Bridge to Terabithia

Bridge to Terabithia

By: Katherine Paterson

A mastered family movie with a positive message that addresses topical themes for children in a poignant, focused manner. The children depicted are very real and likable and easy to identify with. The movie is a faithful and touching adaptation of the beloved children's classic book.

Jess Aarons is eager to start fifth grade. He's been practicing his sprints all summer, determined to become the fastest runner at school. All seems to be on track, until the new girl in class Leslie Burke, leaves all the boys in the dust, including Jess. After this rather frustrating introduction, Jess and Leslie soon become inseparable. Together, they create an imaginary, secret kingdom in the woods called Terabithia that can be reached only by swinging across a creek bed on a rope. But one morning a tragic accident befalls Leslie as she ventures alone to Terabithia, and Jess's life is changed forever.

I feel that the movie was better than the book because it focused more on the adventures in Terabithia, while the book dealt with the "loss" part more. It stayed very true to the book, but seemed to tie things together much better than I felt the book did. Terabithia didn't seem to be such a driving force in the book, there wasn't much detail about the world, and not much time spent there. The movie made some very nice parallells between the terabithia and reality, which I think is very difficult to do in a book, film makes it much easier. This movie stayed very true to the book!