Movies for Kids Based on Chapter Books

Using movies for kids based on chapter books is a great way to get kids reading something longer in lieu of the typical shortest book they can get their hands on to fulfill a reading assignment. It is fun for kids to compare and contrast the book and the movie, and the promise of a movie at the end can always help to get kids interested in reading.

Movies for Kids Based on Chapter Books

Fortunately, there is no shortage of movies for kids based on chapter books. While there are a myriad of movies with which most people are familiar, a whole host of stories did better on the big screen than they did in print. You may have watched something and not even realized that it was a book too!

Animated Movies for Kids Based on Chapter Books

Who doesn't love a great cartoon? These animated flicks have taken great literature and turned it into a family fare:

• The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander
• • Reading Level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus (The movie is called "The Great Mouse Detective")
• • Reading level 4th - 5th
  • Rated G

• The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated G

• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM by Robert C. O'Brien (The movie is called "The Secret of NIHM")
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated G

• The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
• • Reading level 4th - 5th
  • Rated G

Movies for Elementary Aged Kids

• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate Di Camillo
• • Reading Level 3rd - 4th
  • Rated PG

• Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated G

• The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated G

  

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
• • Reading level 4th - 5th
  • Rated G (Note: This book was also made into an older, animated movie.)

• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• • Reading Level 6th - 7th
  • Rated PG

• Matilda by Roald Dahl
• • Reading level 4th - 5th
  • Rated PG

• Stuart Little by E.B.White
• • Reading level 3rd - 4th
  • Rated PG

• Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
• • Reading level 5th -6th
  • Not Rated

• Homeward Bound by Sheila Burnford (The movie is called, "The Incredible Journey")
• • Reading level 7th - 8th
  • Rated G

• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Hotel for Dogs by Lois Duncan
• • Reading level 4th - 5th
  • Rated PG

  

• How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
• • Reading level 3rd - 4th
  • Rate PG

• The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynn Reid Banks
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated G

• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

Movies for Junior High Kids

• A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated PG

• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Unrated (This movie is quite old and thus is unrated but is quite tame to today's standards.)

• The Borrowers by Mary Norton
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Bridge to Teribithia by Katherine Paterson
• • Reading level 5th to 6th
  • Rated PG

• Cheaper By the Dozen by Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated PG

• Chronicles of Narnia (series) by C.S. Lewis
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated PG

• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG-13

  

• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Eragon by Christopher Paolini
• • Reading level 7th - 8th
  • Rated PG

• Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
• • Reading level 7th - 8th
  • Rated PG-13

• Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
• • Reading Level 5th - 6th
  • PG & PG 13 (Two movies in the series are PG-13)

• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (Movie is entitled: "'A Cry in the Wild")
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated PG

• Holes by Louis Sachar
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Hoot by Carl Haissen
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• • Reading level 7th - 8th
  • Rated PG

• My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara (Most recent version of the movie is simply called "Flicka".)
• • Reading level 6th - 8th
  • Rated PG

• The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated G

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated G

• Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated PG

• Tex by S.E. Hinton
• • Reading level 6th - 7th
  • Rated PG

• The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• • Reading level 5th - 6th
  • Rated PG

• White Fang by Jack London
• • Reading level 7th - 8th
  • Rated PG