Children's Books That Should Be Movies

5 Children’s Books That Should Be Movies (But Aren’t)

What Is One Children’s Book That Hasn’t Become A Movie, But Should?


To help you identify some good children’s books that should have become movies, we asked seasoned writers and book critics this question for their best picks.

From “Outside Over There,” By Maurice Sendak to “The Alchemyst,” by Michael Scott, there are several selected children’s books that are deemed interesting enough to have been made into movies.

Here Are Five Children’s Books That Should Have Been Made Into Movies:

  • Outside Over There By Maurice Sendak
  • Everworld By K. A. Applegate
  • Ghostgirl By Tanya Harding
  • The Zoey and Sassafras Series
  • The Alchemyst By Michael Scott

Outside Over There By Maurice Sendak

Outside Over There is one of the children’s books, which hasn’t become a movie, but it should. So, forget Where The Wild Things Are.

Only rhetorically, but still, this book is probably the favorite of the author’s works. Intimidating and whimsical, the book is about a big sister’s journey to find her baby sister, robbed by goblins who replaced her with an ice baby and are willing to marry her.

In this book, limitless cinematic possibilities are there. This book showcases that while papa is off to sea and mama is disheartened, Ida should go outside to rescue her baby sister from goblins who rob her to be a goblin’s bride.

Caroline Lee, CocoSign

Everworld By K. A. Applegate

Written by K. A. Applegate, the author of the famous Animorphs series, Everworld is a riveting series for children and young adults set in a world where mythological gods are real.

In the series, a group of young people navigate this strange world and build friendships and rivalries with various gods of different traditions.

With the success we’ve seen with the Percy Jackson series, it’s clear children are interested in stories about mythology, and the Everworld series is the next one that should make the leap to the big screen.

Rob Bartlett, WTFast

Ghostgirl By Tanya Harding

Ghostgirl, the debut novel of Tanya Harding, was amazingly popular when it first came out back in 2008, making the New York Times bestseller list within a month of release. It perfectly hit the young adult fiction niche at the time, including paranormal themes, romance, and mystery.

This was the same year that the first movie adaptation of Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight series was released, kicking off a massively successful franchise. Ghostgirl is less romantic and more darkly witty, with a plotline that both adults and teens loved in novel format.

Ten years later and a lot of kids and teens still can’t get enough of the supernatural genre, so there’s no reason Ghostgirl shouldn’t be adapted for the silver screen!

Jaymee Messler, The Gaming Society

The Zoey and Sassafras Series

The Zoey and Sassafras series. This is a story about a young girl, Zoey, whose mother is a scientist and can see magical creatures, and Zoey discovers she has that same gift.

It covers strong female characters, environmental issues, magic, mystery, problem-solving, and of course,  a cat with a personality.

This is an excellent children’s book series that is a teaching tool for us all and should be in everyone’s household, in book form and hopefully eventually in movie form as well.

Staci Brinkman, Sips by

The Alchemyst By Michael Scott

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel starts an exciting series of six books that could easily be turned into a franchise on the big or small screen. It’s a story filled with adventure, historic figures, and two protagonists that kids can really see themselves in.

It’s a series that could be used to teach the importance of history, culture, and teamwork. I hope we can see it come to life someday.

Soji James, 1AND1 Life

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