I saw this with two of my kids (8 and 6) and they enjoyed the show. They are interested in reading the books with me now. I LOVED the books when I was a kid but hadn't read them in years. I thought there were some things that were different in the movie, but wasn't sure because it had been so many years since I had read the books. Having gone back I definitely prefer the books. There is a flow that never seems to take off in the movie and it doesn't have the same feel as the books, but it is a good story. As the other reviewer said, if you don't mind a few changes (especially easy to overlook if it has been a while since you read the books) the movie is pretty good as a stand-alone.