As a child, I read a lot of books. So many books that I can't remember most of them. However, there are several book series that stand out in my mind. What I can't understand is why these books that were such defining points in my childhood don't have movie adaptions (especially when they would all make great ones)!
Here are some book series I believe would make great movies.
1. The "Mysterious Benedict Society" series by Trenton Lee Stewart
I LOVED these books. The four main characters -- Kate, Reynie, "Sticky" and Constance -- are four incredibly gifted kids who take a mysterious test administered by the even more mysterious Mr. Nicholas Benedict. The four are then tasked by Mr. Benedict with saving the world- a big task for a 13-year-old, two 12-year-olds and a two-year-old.
These books as movies would be amazing. Not just story and character-wise, but visually as well. Kate doing back-flips across a checkered floor would be fun to see, as would any of the many action scenes in the books. However, I doubt it is possible to actually cast a two-year-old as Constance; an actress a little older would need to be cast.
2. The "Charlie Bone" series by Jenny Nimmo
Okay, think Harry Potter, but COMPLETELY different. Both center around kids at a British boarding school and both involved magic, but that's where the resemblance stops. This series follows Charlie Bone, an 11-year-old who discovers that he can hear people in photographs. Because of this, he is sent off to Bloor's Academy, a boarding school for those gifted in music, theater, and the arts. Oh -- and those who have been gifted with magical abilities.
I don't want to compare this series to Harry Potter, but a Charlie Bone movie would be similar to the Harry Potter ones. The dark forces in Charlie Bone's story, however, are contained to a single town, not the world. Not only that, but the stories focus on characters besides Charlie more in depth than Harry Potter does. The characters with magical powers are also more distinctly different from one another compared to Harry Potter, as each has a different power. These differences could make a Charlie Bone movie series even better than the Harry Potter movies.
3. The "Willow Falls" series by Wendy Mass
This series just recently wrapped up in 2015, but the first book, "11 Birthdays," came out in 2009. Each book in the series follows a different character or group of characters that reside in the town of Willow Falls, but as the series goes on you see characters from previous books popping up. In the final books, "The Last Present and Graceful," all the characters from the previous books come together and interact.
The "Willow Falls" series takes a creative approach to a book series, with each book being focused on a different set of characters. I think this would be great for a set of movies as one could never grow bored because of an overuse of one or two characters. The plot is lighthearted yet mysterious, and all the characters are uniquely their own.
Thankfully, I was not able to include the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series on this list, as Netflix is currently filming a 13-episode series for it!
What books did you read as a child that you'd like to see adapted into a movie?
