13 Children’s Books That Have Been Filmed
Those of you who read this blog regularly may have noticed that I have a slight obsession with filmed books. Okay, major obsession. So, I thought that you all might enjoy a list of filmed books for this week’s Thursday Thirteen. There are so many films out there that originated as books. This time around I will concentrate on Children’s Books. I love children’s books, and some of the most entertaining films have come from that age-range.
13 Children’s Books That Have Been Filmed:
1. Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key - (Ignore the second version of the film. Ew.)
2. Return From Witch Mountain by Alexander Key - (One of the closest adaptations I’ve seen.)
3. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot - (Different from the book, but fun all the same.)
4. Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren - (Filmed as “Mio in the Land of Faraway.”)
5. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White - (One live action and one animated adaptation.)
6. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg - (Also filmed as “The Hideaways.”)
7. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans - (The live action version is quite well done.)
8. Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kästner - (That would be “The Parent Trap.” Yes, it’s been done at least twice.)
9. The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander - (It has the name of the 2nd book of the series, but contains some of the the first 2.)
10. The Borrowers by Mary Norton - (This seems to have been filmed 4 times.)
11. Chocky by John Wyndham - (I saw this one on Nickelodeon ages back.)
12. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett - (Filmed several times.)
13. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - (I still need to read that book…)
Has your favorite Children’s Book been made into a film or tv series? Did you like the adaptation? Let me know.
Thursday Thirteen, Escape to Witch Mountain, Alexander Key, Return From Witch Mountain, Alexander Key, The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot, Mio, My Son, Astrid Lindgren, Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg, Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans, Lisa and Lottie, Erich Kästner, The Black Cauldron, Lloyd Alexander, The Borrowers, Mary Norton, Chocky, John Wyndham, A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine
August 16th, 2007 at 2:31 am
I remember seeing the original “Charlotte’s Web” in school when I was a kid. Great idea for a TT!
August 16th, 2007 at 7:43 am
Great list! I love children’s literature. One of my favorite children’s books is A Wrinkle in Time, but unfortunately the movie version I’ve seen is really dreadful. I’m excited about The Golden Compass being made into a film, as I just discovered that book this past spring in a children’s lit class I took. I’m curious to see how the film adapts the book. Happy TT!
August 16th, 2007 at 11:47 am
If you count the Harry Potter books as children’s books, then those movies, and of course, The Wizard of Oz
August 16th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I have to say Matilda was a great child’s movie. What about Willy Wonka, the original? I don’t remember much from the book as a child but always adored the movie.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Great list. I loved the witch mountain books, can’t remember if I saw the films. Also liked the Matilda film more recently.
Thanks for stopping by my TT too.
August 16th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Mmm. The Black Cauldron!! I LOVED those books. In fact, I bought the series (I still need The High King) as an adult to save for when I have kids. I need to get #1 reading them with me.
And the original, animated Charlotte’s Web. Truly one of my all-time favorites. I could watch it anytime.
August 16th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
I loved the Hardy Boys mysteries…..have those been made into film?
thanks for visiting my TT
August 17th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Great list! I remember reading quite a few of the books.
Happy TT!
August 21st, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Lisa and Lottie was one of my favorite books and I always wondered if the Parent Trap was based on it. I loved both film versions of the Parent Trap.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Thanks, Malcolm. I liked the animated one, too.
erin, the trailer looks quite promising.
Janet, of course HP and The Wizard of Oz!
Darcykins, the original Willy Wonka is a really good film.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Julie, thanks for stopping by. The original Escape to Witch Mountain is good (though it doesn’t quite follow the book) avoid the purple icky-ness of the re-make.
Susan, yay! Another vote for Charlotte’s Web.
tommiea, yep. There have been a couple different versions of The Hardy Boys. One even had Parker Stevenson.
Nicole, thanks for stopping by!
Jackie, yep. I liked them too.
March 27th, 2008 at 12:26 am
There’s a reason why the movie “Return From Witch Mountain” is such a close “adaptation” of the book. That’s because it’s the other way around. The first movie was an adaptation of Alexander Key’s original novel “Escape from Witch Mountain” and there were quite a few changes made from the novel. (Tony and Tia having had loving adoptive parents who died. A kindly orphanage director. Tia being able to speak out loud. O’Day being a grumpy loner instead of a priest. The addition of Bolt and actually being in the bad guy’s home for a while.) A sequel movie was made from that first movie. That was “Return From Witch Mountain.” Alexander Key wrote a novelization of that movie. As I recall, he did make some attempt though to make the “Return from Witch Mountain” novelization fit the continuity of *his* original novel “Escape From Witch Mountain.” I distinctly recall a mention in the novelization of Tia only recently having learned how to speak out loud. (While in the movie continuity, Tia was always able to speak out loud.) The fact that they got the author of the original book to write the novelization of the movie sequel plus the fact that he tried to make it fit better with his book confuses the issue a bit. But the fact is, in the case of “Return from Witch Mountain”, it was the movie that came first.
March 27th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Argh! I made a mistake on the original novel title.
It’s “Escape TO Witch Mountain” of course!
But I hope the rest of my explanation wasn’t too confusing.
In either case, it’s also the reason the book “Escape to Witch Mountain” is quite a bit superior to “Return from Witch Mountain” and why the latter is not quite Key’s style. I do believe he probably actually wrote the “Return” novelization (as opposed to a ghost writer) primarily because of the mention of Tia’s previous muteness. Still, while it’s his words and characters, it is not really his plot.