A great way to get kids reading is to choose books that are paired with movies. there are so many children’s books that are wonderful movies, classics, and newer titles that are based on some of the most popular children’s books, including picture books and chapter books, so there really is a book for children turned into a movie for every reading age and stage.
Whether you’re studying at home or sharing a couple of books and movies in the classroom, these combinations provide a great foundation for compare and contrast activities. Whether your kids enjoy action, adventure, fantasy, or even a little scary, there’s a book with a movie duo for them!
You are reading: Kids books that are movies
See Also: The Little House Books – Little House on the Prairie
If you’re looking for book/movie combos for older kids, pair this list with our 50 tween & Teen Books That Are Movies Publish a total of 100 kids’ books turned into movies that are suitable for kids of all ages and their families.
50 children’s books that are movies
See Also: 5 Real Reasons Why Books are So Expensive in 2022 – MyReadingWorld
I suggest checking out the reviews on the common sense media website for titles you’re not familiar with. They provide helpful age recommendations from experts, parents and children. Each book and movie listed below is linked to an online store page – these are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
Illustrated children’s books that are movies
1. Where the Wild Things Are Follow Max on his adventure in his beloved wolf suit! Off to faraway islands where he finds a group of Wild Things who call him King. Together they cause havoc until Max smells something wonderful calling him back home. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
2. Peter Rabbit The tale of a very mischievous rabbit who finds his way into trouble in the gardens of Mr. McGregor who hates animals raiding his vegetables! Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
3. The Gruffalo A mouse who faces being eaten by a range of forest foes invents a creature that is sure to strike fear in anyone – but little does the little mouse know, that the Gruffalo actually exists! Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon
For more Julia Donaldson and short movies like this, check out our fun collection of Short Films from Children’s Books.
4. Horton Hears a Who The classic tale of Horton, a pretty large elephant, who swears he hears the smallest of voices on a flower calling for help… but no one else believes him. Horton sets out to help the voices he hears. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
5. Dumbo The tale of a young elephant with ears bigger than he can carry and his fiercely protective mother. Nicknamed Dumbo on account of his ears, he faces new adventures when he discovers his ears can help him to fly! Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Live Action – Amazon | Animated – Amazon 
6. The Cat in the Hat When a brother and sister are stuck inside on a rainy day, the Cat in the Hat appears to add fun to the day, and in the process makes a huge mess. With mother on her way home soon the children despair – how will they clean ever it all up in time? Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
7. Chicken Little When an acorn drops on Chicken Little’s head, he thinks the sky is falling and dashes off to tell the king, taking his feathered friends along with him. Unfortunately Foxy Loxy learns of the plan and tries to trick them all into becoming his dinner! Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
8. Curious George A young monkey named George is taken from the jungle by the man in the yellow hat and starts a new life in the city. George however is a curious little one and gets into trouble just by being curious. Follow the pair along with all their misadventures. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
9. The Lorax A classic story from Dr. Seuss about The Lorax, a creature who speaks for the trees when their environment is threatened, reminding us all of the importance of speaking up for those that can’t speak for themselves. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon
For more like The Lorax, check out our complete collection of Kids Movies about Nature.
10. Eloise Eloise is a young girl growing up in The Plaza Hotel in New York. She’s only six but has courage and self-confidence beyond her years. She loves interacting with the many interesting people visiting the hotel, and has so much to teach everyone. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
11. Madeline Madeline lives in the beautiful city of Paris. She has no fear and is always the first to try to save the day with her kind words and actions, jumping into action when a friend falls ill and must go to hospital. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
12. The Night at the Museum When Larry becomes a nighttime security guard at the museum he thinks it’s going to be a piece of cake. After waking from a nap he finds all the dinosaur exhibits are missing, only to then discover them… ALIVE! Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
13. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs What if it was raining spaghetti noodles instead of rain! Listen to the tale a grandfather tells his grandchildren of a town where food rains from the sky. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
14.The Polar Express Billy has started to doubt that Santa is real. A magical train ride to the North Pole to make Christmas wishes helps Billy to rediscover the true magic of the holidays. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
15. How the Grinch Stole Christmas The age-old tale of The Grinch who hates Whoville and all its joyful residents. He’s determined to destroy the holiday cheer of Christmas until discovering that he might actually enjoy Christmas himself. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Live Action- Amazon | Animated – Amazon
Looking for family friendly Christmas movies? Check out this collection Christmas Movies for Kids.
classic children’s books that are movies
16. Mary Poppins When the East Wind blows the magical Mary Poppins over Cherry Tree Lane and into the lives of the Banks children, life becomes a wonderful adventure. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
17. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz When a young girl named Dorothy finds herself in a strange place after a tornado rips through her home in Kansas she must travel through the land, making friends and dodging a wicked witch, to find a way home. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
18.The Adventures of Pinocchio The classic tale of a wooden puppet named Pinocchio who wishes for nothing else than to be a real boy. He gets into all sorts of mischief- running away to join a puppet show, teaming up with a rascally fox and wily cat, and playing truant from school, until a talking cricket and his guardian fairy help restore Pinocchio to good behaviour. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
19. Peter Pan When Wendy helps Peter chase down his shadow and reattach it, he offers her and he brothers the adventure of a lifetime – fly with him to his home in Neverland. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Live Action – Amazon | Animated – Amazon 
20. The Secret Garden When Mary comes to live with her great uncle she discovers the gardens are a great place to escape the strange house and its mysterious noises. And then she discovers the key to a locked portion of the garden and then the adventures really begin. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
21. The Iron Giant A young boy discovers a giant made of iron eating anything metal in a junkyard, and is set out to save him from the world intent on destroying him. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
22. The Borrowers A family of tiny beings lives behind the walls “borrowing” their household items from the human beans above the floorboards. All is well until one member of the family is spotted upstairs by a human boy. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
23. Harriet the Spy Harriet investigates and reports in her journal every day, writing down anything and everything about everyone. When her journal falls into the wrong hands and everyone reads what she has to say about them, life becomes a lot more complicated for Harriet. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
24. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH When faced with the task of moving her whole family sooner than expected, Mrs. Frisby has to enlist help from whomever she can find. The rats of NIMH set out to help her and her family, and she in turn repays them greatly with something dear to them all. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
25. The Story of Ferdinand A friendly bull named Ferdinand is forced back into bullfighting after being free, but makes new friends along the way and teaches them some very important lessons. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
26. Beezus and Ramona Having a little sister like Ramona isn’t always easy for Beezus Quimby. With a crazy imagination and an appetite for chaos, Ramona makes it hard for Beezus to be the responsible older sister she knows she ought to be…especially when Ramona threatens to ruin Beezus’ birthday party! Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
27. James and the Giant Peach When tragedy strikes James is sent to live with two nasty aunts. He’s very lonely until one day something peculiar happens. At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and grow. Inside that peach are seven insects waiting to take James on a magical adventure. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
28. A Little Princess A wealthy, imaginative young girl attends a strict girls boarding school. When her father is assumed dead in the war, Sara struggles as a penniless orphan, moving in to the servant’s quarters at the school. Ultimately Sara proves both resilient and kind to others in the face of her own struggles. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon
List continues below.
See Also: 12 best books on climate change, shared by climate activists
Recently published children’s books with movies
29. Mr Stink Mr Stink stinks! Chloe makes friends with Mr Stink, the local tramp and decides to hide him in the garden shed when it looks like he might be driven out of town. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
30. Diary of a Wimpy Kid When Greg nervously enters middle school he is happy to have his somewhat daggy best friend by his side. But what happens when his friend becomes more popular than him? Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
31. The Spiderwick Chronicles When twins Jared and Simon and their older sister Mallory discover that there’s a magical world existing parallel to our own- the world of faerie – crazy things start happening, much to the bewilderment and frustration of their mother. Now the kids must figure out what (or who) is behind the mischief. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
32. Coraline A young girl explores her new home while her parents work, only to discover a secret, alternative world complete with a new set of parents. Not everything is as it seems though with a spooky turn of events that leave Coraline to make an important choice. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
33. The Tale of Despereaux The intertwined story of Desperaux Tilling, who loves music, a princess, Miggery Sow, who has just one simple wish, and Roscuro, who just wants a life in the light. Follow the trio as they each find their own way until their stories all combine. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
34. Guardians of Ga’hoole A young owl named Soren is kicked from his nest by his older brother and adopted by a mysterious school for orphaned owl. There is more to his new home than meets the eye and he and his friends must find a way to escape and save their kind from grave danger. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
35. Inkheart A surprising adventure begins when Meggie’s father is reading a story and the evil character comes to life in their living room. The family must figure out a way to use the same magic that brought evil to their world to overcome and conquer it. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
36. The Invention of Hugo Cabret Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Until a mechanical person, a key, notebook, and a hidden message all lead to a much bigger adventure for Hugo. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
37. How to Train Your Dragon Follow the adventures of a Viking boy known as Hiccup as he discovers the world of dragons, and even befriends one and begins to train it so he and his fellow Vikings can ride them. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon
Our Top Picks for Family Movie Night
38. Nim’s Island Nim is a modern day Robinson Crusoe so she’s not worried when her dad sails away for three days, leaving her alone on their island. But when her dad doesn’t return she’ll need to be strong, resourceful and brave in her search for him. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
39. Matilda Matilda faces a whole new set of challenges when her dreadful parents send her off to a school with a horrid principal. Fortunately, a kind teacher takes her under her wing and together they find a way to get our from under those that are confining them. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
40. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day From starting the day with gum in his hair to just about everything going wrong, Alexander experiences the absolute worst day ever. What do you do on a day like that? Well, you may think about going to Australia, or you may just be glad to find that some days are like that for other people too. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
41. The Jungle Book Saved from the jaws of the evil tiger Shere Khan, a young man-child, Mowgli, is adopted by a wolf pack and taught the law of the jungle by lovable Baloo the bear and Bhageera the panther. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon – Animation | Amazon – Live Action 
42. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Charlie Bucket is excited to find the last of five golden tickets to tour the famous Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. What he and the four other winners don’t know is that they are about to be taken on the wildest of sweet rides with many important lessons to learn. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon – Classic | Amazon – Modern 
43. Fantastic Mr. Fox A clever fox by the name of Mr. Fox has been stealing from the area farmers and they team up to corner and get rid of the thief. Little do they know they’ve gone a fight on their hands against the fantastic Mr. Fox! Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
44. Mr Popper’s Penguins Mr Popper wants to be an explorer so much that he’s surprised when his favorite arctic explorer sends him a surprise he isn’t sure what to do with it. Before he knows it he has a whole flock of penguins living in his home and he couldn’t be happier, or could he? Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
45. A Bear Called Paddington When the Brown family discover a small bear named Paddington in a train station they are not prepared for the trouble he’d find thanks to his curious nature. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
46. Charlotte’s Web The story of a runt of the litter piglet named Wilbur, Fern (the girl who saved him), and Charlotte (the spider who weaves words into her webs). Follow the group as they learn about friendship, life, and even death, together. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Live action – Amazon | Animated – Amazon 
47. Jumanji Peter and Judy find a mysterious game that warns once the game is started it will never end. Little do they know how true that really is! A story of epic adventures, with many twists and turns. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
48. Zathura When the Budwing brothers discover a new game in their basement they are hurled into a space-filled environment that tests their bond as family and teaches them to work together. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
49. The BFG When the BFG (the Big Friendly Giant) carries Sophie off into the night little do they know that they are at the beginning of an adventure to stop nasty giants from enacting a horrible plan. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon 
50. Stuart Little A kind couple adopt a sweet, humanlike mouse, who faces danger from the couple’s cat and the disappointment of his new human brother. When two mice show up claiming to be his birth parents, Stuart learns an important lesson about family. A great movie for families, Stuart Little is very different from the likewise wonderful book of the same name. Get the Book: Amazon | The Book Depository Get the Movie: Amazon