MOVIES THAT WILL MAKE BOYS READ

By Martha Brockenbrough
MSN Cinemama

Everyone knows reading is good for you, right? Just in case, though, let me count the ways you benefit from books:

- Reading boosts your vocabulary more than through mere yakking, or even through direct instruction;

- It boosts your general knowledge and makes it less likely you will store bogus information in there; and

- As you age, it helps protect your memory and reasoning skills. (Learn more on Encarta.)

Naturally, we want our kids to read plenty of books. But what if they'd rather sit in front of the television? Honestly, it's the rare child who doesn't yearn to watch altogether too much TV.

While it's great that there are exceptions to this general rule, you don't have to feel bad if your kid has perfectly normal urges. (Nor do you have to track down my phone number to let me know that your little Higgenbotham hates the TV and always makes his bed. I might cry.)

In any case, TV can be your ally in the war to read more. You can use your kids' love of the screen to lead them to the printed word.

A while back, I wrote about movies that make girls want to read. Now that "Eragon" is out on DVD, it's the boys' turn. Of course, most boys of a certain age have already read this fantasy about a boy who rides dragons, but that doesn't mean their little brothers have yet picked up the book.

But despite the presence of Jeremy Irons and Rachel Weisz in the cast, the movie really isn't very good, though there's certainly no harm in renting it.

Afterward, you can say, "Well, son, I'm glad you enjoyed that stirring tale of dragons, clashing swords and courage displayed while wearing attractive leather pants. But the book is better. Every prepubescent boy in all the land thinks so. Would you like to read it?"

If they have the power to resist, you can move on to the next piece of cinematic book-bait.

For Elementary-age Boys

Sometimes I wonder what sort of childhood Roald Dahl had. His books are dark and twisted -- full of poverty, cruelty and, of course, orphans. Naturally, they make great reading.

Though "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is probably more well-known (it is about candy, after all), "James and the Giant Peach" is a thrilling read. When it starts, James is a happy boy enjoying life on the coast of England. Then, a rhino kills his parents and he's sent to live with his cruel aunts, Spiker and Sponge.

Though the book and movie differ a bit on the details, James ends up living inside a giant peach along with insects that have experienced similar supernatural super-sizing; all together, they ride the peach to New York (and to a better life).

Produced in 1996 by Tim Burton, who also did "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" starring Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore, "James and the Giant Peach" has Burton's signature eccentric creepiness, and boys who go on to read the book won't be disappointed -- that same darkness makes it a total page-turner.

Another movie that might appeal to boys this age is "Doctor Dolittle." Though Eddie Murphy made a movie and sequel loosely based on the same story, the Rex Harrison version won Academy Awards, including Best Song for "Talk to the Animals," which I sang in middle school and my daughter sang in kindergarten. (I take it that there's an unwritten rule that says no school child has been educated until the line "... chatting with a cheetah, what a neat achievement it would be!" escapes his lips.)

The movie tells the story of Doctor Dolittle, who's learned to converse with 500 kinds of animals and is in search of a giant pink snail. It also stars a chimpanzee named Cheeta, who has just celebrated his 75th birthday and has a Guinness World Record for non-human primate longevity. (Though he still doesn't have his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which seems beastly considering his body of work.)

If you can't get your child to be interested in reading one of the many "Doctor Dolittle" books (one of which won a Newbery Medal), then the "Guinness Book of World Records" would be a great next step for little boys, if only so they can stare at the mesmerizing image of the world's tallest Mohawk.