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.