Three books to read before you see the movies
If you’re one of those families that insist their kids read the book before seeing the movie, there’s some serious page-turning in your future. From the timely high school drama “The Hate U Give” to a classic like “Mary Poppins,” kids’ books and young adult novels are getting the Hollywood treatment. And now that movie trailers, sneak peeks, and behind-thescenes footage hit the internet months in advance of films’ releases, kids’ excitement for big- screen adaptations of their favourite books starts early.
Check out the film adaptations hitting the big screen in fall/winter 2018 to see if you’d like to read up before you step up to the box office. Goosebumps by R.L. Stine This sequel to the 2015 “Goosebumps” movie is based on Stine’s spooky book series where monsters, mummies, and dummies come alive.
Why we’re excited: Kid favourite Jack Black (”Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”) stars as “Goosebumps” creator R.L. Stine, an author who blends suspense and horror with humour and puts his protagonists in scary — but not too scary — situations they invariably overcome. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
This award-winning youngadult novel is a powerful look at race, racism and activism. It centres on an African American teen girl who attends a predominantly white school and must decide what to do after she witnesses a police shooting of an unarmed Black teen — who’s her best friend.
Why we’re excited: This book has been at the top of the YA bestsellers list since it came out in 2017 and continues to be timely. There are also strong messages about standing up for what you believe when it would be much easier not to. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling
Rowling’s short book purports to be a Hogwarts textbook that describes various beasts and dragons but doesn’t tell a story. The first film adaptation intro- duced Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), the author of that textbook, who catalogues magical creatures while living in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards in the 1920s — 70 years before Harry Potter first arrived at Hogwarts.
Why we’re excited: In this sequel, Scamander gets caught up in a war between Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). That’s a whole lot of star power in addition to the return of fun characters from the first movie.