80 Kids Books to Movie Adaptations
Recently in the ‘Your Kids Next Read’ Facebook group managed by Allison Tait, Allison Rushby and myself, there was much discussion about book to movie adaptations. Books are regularly made into movies or tv series and it’s no wonder because great storytelling exists in all forms – written and visual, paper and screen. A few of us debated the whole ‘book is always better than the movie’ thing but I think there are a quite a few cases where the movie has taken the book to a whole other level of gloriousness. On the whole I think it’s a hard task to shove an entire book into a 90 – 120 minute movie but they are different formats and each has a place in the telling of a good story.
Anyway – here is the recommendations from the group – comment with any others we’ve forgotten. I’ve tried to do a rating for them all but they are not in age order so do check for suitability. All these movies have a book that can be read before or after the movie so ensure you look at both forms of the story and debate and discuss the differences. I have linked to each book title where available – click the book title to read more about the book or to purchase.
Enjoy!
80 Books to Movie Adaptations
Movie Title and Rating | Book Title and Author
Click book title to purchase from Booktopia or read more. Search iTunes using the iBooks widget in the Advertisers section on the right of this page.
Howl’s Moving Castle (PG) – ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ by Diana Wynne Jones
Matilda (PG) – ‘Matilda’ by Roald Dahl
The BFG (PG) – ‘The BFG’ by Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach (PG) – ‘James and the Giant Peach’ by Roald Dahl
The Witches (PG) – ‘The Witches’ by Roald Dahl
Fantastic Mr Fox (PG) – ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (PG) – ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl
Esio Trot (PG) – ‘Esio Trot’ by Roald Dahl
The Jungle Book (PG) – ‘The Jungle Book’ by Rudyard Kipling
Because of Winn-Dixie (PG) – ‘Because of Winn-Dixie’ by Kate DiCamillo
The Lorax (G) – ‘The Lorax’ by Dr. Seuss
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (PG) – ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C. S. Lewis
Wonder (PG) – ‘Wonder’ by R. J. Palacio
Paper Planes (G) – ‘Paper Planes’ by Steve Worland
Bridge to Terabithia (PG) – ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ by Katherine Paterson
Charlotte’s Web (G) – ‘Charlotte’s Web’ by E. B. White
Wizard of Oz (G) – ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by L. Frank Baum
Oz the Great and Powerful (tie in with book series) (PG) – ‘Oz, the Complete Hardcover Collection’ by L. Frank Baum
Mary Poppins (G) – ‘Mary Poppins’ by P. L. Travers
Mary Poppins Returns (December release) (PG) – ‘The Mary Poppins Series’ by P. L. Travers
Pippi Longstocking (G) – ‘Pippi Longstocking’ by Astrid Lindgren
The Little Princess (G) – ‘A Little Princess’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden (G) – ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Ballet Shoes (G) – ‘Ballet Shoes’ by Noel Streatfeild
Lemony Snickett’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (PG) – ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ by Lemony Snickett
A Wrinkle in Time (PG) – ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ by Madeleine L’Engle
City of Ember (G) ‘The City of Ember’ by Jeanne DuPrau
Holes (PG) – ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar
How to Train Your Dragon (PG) – ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ by Cressida Cowell
Millions – ‘Millions’ by Frank Cottrell Joyce
Nim’s Island (Original film PG) – ‘Nim’s Island’ by Wendy Orr
Return to Nim’s Island (Bindi Irwin film G) – ‘Nim at Sea’ by Wendy Orr
Storm Boy (PG) – ‘Storm Boy’ by Colin Thiele
Christopher Robin (PG) – ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ by A. A. Milne
Goodbye Christopher Robin (PG) – ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’ by Ann Thwaite
Mr Stink (G) – ‘Mr Stink’ by David Walliams
The Boy in the Dress – ‘The Boy in the Dress’ by David Walliams
Gangsta Granny – ‘Gangsta Granny’ by David Walliams
Grandpa’s Great Escape – ‘Grandpa’s Great Escape’ by David Walliams
Billionaire Boy – ‘Billionaire Boy’ – by David Walliams
Ratburger – ‘Ratburger’ – by David Walliams
Paddington (G) – ‘A Bear Called Paddington’ by Michael Bond
The Borrowers (G) – ‘The Borrowers’ by Mary Norton
Arrietty (G) ‘The Secret World of Arrietty’ Picture Book by Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Ponyo (G) – ‘Ponyo’ by Hayao Miyazaki
Totoro (G) – ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ by Tsugiko Kubo
Pan (PG) – ‘Peter Pan’ by J. M. Barrie
Hugo (PG) – ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’ by Brian Selznick
The Golden Compass (PG) – ‘Northern Lights’ by Philip Pullman
Horton Hears a Who (G) – ‘Horton Hears a Who’ by Dr Seuss
The Cat in the Hat (PG) – ‘The Cat in the Hat’ by Dr Seuss
Peter Rabbit (2018 – PG) – ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’ by Beatrix Potter
Anne with an E (PG) – ‘Anne of Green Gables’ (series) by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone (PG) – ‘Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone’ by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (PG) – ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (PG) – ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (M) – ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (M) – ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (M) – ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (M) – ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (M) – ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ by J.K. Rowling
The Hunger Games series (M) – ‘The Hunger Games’ series by Suzanne Collins
The Maze Runner series (M) – ‘The Maze Runner Series’ by James Dashner
Divergent series (M) – ‘The Divergent Trilogy’ by Veronica Roth
Life of Pi (PG) – ‘Life of Pi’ by Yann Martel
Ender’s Game (M) – ‘Ender’s Game’ by Orson Scott Card
If I Stay (M) – ‘If I Stay’ by Gayle Forman
The Fault in Our Stars (M) – ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ by John Green
Paper Towns (M) – ‘Paper Towns’ by John Green
The Book Thief (PG) – ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak
Everything, Everything (PG) ‘Everything, Everything’ by Nicola Yoon
Hidden Figures (PG) ‘Hidden Figures’ by Margot Lee Shetterly
The Giver (M) ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry
Me Before You (PG) ‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes
Lion (PG) ‘Lion’ by Saroo Brierley
Marley & me (PG) – ‘Marley & Me’ by John Grogan
The Lord of the Rings series (M) – ‘The Lord of the Rings’series by J. R. R. Tolkien
Percy Jackson series (PG & M) ‘Percy Jackson’ series by Rick Riordan
The Worst Witch (PG) – ‘The Worst Witch’ by Jill Murphy
Arrietty is based on The Borrowers. Ponyo and Totoro are created by the director and not based on any books.
Thanks for your comment! Yes Ponyo and Totoro are def the other way round – but I love the books! But yes, I’ll add that amendment to the post!
A great list – thank you! I’m always looking for titles to read to my class. Some other books that are also movies include:
The Iron Giant
How to Train Your Dragon
5 Children and it
Mr Popper’s Penguins
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
What about Penguin Bloom? It’s a book based on real story of a family and their adoptive bird that helps them heal after tragedy. It was made into a PG movie starring Naomi Watts.
Clifford the big red dog, the one and only Ivan (not sure if the sequel was made into a movie too)
To all the boys series & the summer I turned pretty – Jenny Han
The hate you give (I can’t remember the author)
I’m trying to remember what is on the display I have set up at work