Author, Author! Read all about it! I’m writing a book.

There is BIG news to share with you, Mamarzzi Knows Best and The Wrap Hollyblog readers. I have been hired by a publisher to write a book! I will become the author of a children’s book about movies. What else, right?

Suzette Valle Photo by Huckleberry Photography

“101 Movies to See Before You Grow Up” is slated for publication in the Fall of 2015, and it will be a book specifically for children 8 years and up. The book will be in a bucket-list type format, offering brief synopses, facts, and little-known information about each movie to help readers understand why a particular film is special. It will be an interactive book for Millennial parents and children to use as a film journal of sorts, too.

In something straight out of a dream, I was contacted by the acquisitions manager at Walther Foster Jr., the children’s book division of the Quarto Publishing Group, to write about this topic. I am humbled and honored to have been considered for this job — I have been keeping an eye on family entertainment for a while now, so I guess someone has been reading my blogs!

The movies listed in this book are geared towards you, the Millennial parent and Millennial children. This generally refers to those born between 1980 and 2000, but it’s not exclusive to Generation Y. If you expect to find “Gone With the Wind” or “Citizen Kane” in this book, you won’t. This book is not your parent’s list of movies.

Of course, there will be a few ultra-classic films listed, like “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Sound of Music, and there will be a reason why they are included. However, expect the unexpected (“The Brave Little Toaster”) because that’s a central characteristic of having one foot in the cultural mainstream and the other trying to hang on to traditions — which makes for a very delicate balance these media-rich days we live in. Today’s kids can access movies from practically anywhere, and a parent doesn’t have to be with their kids to watch a film. But you should. Watching movies has become one the most common forms of family entertainment: Movie night!

There’s more to movies than pure entertainment. There are lessons in films to be learned; life, history, sports, culture, and languages can be understood by watching the right movies. Sometimes, like in the movie “Babe,” even a spark is ignited that can lead to a life-changing movement (yes, movement!).

As a parent of Millennial children, I realized that the movies we’ve watched with our kids are quite different from the ones I watched with my parents. One such experience, which is seared into my memory for eternity, is when my parents took me to watch “The Exorcist”… as a 12 year old! I didn’t sleep for a month after that! Big mistake to say the least. But the ratings system wasn’t as common as it is today, so I forgave my parents for doing this me.  Your parents, on the other hand, don’t have this excuse. Resources abound regarding the appropriateness of a film for a child’s age. From a parent and to help other parents, I hope you’ll add my book to your list of trusted resources when you need movie suggestions for your family’s movie night!

While I work on this bucket-list item of my own (to write a book!), I’d love to hear from you, parents and kids!  Tell me what your favorite movies are and why I should include them in the book. Introduce yourselves too! Tell me about you, your children and their ages (consider your privacy, too), and about your love of film. E-mail me at vallesuzette@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

There’s nothing more valuable than a parent’s opinion about a movie — and I may even quote you (with your permission, of course). Whether it’s a classic line that’s stuck with you like “May The force Be with You,” made famous in “Star Wars,” or a teen pop-cultural phenomenon like “Juno,” I’d like to know if and how a film impacted you or your kids during this new Millennium!