Children's Book in a Film: Zathura

Citation: Allsburg, C. V. (2002). Zathura. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

Questions:

1. What did you like or dislike about the book?
I liked the book because I know that children would enjoy reading about actually being in a board game. The story is full of action and adventure, so this book would appeal to boys; boys are very hard to motivate to read fiction books, so this could perhaps get boys reading fiction.

2. What in your life may have influenced your reaction or response to this book?
Something in my life that may have influenced my reaction is the fact that when my little brother was younger, he liked the book and the movie and he didn’t care much for reading. He also liked Jumanji. These books and movies appeal to boys.

3. How would you compare this book to another book or books, or book or books by same author?

This book is very similar to Allsburg’s other book, Jumanji. Other books by this author are The Stranger, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Polar Express, and The Widow's Broom.

4. What new thing (information or insight) did you learn about children's literature in reading this book?

This book was just a fun book to read. I don’t think I gained any valuable insight; I just enjoyed the book and so would young readers.

Comparison to the movie:

This book was very similar to the movie. The differences were subtle, but since the movie had to be made longer than the story, there were small differences. However, the characters had the same names; other similarities include the characters experiencing low gravity, a defective robot, and invading Zorgon aliens.