"Clueless," based on "Emma," by Jane Austen

Suggest a work of classic literature to some teens and it's like inviting an eye roll. But casually mention that the 1995 teen flick extraordinaire was borne from Austen's "Emma," and you might get them to hit the library. Though the film took plenty of liberties with Austen's original text — subbing Beverly Hills for England and "As if!" for "I never...!" — the characters of Cher (Alicia Silverstone) and Emma are like two sides of the same coin (albeit with drastically different wardrobes.)
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"Stuart Little," based on "Stuart Little," by E.B. White

Author E.B. White has a talent for creating characters who are small in size but such large characters that they demand screen time. (Charlotte the spider, of "Charlotte's Web," is White's creation, too.) The eventful tale of Stuart, a good deed-doing mouse on adventures in the world of much bigger beings and things, is an enticement to kids starting to read on their own.
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"The Indian in the Cupboard," based on the book by Lynne Reid Banks

Before "Toy Story," kids had Banks' cupboard-dwelling Indian and cowboy. The kid classic — about a worn-out medicine cabinet that brings small toys to life — ignites the imagination. Kids love the magical premise but Banks' keeps the device from growing tired by packing the book with adventure. Kids and adults also love protagonist Omri, a flawed but loveable kid, expertly brought to life in the 1995 movie by Hal Scardino.
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"Freaky Friday," based on the book by Mary Rodgers

"You're not going to believe me, nobody in their right minds could possibly believe me, but it's true, really it is! When I woke up this morning, I found I'd turned into my mother." So starts the teen novel is so funny and original it has inspired not one but three movies (two for theaters and one for TV). The 1976 version, starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris as the daughter and mom who switch bodies, is the first adaptation and a classic that many tweens and teens may not have seen. But the real gem is Rodgers' 1972 book: Its teen narrator, Annabel Andrews, more than carries the torch for her spunky modern counterparts, like Meg Cabot's Mia Thermopolis (Princess Diaries).
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"The Neverending Story," based on the book by Michael Ende and Ralph Manheim

Kids who wish the better-known film version of this tale actually was a never-ending story will love discovering the inspiration for the 1984 film: the book is only halfway finished at the point where the film ends. Make sure you choose an edition of the book printed in two colors of ink: purple (for the tale of Bastian, the little boy who discovers the magical storybook) and green (for the storybook-within-the-novel.) And, because every chapter ends with the words, "But that is another story," it's probable kids will come up with some cinema-worthy made-up tales of their own.
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"The Borrowers," based on the book series by Mary Norton

Life in miniature packs high kid allure potential. Norton invented her wee family, dwelling under the floorboards of an English house, back in 1952 and today the books are still wildly popular with grade-schoolers. The film differs slightly from the book with its updates for modern times (okay, 1998), but kids love seeing the tiny Clock clan's world brought to life as they dine on a single pea or hide amongst toy soliders.
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