature lends itself to film as it is often highly visual. I'm always a little hesitant about watching film versions of books that I've enjoyed in case they end up being a let down. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is an all-time favourite read of mine and neither the Gene Wilder nor the Johnny Depp film versions really float my boat (much as I love Johnny Depp). Some films get it spot on though. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, for example, was made absolutely real for me through the films. I like a film version to bring the book alive, whilst retaining the plot, characters and essence from the page. I often find myself picturing how a book would look on screen and have wondered how one gets into writing screen plays. Something for me to look into once the blogging days are over perhaps...

So, I can't say I'll have watched all the films or read all the books they list before I'm 30 but I've certainly ticked off more than half and will enjoy working my way through the rest over the coming months or years.