Your son David has co-written the screenplay for the film. Obviously, he had a strong literary influence in your home.  Did you nurture him as a writer?
No, he was like me.  He didn’t know he was going to be a writer.  He loved to draw.  He was going to marry his sister Mary and stay home with the other children.

Was this film his idea?
He told me he’s been working on it for 17 years.  I said that wasn’t possible, but it is.  He said he had to wait for Walden Media to be created, because he thought nobody would want it.  Who would want a kid’s book?  Well, Walden believes that people do want those stories, and they also believe in protecting the integrity of the story.

Did you have any concerns about how it would turn out?
One of my biggest worries about turning the book into a film was what Terabithia itself would be like. For the past thirty years, readers have been creating Terabithia in their own imaginations, and no two readers will ever have the same vision of the place.  I write books because I want the readers’ imaginations to come to life and, although I understand films and books are very different, I hoped that this would somehow be honored in the film.  I really don’t understand it myself but through the writing and the directing and the actors and the designs, beginning with the opening credits, you really feel as if you are walking right into Jess and Leslie’s imaginations – which was a very important thing to me.  I really hope it will inspire audiences not only to read books but to see the power of what a story can do, that it can enlarge the human spirit

What has been your role in the production?
I’ve really entrusted it to David, but there were a couple of times when he needed me to write a letter or make a phone call. And that’s the difference between Walden and many studios – they pay attention to the writer. 

Can you give me example of an issue that David got you involved in?
Well, there are a number of places in the film that are very un-Hollywood.  They always question these things. They’re movie people.  They think dramatically, and they want things dramatic for the screen.  And I understand that it can’t be exactly like the book.  But I wanted it to have the spirit of the book and preserve the true story.  And it’s remarkably faithful to the story.  I saw it two weeks ago in Seattle. They had a special pre-screening for the library association, which is a very fussy audience. They just loved it and couldn’t believe how close to the book it had remained.

What was the biggest change?
Contemporizing it from the 1970s to the present.  But I’m okay with that. 

“Bridge to Terabithia” is rated PG for thematic elements including bullying, some peril and mild language.  It opens nationwide in theaters on Friday, February 16, 2007.  Click here for more information.