Bridge to Terabithia

I noticed that this movie was on one of my digital cable channels a couple of weeks ago, so I recorded it so I could watch it for this course. I had never read the book before, so I was hoping our school library would have it. Luckily for me, it did.

Just like the last entry, I read the book before watching the movie. This book by Katherine Paterson won the 1978 Newbery Award. In the book, a young boy named Jess makes friends with his new neighbor named Leslie. Both children are picked on and they don't have many other friends. Together they discover a secret place in the forest, accessible by a swinging rope over a creek. Leslie encourages Jess to use his imagination and they create the magical land of Terabithia. One day, Jess doesn't go to Terabithia with Leslie and a terrible tragedy occurs. Jess has to figure out how to move on using the inner strength his friend helped him find.

The movie was actually quite similar to the book. A few details were changed but not enough to alter the main points of the story. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of the computer animation of the creatures of Terabithia, but it did make the movie interesting. I think children would enjoy that part. I prefer the imaginative language of the book, however, because you can create your own picture in your mind. I enjoyed the young actors, although I thought the character of Leslie was not enough of a tomboy. I pictured someone different from the description in the book.

Overall, I enjoyed both the book and the movie. Although I didn't get this feeling from the book, the movie reminded me a bit of the movie My Girl. Both are stories about a best friend dying and leaving the other person to find their inner strength and move on.