Bridge to Terebithia is a fabulous story that I have loved since I was in the 4th grade. I love the fact that it is such a simple story, yet it is packed full of imagination. In order to fully appreciate Terebithia you have to be able to imagine the unthinkable just as Leslie and Jess do.
In this story, Jess really hopes to be the fastest kid in the fifth grade so he has been running all summer long, but when school starts he is beaten by the new girl, Leslie Burke. Leslie has just moved next door to Jess and his family yet it takes Jess a while to befriend the girl who ruined his chance of being the best.
Eventually they become friends and they create their own magical land called Terebithia. They can only get to Terebithia by crossing a stream on a swinging rope. They spend all of their spare time in Terebithia imagining that they are king and queen and fighting off giants, ogres and other beasts.
One day Jess goes to the museum with one of his teachers and he doesn’t invite Leslie because he wants to spend time with this teacher alone. While they are there Leslie decides to go to Terebithia but the rope breaks and she drowns in the water. Jess feels extremely guilty for not being there with Leslie and he thinks her death is his fault.
In the midst of his grief, Jess decides to build a bridge a bridge to Terebithia in honor of Leslie. Once he completes his bridge he allows his little sister to enter his and Leslie’s secret land. May Belle, the little sister, becomes the princess of Terebithia, and the book ends on a hopeful note.
There were many similarities between the book and the movie although the movie really brought Terebithia to life. I think that the director and producer of the movie stayed true to the book as much as possible and they did not change much. I really enjoyed watching the movie in order to see how Jess and Leslie really viewed Terebithia. It is hard to imagine a magical land when it is only written about and the children themselves are also imagining it, but when you actually see it come to life on the big screen it appears real and I felt like I was actually in a new land.
There were very few additions to the movie that I did not read in the book and for the most part they did not change the storyline at all. I got the impression as I watched the movie that Jess and Leslie may have been more than friends but that is never alluded to in the book. They were not actually boyfriend and girlfriend, but they may have had feelings for each other which is a step further than the mere friendship they shared in the book by Katherine Patterson.
Janice Avery, who is the school bully in the book was portrayed very well in the movie. There were several scenes in the movie that came straight out of the book such as the stealing of May Belle’s Twinkies, the note to Willard Hughes, and the crying episode in the bathroom. I do not remember her making the kids pay her a dollar to use the restroom in the book but it seems like something she would have done so the addition of this scene makes sense. I thought it was a nice touch that Janice gave the boy (I can’t remember his name) a bloody nose for telling Jess he would now be the fastest kid in the fifth grade. This scene was not in the book, but it was appropriate to add it in because the reader knew what a bully the boy could be and it was good to see Janice coming to Leslie’s defense.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and I would recommend it to anyone who likes the book. In fact, I would encourage students (most likely fourth and fifth graders) to read this book because it is such a good story and asks the reader to use his/her imagination. I would definitely tell the reader to read the book before seeing the movie because it is more fun to imagine Terebithia as you see it in your mind before you have been inundated with images of Terebithia from the movie.
Images courtesy of http://www.waldenfans.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_book-cover.gif and www.impawards.com/.../bridge_to_terabithia.jpg
In this story, Jess really hopes to be the fastest kid in the fifth grade so he has been running all summer long, but when school starts he is beaten by the new girl, Leslie Burke. Leslie has just moved next door to Jess and his family yet it takes Jess a while to befriend the girl who ruined his chance of being the best.
Eventually they become friends and they create their own magical land called Terebithia. They can only get to Terebithia by crossing a stream on a swinging rope. They spend all of their spare time in Terebithia imagining that they are king and queen and fighting off giants, ogres and other beasts.
One day Jess goes to the museum with one of his teachers and he doesn’t invite Leslie because he wants to spend time with this teacher alone. While they are there Leslie decides to go to Terebithia but the rope breaks and she drowns in the water. Jess feels extremely guilty for not being there with Leslie and he thinks her death is his fault.
In the midst of his grief, Jess decides to build a bridge a bridge to Terebithia in honor of Leslie. Once he completes his bridge he allows his little sister to enter his and Leslie’s secret land. May Belle, the little sister, becomes the princess of Terebithia, and the book ends on a hopeful note.
There were many similarities between the book and the movie although the movie really brought Terebithia to life. I think that the director and producer of the movie stayed true to the book as much as possible and they did not change much. I really enjoyed watching the movie in order to see how Jess and Leslie really viewed Terebithia. It is hard to imagine a magical land when it is only written about and the children themselves are also imagining it, but when you actually see it come to life on the big screen it appears real and I felt like I was actually in a new land.
There were very few additions to the movie that I did not read in the book and for the most part they did not change the storyline at all. I got the impression as I watched the movie that Jess and Leslie may have been more than friends but that is never alluded to in the book. They were not actually boyfriend and girlfriend, but they may have had feelings for each other which is a step further than the mere friendship they shared in the book by Katherine Patterson.
Janice Avery, who is the school bully in the book was portrayed very well in the movie. There were several scenes in the movie that came straight out of the book such as the stealing of May Belle’s Twinkies, the note to Willard Hughes, and the crying episode in the bathroom. I do not remember her making the kids pay her a dollar to use the restroom in the book but it seems like something she would have done so the addition of this scene makes sense. I thought it was a nice touch that Janice gave the boy (I can’t remember his name) a bloody nose for telling Jess he would now be the fastest kid in the fifth grade. This scene was not in the book, but it was appropriate to add it in because the reader knew what a bully the boy could be and it was good to see Janice coming to Leslie’s defense.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and I would recommend it to anyone who likes the book. In fact, I would encourage students (most likely fourth and fifth graders) to read this book because it is such a good story and asks the reader to use his/her imagination. I would definitely tell the reader to read the book before seeing the movie because it is more fun to imagine Terebithia as you see it in your mind before you have been inundated with images of Terebithia from the movie.
Images courtesy of http://www.waldenfans.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_book-cover.gif and www.impawards.com/.../bridge_to_terabithia.jpg
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