I’m a sucker for lists and decided to every once in awhile take part in the Top Ten Tuesday lists. (Sorry it’s Wednesday).
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. I found this post on TheGeekishBurnette and you should check out this blog if you are a big fan of book reviews and lists.
Although this prompt was from two weeks ago, I wanted to list Amazing Books That Would Make Great Movies/TV Shows! (I’ll do separate lists for manga and comics. There were too many to choose from).
Abarat (2002)
Candy lives in Chickentown USA: the most boring place in the world, her heart bursting for some clue as to what her future may hold. She is soon to find out: swept out of our world by a giant wave, she finds herself in another place entirely…
The Abarat: a vast archipelago where every island is a different hour of the day, from the sunlit wonders of Three in the Afternoon, where dragons roam, to the dark terrors of the island of Midnight, ruled by Christopher Carrion.
Candy has a place in this extraordinary world: she has been brought here to help save the Abarat from the dark forces that are stirring at its heart. Forces older than time itself, and more evil than anything Candy has ever encountered.
Synopsis via Goodreads
I’ve talked about this book probably too many times, but I honestly think it is a story made for animation. I can see this world becoming a marvelous adventure TV series or even a movie trilogy in the right hands. Now, I do NOT think it would work for live action. Nope. Not that kind of story.
Artemis Fowl (2003)
Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius, and above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren’t the fairies of bedtime stories—they’re dangerous! Full of unexpected twists and turns, Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.
Synopsis via Goodreads
I know Disney made that terrible movie a few years ago, but I still think this would make a great TV show. However, I think it would work better if it was animated rather than rendered in live-action. Most of the action scenes are pretty fantastic so (like the movie proved) live-action set pieces and characters would just make the story feel jarring.
Echo North (2019)
Echo Alkaev’s safe and carefully structured world falls apart when her father leaves for the city and mysteriously disappears. Believing he is lost forever, Echo is shocked to find him half-frozen in the winter forest six months later, guarded by a strange talking wolf—the same creature who attacked her as a child. The wolf presents Echo with an ultimatum: If she lives with him for one year, he will ensure her father makes it home safely. But there is more to the wolf than Echo realizes.
In his enchanted house beneath a mountain, each room must be sewn together to keep the home from unraveling, and something new and dark and strange lies behind every door. When centuries-old secrets unfold, Echo discovers a magical library full of books-turned-mirrors, and a young man named Hal who is trapped inside of them. As the year ticks by, the rooms begin to disappear, and Echo must solve the mystery of the wolf’s enchantment before her time is up, otherwise Echo, the wolf, and Hal will be lost forever.
Synopsis via Goodreads
This is a toss-up. I think this would be a brilliant animated movie like Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) but at the same time, I think it could also be done if it was like Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). Either way, I love this retelling of the classic fairytale East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and would go out of my way to see it if it was adapted for television or cinema.
In the Night Garden (2006)
Secreted away in a garden, a lonely girl spins stories to warm a curious peculiar feats and unspeakable fates that loop through each other and back again to meet in the tapestry of her voice. Inked on her eyelids, each twisting, tattooed tale is a piece in the puzzle of the girl’s own hidden history.
And what tales she tells! Tales of shape-shifting witches and wild horsewomen, heron kings and beast princesses, snake gods, dog monks, and living stars–each story more strange and fantastic than the one that came before. From ill-tempered “mermaid” to fastidious Beast, nothing is ever quite what it seems in these ever-shifting tales–even, and especially, their teller.
Adorned with illustrations by the legendary Michael Kaluta, Valente’s enchanting lyrical fantasy offers a breathtaking reinvention of the untold myths and dark fairy tales that shape our dreams. And just when you think you’ve come to the end, you realize the adventure has only begun….
Synopsis via Goodreads
Basically, everything I said above applies to this book series as well. However, it might be interesting to see the multiple tales animated in different styles depending on the narrator at the time. This could be a mix-up of a myriad of cinematic styles if the right director got their hands on it.
Last of the Breed (1986)
Here is the kind of authentically detailed epic novel that has become Louis L’Amour’s hallmark. It is the compelling story of U.S. Air Force Major Joe Mack, a man born out of time. When his experimental aircraft is forced down in Russia and he escapes a Soviet prison camp, he must call upon the ancient skills of his Indian forebears to survive the vast Siberian wilderness.
Only one route lies open to Mack: the path of his ancestors, overland to the Bering Strait and across the sea to America. But in pursuit is a legendary tracker, the Yakut native Alekhin, who knows every square foot of the icy frontier—and who knows that to trap his quarry he must think like a Sioux.
Synopsis via Goodreads
I LOVE Louis Lamour’s books. This is the one I could see being adapted as a movie. However, it would need to be the right director. I don’t want to see it be made into a trashy love story or a gory action flick. This is more of a story that fits into the evenly-paced Westerns of old. It would be interesting to see a man with Native American heritage survive in the Russian tundra and become a lens people could use to understand what really happened in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The Last Wild (2013)
In a world where animals no longer exist, twelve-year-old Kester Jaynes sometimes feels like he hardly exists either. Locked away in a home for troubled children, he’s told there’s something wrong with him. So when he meets a flock of talking pigeons and a bossy cockroach, Kester thinks he’s finally gone crazy. But the animals have something to say. And they need him.
The pigeons fly Kester to a wild place where the last creatures in the land have survived. A wise stag needs Kester’s help, and together they must embark on a great journey, joined along the way by an overenthusiastic wolf cub, a military-trained cockroach, a mouse with a ritual for everything, and a stubborn girl named Polly. The animals saved Kester Jaynes. But can Kester save the animals?
Synopsis via Goodreads
No one talks about this book series and it vexes me so. I could see this being a story that not only points out our dwindling connection with the natural world but also our reliance on big corporations. This story tackles heavy subjects like animal cruelty and genocide, destroying the environment for big profit, indoctrination, kidnapping, and mob mentality. Although it’s labeled as a children’s story, I can see adults being drawn in by these themes.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006)
Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.
And then, one day, he was lost.
Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hoboes’ camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle — that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.
Synopsis via Goodreads
This story needs to be animated in the same style as Ernest and Celestine (2014). It is one of the most touching books I have ever read and deserves a wider audience. However, I don’t want it botched like The Tale of Despereaux (2008), with its main themes and charm flushing away before modern audiences.
Redwall (1986)
Redwall Abbey, tranquil home to a community of peace-loving mice, is threatened by Cluny the Scourge savage bilge rat warlord and his battle-hardened horde. But the Redwall mice and their loyal woodland friends combine their courage and strength.
Synopsis via Goodreads
I know there were plans to animate this series into a TV show on Netflix, but there is currently no word whether or not this will go through. I know there is also some random Canadian version of this story, but it was mediocre at best. Therefore, I want Patrick McHale to be able to finish this project!
Wildwood Dancing (2006)
High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It’s an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle’s hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm.
But their peace is shattered when Father falls ill and must go to the southern parts to recover, for that is when cousin Cezar arrives. Though he’s there to help the girls survive the brutal winter, Jena suspects he has darker motives in store. Meanwhile, Jena’s sister has fallen in love with a dangerous creature of the Other Kingdom–an impossible union it’s up to Jena to stop.
When Cezar’s grip of power begins to tighten, at stake is everything Jena loves: her home, her family, and the Other Kingdom she has come to cherish. To save her world, Jena will be tested in ways she can’t imagine–tests of trust, strength, and true love.
Synopsis via Goodreads
In the right hands, I feel like this story would be breathtakingly beautiful on screen. It could be a movie or a TV series, animated or live-action. I would be happy with either one.
From the Perspective of an Old Soul 