by Grace Hoffhines

When I was in elementary school, the Harry Potter movies were all the rage. My classmates would spend recess discussing potions professors, magical dragons, and a game called Quidditch. Naturally feeling left out, I begged my parents to let me watch the movies so that I too could be a part of the discussion. No matter how bad I wanted it, my dad refused. He told me that he wanted me to read the books before I saw the movies. Of course, eight-year-old me was not thrilled. “The books are always better than the movies,” he would tell me and locked away his Harry Potter DVDs in his office.

It turns out that my dad was right. Every night for a month or so my dad and I would lay in bed and read a chapter or two of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Most nights we would alternate reading out loud each page and some nights I’d have to admit to him that I had read a chapter ahead out of excitement. Eventually, we finished the book and watched the movie together. And as much as I love the Harry Potter movies, I will admit that the books are better.

In middle school I did this same process of reading a book before watching the movie with books such as “Wonder” by R. J. Palacio, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” by John Boyne, and “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick. It’s always interesting to see how movie directors will change the content of the books to better fit a movie. Directors will cut things out, which is why it's so important to read the book and get the bits that are cut.

The Ames Public Library has lots of book and movie duos. For example, “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas is available both on the shelves as a book and as a movie in DVD format. The Lord of the Rings, Divergent Series, and The Hunger Games are all examples of series that are both available in book and movie format at the library. Library resources such as Hoopla and Kanopy have even more movies available for download with your library card.

My suggestion: take my dad’s advice and grab a book, fall in love with it, and then watch the movie.