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March 19, 2013

150 Children's Books That Were Turned Into Movies


 
(Photo: Flickr)

Reading a good book, then watching it come alive on the screen (in a 'didn't-ruin-it-with-terrible-acting-like-in-Twilight' kind of way) can be so much fun for kids and adults alike. 

This list is meant to help you choose books that can be paired with a movie to make the reading process that much more fun for your students. Some books might work better as read-alouds, while others could work as guided reading or novel units. 

These books are not categorized by age, so please use your discretion when choosing an age-appropriate movie or book for your class. And as always, read the book and screen the movie before using it.

A few ways you can use book/movie combinations:
  • Have a special 'movie day' to follow up reading a longer novel unit.
  • Award students who reach their AR goal with a book-turned-movie time.
  • Have a goal for students to read a certain book and if they reach it, they can watch the movie.
  • Give this list to parents, highlighting books that are age-appropriate for their children. Encourage them to have a family movie night when their kids finish reading that particular book.
  • Use as a follow-up to a book you've read-aloud in class.
  • Use as a holiday party. Ex: Read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, then watch the movie during your Christmas party.


Now, without further ado...

150 children's books that were turned into movies:
(Movie titles are the same as the book title unless otherwise noted.)

My personal favorites are in bold.

  1. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
  2. Amazing Adventures from Zoom’s Academy (Movie Title: Zoom)
  3. Anne of Avonlea
  4. Anne of Green Gables
  5. The Ant Bully
  6. Arthur (This series was made into a PBS cartoon series by the same name)
  7. Arthur and the Minimoys (Movie Title: Arthur and the Invisibles)
  8. Babar (Movie Title: Babar the Elephant)
  9. The Baby-sitters Club
  10. The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1)
  11. Basil of Baker Street (Movie Title: The Great Mouse Detective)
  12. Because of Winn-Dixie
  13. The Bernstein Bears Series (turned into a PBS cartoon series)
  14. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
  15. The BFG
  16. Black Beauty
  17. Black Stallion
  18. The Borrowers
  19. The Brave Little Toaster: ABedtime Story for Small Appliances (Movie Title: The Brave Little Toaster)
  20. The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
  21. Bridge to Terabithia
  22. The Call of the Wild
  23. The Cat in the Hat
  24. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  25. Charlotte’s Web
  26. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  27. Clifford the Big Red Dog (Movie Title: Clifford’s Really Big Movie)
  28. Coraline
  29. Curious George
  30. David Copperfield
  31. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  32. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: RodrickRules
  33. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
  34. Doctor Dolittle
  35. Dumbo the Flying Elephant (Movie Title: Dumbo)
  36. Ella Enchanted
  37. Eloise (Movie Title: Eloise at the Plaza)
  38. Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle, #1)
  39. Escape to Witch Mountain
  40. The Face on the Milk Carton
  41. Fantastic Mr. Fox
  42. Freak the Mighty (Movie Title: TheMighty)
  43. Freaky Friday
  44. From the Mixed up Files of Mrs.Basil E. Frankweiler
  45. Gone with the Wind (& sequel: Scarlet)
  46. Great Expectations (TV and Movie adaptations)
  47. The Great Gatsby
  48. Green Eggs and Ham
  49. Guardians of Childhood (Movie Title: Rise of the Guardians)
  50. Gulliver’s Travels
  51. Harriet the Spy
  52. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’sStone (along with all the Harry Potter books)
  53. Hatchet
  54. Heidi
  55. The Hobbit
  56. Hoot
  57. Holes
  58. Horton Hears a Who
  59. Horton Hatches an Egg
  60. Hotel for Dogs
  61. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
  62. How to Eat Fried Worms
  63. How to Train Your Dragon
  64. The Hundred and One Dalmatians
  65. The Hunger Games (Trilogy)
  66. The Incredible Journey (Movie Title: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey)
  67. The Indian in the Cupboard
  68. Inkheart
  69. The Iron Man (Movie Title: The Iron Giant)
  70. The Invention of Hugo Cabaret(Movie Title: Hugo)
  71. Island of the Blue Dolphins
  72. James and the Giant Peach
  73. Judy Moody (Movie Title: Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer)
  74. Jumanji
  75. The Jungle Book
  76. Lassie Come Home
  77. The Last Unicorn
  78. Lemony Snicket’s: A Series ofUnfortunate Events (Movie based on first 3 books)
  79. The Lion, the Witch and theWardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia Series)
  80. A Little Princess
  81. Little Women
  82. Little Men
  83. The Littles
  84. The Lorax
  85. Lord of the Flies
  86. Madeline
  87. The Magic Bed Knob (Movie Title: Bedknobs and Broomsticks)
  88. Magic School Bus Series (TV show series on PBS by the same name)
  89. Mary Poppins
  90. Matilda
  91. Mars Needs Moms!
  92. Meet Kit (Movie Title: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl)
  93. Millions
  94. Misty of Chincoteague (Movie Title: Misty)
  95. Mr. Popper’s Penguines
  96. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Movie Title: The Secret of NIMH
  97. My Dog Skip
  98. My Friend Flicka
  99. Nancy Drew
  100. The Neverending Story
  101. Nicholas Nickleby
  102. Nim’s Island
  103. The Night at the Museum
  104. Northern Lights (Movie Title: Golden Compass)
  105. Nurse Matilda (Movie Title: Nanny McPhee
  106. Old Yeller
  107. Oliver Twist
  108. Percy Jackson and the Olympians
  109. Peter Pan
  110. The Phantom Tollbooth
  111. Pinocchio
  112. Pippy Longstocking
  113. The Polar Express
  114. Pollyanna
  115. Pride and Prejudice
  116. The Princess Diaries
  117. Ramona (Movie Title: Ramona andBeezus)
  118. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
  119. The Rescuers
  120. Robinson Crusoe
  121. Romeo & Juliet
  122. The Scarlet Letter
  123. The Secret Garden
  124. Shrek
  125. The Snowman (by Raymond Briggs)
  126. The Spiderwick Chronicles
  127. Stuart Little
  128. The Sword in the Stone
  129. The Tale of Despereaux
  130. The Tale of Two Cities
  131. To Kill a Mockingbird
  132. Toby Tyler
  133. Treasure Island
  134. The Trumpet of the Swan
  135. Tuck Everlasting
  136. Undercover Cat (Movie Title: That Darn Cat)
  137. War Horse
  138. The Water Horse
  139. Watership Down
  140. We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story
  141. The Westing Game (Movie Title: Get a Clue)
  142. Where the Red Fern Grows
  143. Where the Wild Things Are
  144. The Wind in the Willows
  145. Winnie-the-Pooh (many movies and tv shows based on this book series)
  146. The Witches (Author: Roald Dahl)
  147. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  148. A Wrinkle in Time
  149. The Yearling
  150. Zathura

I used many resources across the web to create this comprehensive list, but one resource that was particulary well-organized was this article on Wikipedia. I'd encourage you to check it out!

Do you have a favorite book-turned-movie that you've used? Share it with us in the comments.

2 comments:

  1. One of my favorite books that I remember reading as a child is Pagemaster, which later became a movie starring Macaulay Culkin. I am surprised it did not make this list, it is really good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooooh- that IS a good one, Allyson! Thanks for suggesting it.

      Delete

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