As George R.R. Martin once said, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies." This quote is as true as it gets: a great book is able to take the reader on a journey into a different world, introducing fascinating characters with whom the reader becomes attached, and even arousing all kinds of emotions. Books are sources of reflection, knowledge and entertainment — everybody loves a good story. All of this is enhanced during childhood, as children look up to storybook characters as their role models, mimicking their adventures and re-reading their stories over and over again. In fact, the books we read in our childhood are, as outlined by Wired, largely responsible for making us who we are today.
Yet, there is something much more exciting than reading a book: finding out about its film adaptation afterwards. The thrill of discovering the characters' story one page after another in a book acquires a new sense with a movie. Movies make it possible to watch the characters, each with their unique appearance, whether or not they resemble the reader's imagination, and to revisit — and re-experience — the story through audiovisual media. Of course, there have been adaptations that did not live up to the readers' expectations and turned out to be a failure, as was the case of the 2004 film Around the World in 80 Days. This movie was inspired by the world-renowned novel by Jules Verne but, unlike the book, it received awful reviews and was poorly welcomed by the fans. Nevertheless, there are plenty of successful book-to-film adaptations, specially within the children's genre. Therefore, here is a ranking of eight of the best movies adapted from children's books.
8 Shrek
Shrek is one of DreamWorks Animation's most successful franchises, featuring four films, several TV specials, a spin-off franchise, and even a stage play. The movies featured an international cast of actors voicing the characters, including Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, and Antonio Banderas, and told the story of Shrek, an unpleasant ogre who lives alone in his swamp until he is overrun by fairy tale creatures driven out of the kingdom by Lord Farquaad. This invasion forced him to take matters into his own hands, embarking on a path that turned him into an ogre he could never have imagined. One thing that not many people know is that the story is inspired by a children's book under the same name by William Steig, published in 1990. Indeed, the early conceptual artwork for the film was, according to Screen Rant, heavily inspired by the book's illustrations, although eventually the character design was modified to become the ogre known today.
7 Where The Wild Things Are
Where The Wild Things Are is a children's book written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, which was published in 1963. It follows young Max, a rebellious boy whom no one understands and who dreams of becoming a terrifying monster. One night, after committing several pranks, he is sent to his room, grounded, but something had changed: all of a sudden, his room turned into a giant jungle, and then a vast ocean emerged, through which Max sailed on a boat to get to where the wild things were. There, he met a bunch of monsters that turned him into their leader. The movie adaptation arrived in 2009, directed by Spike Jonze and starring Max Records, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, and Pepita Emmerichs.
6 How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Jim Carrey had to undergo many long hours in the makeup chair to become the Grinch, the peculiar main character of the 2000 film How The Grinch Stole Christmas. This production was an adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book, but it was not the only one: in 1966 and 2018, two movies inspired by the story were also released, but used animation. The book recounts the story of the Grinch, a bitter character who lives in a cave on the outskirts of Whoville, a quaint little town that is fond of Christmas. Oddly enough, the hermit Grinch hates Christmas, and after a failed attempt to join the crowd in town, he decides to hatch a plan to ruin the town's holiday. Along the way, however, he learns a few things that will change him forever.
5 The Witches
Roald Dahl was a writer known worldwide for his children's stories, even though he has written for adult audiences and other literary genres. Something interesting about his stories is that many of them were adapted into movies — and more than once. Specifically, The Witches was a children's novel published in 1983 that followed the story of a little boy and his grandmother in a world where there are secret societies of terrifying, child-hating witches led by the Grand High Witch. Fortunately, the boy's grandmother is a retired witch hunter, so when they both discover the Grand High Witch's evil plan, they decide to step in to stop her once and for all. This story has been adapted for the silver screen twice, first in 1990 featuring a cast led by the great Anjelica Huston, and then again in 2020 with Anne Hathaway in the role of the Grand High Witch. That first adaptation had an excellent reception from the critics and audiences, which unfortunately was not the case with the 2020 adaptation.
4 Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is another excellent children's novel by Roald Dahl adapted for the silver screen. The book, published in 1964, narrates the story of Charlie Bucket, a very poor boy whose destiny is changed when he meets Willy Wonka, the owner of the biggest chocolate factory in his town. This story was adapted for the cinema on two occasions, in 1971 and 2005. The first one starred Gene Wilder, and the second one, Johnny Depp under the direction of the great Tim Burton. Both had an excellent reception from the public and became children's classics. It was recently announced that a prequel to the story called Wonka will be produced, focusing on the life and story of Willy Wonka before becoming the eccentric character as we know him today. The movie will star Timothée Chalamet and is expected to premiere next year.
3 Coraline
This 2009 movie was the first production of the animation studio Laika, and it was inspired by Neil Gaiman's book of the same name, released in 2002. In it, the audience gets to know Coraline, a curious little girl who, after moving to a boring old house with her parents, discovers a passageway to a parallel world where everything is much more fun, including her parents. However, things are not as they seem, and the young girl finds herself faced with the mission of escaping from this incredible but deceptive reality. A curious thing about the movie is that, although it was intended for a younger audience and is far less frightening than the book's narrative, it has frightened numerous children, to the point that, around the time of the premiere, many families had to walk out of movie theaters due to their children's fear.
2 Harry Potter
Harry Potter is one of the quintessential movie franchises. It features eight films that follow the adventures of Harry, the Boy Who Lived, throughout his schooling at Hogwarts, along with his best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, his teenage years, and his subsequent battle with Voldemort, the evil wizard who murdered his parents in his quest to control the wizarding world. It is already well known that these movies were inspired by a series of fantasy novels, seven books that got children around the world to read passionately, even if they had never been interested in reading before. Although the films are not entirely faithful to the books, the author was heavily involved in their production.
1 Matilda
Matilda is probably one of the best children's movies of all time for a number of reasons. Chief among them is its plot, inspired by Roald Dahl's 1988 book under the same name and starring Matilda, an intelligent little girl who had the misfortune of being born into a family that not only didn't value her, but also didn't care about her education. From a very young age, Matilda discovered the magic of reading and with it, added to her telekinetic powers, she was able to go through every obstacle to eventually reach her happy ending. The adaptation of this book for the silver screen came in 1996, directed by and starring Danny DeVito, the child actress prodigy Mara Wilson, who had risen to fame three years earlier with Mrs. Doubtfire, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Pam Ferris.