Bridge to Terabithia - Children's Book & Feature Film

The Bridge to Terabithia, written by Katherine Paterson, was the Newbery Medal Winner in 1978. In this book, Jess Aarons is a poor farm boy who wants nothing more than to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. That is, until he meets Leslie Burke. Leslie completely changes everything for Jess. She's intelligent, brave, and imaginative . . . everything that Jess is not. Jess and Leslie quickly become the best of friends and together they create a secret, imaginary city, called Terabithia, that is entered by swinging over a creek on a rope swing. In Terabithia, Jess and Leslie reign as king and queen, and act out their wildest dreams. The times they spend together are the happiest moments of Jess' life. Then, one day the unthinkable happens. Leslie unexpectedly dies when the rope swing breaks as she is entering Terabithia on her own one day. Jess is devastated at the loss of his best friend, but learns to cope with her death using the strength and courage that he learned from her while she was still alive.

In 2007, Bridge to Terabithia was made into a full-length feature film, which renewed interest in this beautiful story of friendship. The movie version of this story was absolutely wonderful, yet there were some differences from the book. In the movie, the setting is modern and the characters dress in clothing typical of children today. Instead of the tom-boyish clothes and haircut discussed in the book, Leslie wears edgey, yet stylish clothes and has a feminine hairstyle. Also, in the movie, the viewer sees the characters from Jess and Leslie's imagination as if they are actually there, as opposed to just watching the two characters playing "make-believe." Even with these changes, the movie version of this story stays true to its original found in the book.

References:

Paterson, K. (1977). Bridge to Terabithia. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Csupo, G. (Director). (2007). Bridge to Terabithia [motion picture]. United States: Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media.

Walden Fans Gallery. (n.d.). Bridge to Terabithia. Retrieved on April 14, 2008, from http://www.waldenfans.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=7&pos=3