Looking back on my favorite movies as a kid I never realized how many of them were books first.  Now though, since I love the internet and prying into how things came to be, I'm finding out a whole bunch of interesting things!

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

• movie came out in 1984, the year I was born
• 3 movies, 1 live action series and 1 animated series were produced (that I know of and watched)
• the book was originally published in German (Die Unendliche Geschichte), according to my German friend in HS, the translation doesn't do it justice (I believe that)
• the second film is basically based around only a couple chapters in the book, the third is completely made up
• Julie Cox played the Childlike Empress in the third movie (she'd go on to Dune and Children of Dune, more book adaptations), Jonathan Brandis played Bastian in the second film (who was born on my birthday, though years earlier) and Jason James Richter played Bastian in the third (the kid from the Free Willy movies).  
• For you General Hospital fans Dante Falconeri's actor Dominic Zamprogna voiced Atreyu in the animated series 

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

• movie came out in 1987, I was 3 years old
• no true sequels have been made, though in later editions of the book there's a couple chapters from 'Buttercup's Baby' which is the rumored sequel
• This is the movie that made me love Carey Elwes and for the longest time I refused to even considered marrying anyone not named Wesley
• This is a plethora of actors I later went on to like--Mandy Pantikin (Alien Nation, Criminal Minds), Carey Elwes (Robin Hood Men in Tights), Fred Savage (Wonder Years), Peter Faulk (Columbo)
• There's at least 6 different versions released between Laser Disc, VHS and DVD. I own 4 of them.
• The only actor I knew in the movie when I was about 5 (the first time I saw it) was Andre the Giant 'cause I watched Wrestling with my cousin

The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

• Of all the books to movies on this list, this is the only series I haven't read
• There's 3 full length Pippi books all translated from Swedish, as well as a handful of 'official' picture books
• The movie I (and probably most of you) know came out in 1988, I was 4 years old
• Hayao Miyazaki considered creating an animated movie based on her adventures (sadly the author did not like him)
• There's quite a few different live action versions of her stories--including one done by Shirley Temple on her Storybook show in the 60's.  I've seen the Swedish TV series, one of my first forays into subtitling
• In the American movie there's Ellen Brennan (Clue), Tami Erin (model) and Dick Van Patten (Robin Hood in Tights)

Anna to the Infinite Power by Mildred Ames

• the movie came out in 1983--before I was born
• Its the only movie on this list that did not hold up to the test of time (or my changing tastes)
• None of the actors in the film are people I remember or remember seeing again
• I'm pretty sure I'm the only person ever to watch this as a kid

 The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

• The animated film came out in 1993, I was 9
• Andrew Keegan (10 Things I Hate About You), Ray Bradbury and Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek) all lent their voices to the production
• In the original novel there are actually 8 boys who take the journey--the movie has only 4 kids, 1 of whom is a girl
• The novel was originally meant to be a collaboration with Chuck Jones (Looney Tunes?)
• A deluxe hardcover edition of the novel was produced in 2005--along with the original screenplay from the collaboration, the original text of the novel from 1971, the galley and revisions made, and the teleplay for the 1993 animated film. I own this and its one of my most prized possessions.
• I've watch this movie every year, during Halloween, without fail for the last decade and a half
• the novel is loosely connected to the novels Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes (neither of which I've read)

BONUS! "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury

• A quasi scifi short story from 1950's, I read it when I was six years old
• The only story on here that I read first and saw later (but I didn't know they were connected until years later)
• The 30 minute short is incredibly sad.  I saw it in 3rd grade and it left a lasting impression on me to not trust my classmates (not even joking)
• For years all I could remember about this story was that the girl was locked in the closet when the sun came out

There are other films (James and the Giant Peach, A Little Princess, most of the Jane Austen films), but many of them I didn't find until I was older and I already knew they were books.

How about you guys?  Any book to movies you remember loving as a child?  Do they hold up to the test of time?