Katherine Rundell Author of Rooftoppers (2013), The Wolf Wilder (2015) and The Explorer , which won the 2017 Costa children’s book award ‘Rich, warmly funny and electrically strange’: Alex Etel in Millions. Photograph: Alamy For younger children, Millions (2004), written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and directed by Danny Boyle, is wonderful. It’s the story of a small boy, Damian, who discovers a sack of bank notes, seemingly dropped from heaven. Damian speaks to saints: the film features Clare of Assisi nonchalantly smoking in the corner of a room. It is so richly, warmly funny, so strange in the way that children are electrically strange. For older children, I haven’t yet met a teen who doesn’t love Taika Waititi’s joyful
comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). And, for everyone of every age: James Marsh’s documentary Man on Wire (2008), about Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between New York’s twin towers in 1974, is breathtaking in the literal sense. The film feels like a small miracle of a thing: the most beautiful heist film ever made. Eoin Colfer Author of the multi million selling Artemis Fowl series and former
Irish children’s laureate The movies I would recommend are both Irish classics and for good reason. The first, for a younger audience, is Flight of the Doves (1971), which tells the story of brother and sister Finn and Derval Dove. The siblings flee to
Ireland following the death of their mother, hoping to find shelter with their beloved grandmother. Unbeknown to the children they have inherited a fortune and their cruel uncle, Hawk Dove, will do whatever it takes to stop the children claiming their inheritance. This film is exciting, funny, beautiful and interesting as it features an Oliver! reunion between Jack Wild (the Artful Dodger) and Ron Moody (Fagin), who plays the best baddie this side of the Child Catcher. Ruaidhri Conroy and Ciaran Fitzgerald as Traveller boys in Mike Newell’s Into the West. Photograph: Prod DB/Alamy For older children, Into the West (1992) also examines themes of loss, grief and escape but handles them in a setting of magical realism. Two young Irish Traveller brothers steal their mystical horse back from a corrupt policeman and go on the run to the west of Ireland, where they plan to live in the mystical land of Tir na Nog. Maybe the horse is their reincarnated mother or maybe it is just an extremely clever horse, either way it seems to understand what is happening and helps the two brothers process the loss of their mother. With a script by Jim Sheridan and powerful performances from Gabriel Byrne and Brendan Gleeson, Into the West earns its reputation as one of the finest films to ever be filmed in Ireland. Emma Carroll Award-winning author of novels including Frost Hollow Hall, The Girl Who Walked on Air, In Darkling Wood and The
SNOW Sister If, like me, you prefer your animal stories to end with happy sobbing then The Incredible Journey (1963) is the movie for you. The journey in question is made by a trio of homesick pets across 200 miles of Canadian wilderness. Spoiler alert: yes, they make it, though it is a treacherous trek home – think bears, porcupines, more raging mountain rivers than my own dogs would dare sniff at. And this being Disney, do be prepared for the full range of heart-wrenching, heart-stopping, heartwarming tropes. Not to be confused with the 1993 remake, Homeward Bound , the original has a better doggy cast, especially in Bodger, the elderly English bull terrier. One of my all-time favourite films from childhood. ‘Heart-wrenching’: The Incredible Journey. Photograph: Alamy Based on the coming-of-age romance by Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle (2003) is an absolute joy. The story follows teenage sisters, Rose (Rose Byrne) and Cassandra (Romola Garai), whose life in a tumbledown castle with their eccentric family is turned upside down by the arrival of new neighbours. The newcomers are young, handsome, American, filthy rich, and offer a dazzling lifestyle that could not be more different from the leaking-roof, tin-bath-in-front-of-the-kitchen-stove routine the girls are used to. Bill Nighy as their novelist father who hasn’t written a word for 10 years, and Tara Fitzgerald as Topaz, the eccentric, nudist stepmother, provide quality support. The perfect movie for a rainy August afternoon. Angie Thomas Her 2017 debut, The Hate U Give , won multiple awards including the Waterstones children’s book of the year. Her latest book, Nic Blake and the Remarkable, is out now Laurence Fishburne and Keke Palmer in Akeelah and the Bee. Photograph: Photo 12/Alamy When I was asked to give these recommendations, I immediately tried to think of movies for children and teens with Black representation at the forefront, but I realised there are so few to choose from, which shows just how much work still needs to be done. However, the two movies I did choose offer wonderful representation and are both inspiring. For younger viewers and their families, I recommend Akeelah and the Bee (2006). Akeelah is a gifted 11-year-old who lives with her struggling family in
Los Angeles. Despite this, she sets out to win the national spelling bee. For teens and their families, it’s Hidden Figures , the true story of the three Black female mathematicians in the 1960s who made history at
NASA. Sophie Dahl Author of Madame Badobedah and The Worst Sleepover in the World. Her new book, Madame Badobedah and the Old Bones is out in October When Marnie was There (2014) is a total winner from Studio Ghibli, responsible for the better-known and equally magical My Neighbo r Totoro (1988) and Spirited Away (2001). Based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Joan G Robinson, it’s the story of Anna Sasaki, a lonely asthmatic 12-year old who is sent to the country over the summer to stay with relatives of her foster family to breathe cleaner air. She’s sad and preoccupied, and one day discovers a huge abandoned house on marshland. She sees a girl through the window, Marnie, who becomes her great friend. There’s something compelling and familiar about Marnie and something that links her with Anna. This is a strange, mysterious story, about identity, family, loss and love. ‘Magical’: When Marnie Was There, by Hiromasa Yonebayashi for Studio Ghibli. Photograph: Photo 12/Alamy We couldn’t love JJ Abrams’s Super 8 (2011) more in our house. A homage to 80s coming-of-age classics such as Pretty in Pink and Stand by Me , it manages to marry extraterrestrials with mourning, romance, and the deep friendships of adolescence, seamlessly. Funny, dark and tender, it never fails to make me cry. There are jump scares galore! Rob Biddulph Writer-illustrator whose first book, Blown Away, won the 2015 Waterstones children’s book prize. Other works include GRRRRR!, Kevin, Odd Dog Out and Give Peas a Chance Not many of my choices passed my family’s Friday Night Film Club test during Covid (the original Teen Wolf , for example, was an unmitigated disaster), but two films that my children did admit to enjoying were Richard Donner’s The Goonies (1985) and John Lee Hancock’s The Blind Side (2009). The former is unashamedly old-school and ticks all the standard Hollywood-adventure-film-for-children boxes – cute youngest sibling in hero role: check. Quirky best friend: check. Even quirkier second-best friend: check. Buried treasure MacGuffin: check. Ludicrously dim baddies: check. It’s cheesy, it’s predictable and it’s very 80s, but it holds up pretty well for a modern audience. “It’s like a less scary Stranger Things but with pirates,” said my youngest. High praise indeed. ‘Unashamedly old-school’: The Goonies, directed by Richard Donner. Photograph: Warner Bros/Allstar Similarly, the
American Football movie The Blind Side wears its schmaltziness on its sleeve from the get-go. It tells the (true) story of a homeless boy fostered by a wealthy family. The mother immediately recognises his extraordinary sporting potential and moves heaven and earth to set him on the path to gridiron glory. At no point in this classic underdog tale are you in any doubt as to where the plot is taking you, but nevertheless you’re still eager to get there. The performances, particularly those of Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron, carry you happily through to the payoff. What the film lacks in nuance it more than makes up for with warm and fuzzies. Frances Hardinge Her books for children include Cuckoo Song, Deeplight and The Lie Tree, which won the 2015 Costa book of the year award Song of the Sea (2015) is a beautiful hand-drawn animation, drawing heavily on Irish folklore. Ten-year-old Ben’s younger sister does not speak, and he blames her for the apparent death of their mother, and the grief-ridden withdrawal of their lighthouse keeper father. But little Saoirse may have inherited their absent mother’s selkie nature, and she has her own undiscovered voice. ‘Jonathan Pryce at his creepiest’: Something Wicked This Way Comes. Photograph: Prod DB/Alamy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) has lurked in a murky corner of my imagination since I first saw it as a teenager. A surprisingly dark, weird
Disney movie based on a book by Ray Bradbury, it tells the story of two boys whose sleepy small town is invaded by an eldritch circus offering Faustian temptations to the residents. Some of it has dated, and it won’t be everyone’s cup of hemlock. Best for families who can cope with horror, tarantulas and Jonathan Pryce at his creepiest. Matt Haig Bestselling author whose books include The Truth Pixie , Echo Boy and How to Be a Cat ‘Brilliant’: Guy Pearce, left, and Jim Caviezel in The Count of Monte Cristo. Photograph: AJ Pics/Alamy For older kids, the 2002 version of The Count of Monte Cristo is brilliant. One of the most underrated adventure films of all time and a true for-all-ages slice of swashbuckling fun, complete with great acting (including Guy Pearce and Richard Harris), daring
prison escapes and treasure maps and revenge. And, even rarer, it has an epic scope but is less than two hours long, so great for short attention spans. For the younger ones, I think that some of those bright, Technicolor musicals make an eye-popping, tuneful break from Pixar and Disney. Our kids particularly enjoyed Singin’ in the Rain (1952), which is funny and surreal, and also An American in
Paris (1951) and Meet Me in St Louis (1944). Onjali Q Rauf Author of The Boy at the Back of the Class, winner of the 2019 Waterstones children’s book prize, The Night Bus Hero and The Day We Met the
Queen “Number 5 is alive!” And oh, how much I wished, on watching Short Circuit (1986) as a child, that he was! This 1980s treasure chest of a movie centring on a
MILITARY Robot prototype – Johnny 5 – who is struck with a Frankenstein’s monster-esque thunderbolt of intelligence, emotions and self-awareness, landed in my heart with a thud. For a girl addicted to Lego, fascinated by robotics, and who had never seen an Indian in a movie outside of the Bollywood ones my parents watched, it had every ingredient I could wish for: an escapee robot that could feel, a hilarious female rescuer, and a deeply sweet Indian scientist who respects his creation. A whirlwind of empathy, soul-saving friendship, and innocent hilarity, Short Circuit is the antithesis of every machine-led war movie. ‘Landed in my heart with a thud’: Ally Sheed with Johnny 5 in Short Circuit. Photograph: AJ Pics/Alamy Meanwhile, any angst felt by older children will be swiftly set aside when compared with the reigning terror of Queen Bavmorda of Nockmaar (Jean Marsh) in Willow (1988) and the fate of a baby placed in the hands of an aspiring wizard dwarf and the dastardly Madmartigan (Val Kilmer). Warwick Davies imbues his role as the wizard with a magic that no CGI or special effects ever could. Frank Cottrell-Boyce Author of Millions, which won the 2004 Carnegie Medal, and many other books including Cosmic and Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth. His new book, The Wonder Brothers, is out on 20 July (Macmillan) Azur and Asmar: The Princes’ Quest (2006) is the story of the friendship between Azur, the young son of a French knight, and Asmar, the son of Azur’s nanny, Jenane. Jenane raises the two boys as brothers and tells them tales of an imprisoned Djinn who is waiting to be freed by a handsome prince. The two boys are distraught when Azur’s father separates them, sending Asmar and Jenane back to Morocco. The story is terrific – an epic adventure with echoes of the Arabian Nights – and genuinely moving. I love animation but have to admit that – because the tech is so extraordinary – even the really great ones are beginning to look fairly similar to one another. Michel Ocelot’s films are different. They’re beautiful: classical pictorial animations, influenced by the art of Muslim north Africa and medieval books of hours. It’s like watching a film of stained glass. In cinemas we often laugh together but Azur and Asmar is the only time I’ve heard a packed cinema gasp at the sheer beauty of an image. ‘Like stained glass’: Azur with monkey Crapoux in a scene from Azur and Asmar: The Princes’ Quest. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy John Sayles is a fiercely independent American film-maker best known for thoughtful, character-based dramas such as Lone Star and Men With Guns . But he made this one, strangely compelling family film, The Secret of Roan Inish (1994). It’s based on a classic children’s novel by Rosalie K Fry that takes its cue from stories about selkies forming relationships with humans, and in particular the story of a little boy who is stolen away by the seal people. In places the storytelling is a bit clunky and I’m personally not wild about soulful rehashes of Celtic myths. But the film was shot by cinematographic legend Haskell Wexler ( One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , The Thomas Crown Affair ) on location on the coast of Donegal. It’s bracingly epic and beautiful. The central image – the lost child Jamie bobbing about on the wild Atlantic breakers in a tiny black cradle that somehow rhymes with his mass of black curls – goes straight into your heart and stays there. For years after seeing it my own daughters would shout “Jamie, come home” at the sea whenever the waves were wildest. Jasbinder Bilan Her debut novel, Asha and the Spirit Bird , won the 2019 Costa children’s book award. Her latest, Calling the Whales, is out now ‘Off-beat and magical’: Keisha Castle-Hughes as Paikea in Whale Rider. Photograph: Entertainment Pictures/Alamy For under-11s, I recommend Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019). A holiday to the rainforest is overbudget but in this light-hearted film, the whole family get to go. I love that Dora is charmingly naive in the city setting, but in the jungle, she is fully equipped for survival. Dora leads her
Friends on an adventure to find her missing parents and solve the mystery of the lost city of gold. For older children, Whale Rider (2003), directed by Niki Caro, is off-beat, quirky and magical – this is one of my all-time favourite family films. It is not a glitzy
Hollywood story, but an authentic one that develops empathy and understanding. It explores belonging, cultural identity and believing in yourself even when nobody else seems to, as Maori girl Paikea fights to fulfil a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognise. SF Said Author of the award-winning Varjak Paw books and most recently Tyger, children’s book of the year at this year’s
British book awards ‘Exhilarating’: Natar Ungalaaq and Pakak Innuksuk in Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001). Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy As a writer who believes that children’s books are really books for everyone, I love films that can be enjoyed by all ages, entertaining kids while also giving adults magical experiences. This is true of every movie made by Cartoon Saloon, the Irish animators who gave us Song of the Sea (2014) and Wolfwalkers (2020), but it all began with The Secret of Kells ( 2009). It’s an incredibly rich, vivid, beautiful movie that combines elements of Irish myth and history with a more modern sense of humour, and massive emotional power. That mythic element can also be found in Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001), the first film ever made in the Inuit language of Inuktitut. Based on an ancient myth that’s been handed down for generations, this exhilarating story of love and revenge unfolds against a backdrop of stunning Arctic landscape imagery. It’s one of my favourite films of all time. Jamie Smart Bestselling creator of the Bunny vs Monkey and Looshkin comic books, and contributor to the Phoenix magazine ‘A Studio Ghibli masterpiece’: Arrietty. Photograph: Cinematic Collection/Alamy For younger viewers I’d recommend any of the PG-rated Studio Ghibli masterpieces, but Arrietty (2010) is a particularly beautiful one. Adapted from the children’s classic The Borrowers , Arrietty brings a magnifying glass to our world, carefully studying its tiny details with Ghibli’s unique eye for animation. For children a little older, I’d recommend a stop-motion animation Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), an epic fantasy filled with so many memorable moments. It is a story about storytelling, with funny heroes, stunning set pieces, and some pretty spooky villains (and afterwards, I’d also urge you to search out the making-of videos online to see the incredible craft that went into creating it!). Greg James The Radio 1 breakfast show host is also co-author, with Chris Smith, of the bestselling Kid Normal series. Their new book, Super Ghost, is out now Wallace and Gromit, and that sinister penguin, in The Wrong Trousers. Photograph: AJ Pics/Alamy I’m here to make you feel old, because The Wrong Trousers is 30 years old this year. I’m also here to remind you to watch it whether you have kids to entertain or not. It is comedy perfection. And visually, it’s still astounding. Wallace and Gromit and their creator, Nick Park, won an Oscar for it, remember! If your kids have never seen it, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be captivated by it while also being terrified of the sinister penguin. On the subject of animals, another film from my childhood, Babe (1995), tells the story of a pig who wants to perform the role of a sheepdog. It’s based on Dick King-Smith’s book The Sheep-Pig and is one of the most heartwarming stories ever written. A thought-provoking, compassionate moral masterpiece that centres on the idea of being brilliantly “you”. It’s also, much like The Wrong Trousers , completely bonkers. Liz Hyder Bearmouth, Liz Hyder’s 2019 debut novel for young adults, won the Branford Boase award and a Waterstones Children’s Book award Fom left: Rhianna Dorris, Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Angus Imrie, Dean Chaumoo and Tom Taylor in The Kid Who Would Be King. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy The Kid Who Would Be King (2019) is a hugely fun adventure with real heart, a sort of modern live-action take on The Sword in the Stone , by the brilliant Joe Cornish ( Attack the Block, Lockwood & Co) . There are many reasons to watch it, not least Angus Imrie’s scene-stealing performance as the young Merlin. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) is adapted from the acclaimed young adult novel by Jesse Andrews. It’s about two awkward teens, an aspiring film-maker (Thomas Mann) and a wisecracking terminally ill girl (Olivia Cooke), who become friends against the odds. It’s utterly original, daft, beautiful, and never saccharine. For older teens, Heathers (1988) has aged incredibly well and is as sharply witty as ever.