Books and movies

I have always loved to read. As a young child some of my fondest memories are of book time at the library and going to the Bookmobile. I can still remember the musty book smell of the old library. I remember the excitement I felt as I discovered a new interesting book. Reading has always allowed me to open my mind and stretch my imagination.

Ever since my children were little, I have always read to them. Over the past couple of months, Holden and I have read the entire Spiderwick Chronicles series. Every night we would lay in bed and read a few chapters. Holden always begged for just one more chapter. So when he saw that a movie was coming out based on the books, he begged to go. I personally don't like to watch movies after I have read the book because in the past I have found myself disappointed in how the movie pales in comparison to the book. But since it was Holden's wish, not mine I agreed to take him.

Today was the first day that we had some free time so we headed to the matinee. We bought a frozen slush and headed to theatre 11 for the show. There were already quite a few people in there by the time we arrived but we were still able to get a good seat. For two hours, Holden sat mesmerized by the movie. I was thinking as the movie unfolded that I hoped he wasn't disappointed by the script because it was not very much like the books.

As we were leaving the theatre at the end of the movie, I asked him if he had enjoyed the movie. He said he had but it wasn't a whole lot like the book. I explained that the movie writers had to take all of those books and condense them down to something that only lasted two hours. Holden nodded in understanding and said that books were much better than movies because he liked to use his imagination. I grabbed his hand and smiled and thought to myself how good it makes me feel that my children love books as much as I do.