Enjoyable Children's Books That HAVEN'T Been Made Into Films / TV Series

[UsefulSmartPrettyHappy]

I'm just thinking of books to read to my 9 year old that don't have a film or TV series attached to them.

Something I read the other day, about how the films and the merchandise attached to children's books has become more important than the actual books, has made me stop and think.

Most of the books I've read to my ds do have films based on them.

I don't think that's necessarily an awful thing. However, there must be loads of other overlooked and underrated books I could be reading too.

All suggestions appreciated

Red wall Abbey! Loved those books as a child

I don’t think any of these have been mentioned before, and I don’t think they have been televised or filmed:

The Voyage of QV66 by Penelope Lively deserves to be far better known and is a wonderful adventure story and clever allegory;

Edward Eager’s Half Magic, Magic by the Lake, The Time Garden, Knights Castle, Magic or Not?, The Well Wishers, Seven Day Magic;

E Nesbit’s The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The Wouldbegoods, The New Treasure Seekers, Harding’s Luck, The House of Arden, The Wonderful Garden, The Story of the Amulet, Five of Us and Madeline, The Magic City, Wet Magic;

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr;

Noel Streatfeild’s The Growing Summer, The Circus is Coming;

Philippa Pearce’s A Dog So Small, Minnow on the Say;

Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams;

Cynthia Harnett’s historical novels for children;

Nina Beechcroft’s Cold Christmas, Under the Enchanter, Well Met by Witchlight, A Visit to Folly Castle.

When Hitler stole pink rabbit is brilliant, as is its follow up.

I'd also say the Narnia books, but all seven of them, in the right order and staying true to the story.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is brilliant, however the next book "Bombs over Aunt Daisy" is definitely for older children and the final one in the series, "A little person far away" is definitely an adult book. Her dad has died and her mum has just made a suicide attempt. It's not a child's book at all.
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit was filmed not very long ago, but I think in German. I don't know if there is an English version.

Some of the Narnia have been filmed too. The BBC did four of the stories, and there were three recent films.

What a lovely thread!

Someone haa already mentioned Carbonel.. I loved the 1960s illustrations..

Anyone remember My Friend Flicka and its sequels by Mary O’Hara? The protagonist is a 12 year old boy, very moving relationship between him and his horse, set in Wyoming just before and during the Depression. Reading them as a teenager they sucked me in completely to a very vivid sense of time and place.

I still have those on the bookshelf @MotherOfCatBoy

It's a really lovely thread. I have also been making a conscious decision lately to stop going for children's books which are written by celebrities. I read an article recently about how their huge pr machines make for a really un-level playing field and they are squeezing children's writers out of the market - authors who have spent years working on their craft, rather than branching out into the kids' book space for an already successful career. And you really can tell the difference in quality of writing when you pick up some of these old books. Feel annoyed at myself for getting sucked into the walliams /baddiel/hill offerings for a while.

*from an already successful career

I'm glad other people are enjoying this thread. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

I'm just mentioning one I've read that's quite good, in case anyone else is interested, Wishyouwas by Alexandra Page.