This is the book that inspired me to write this article. It is pretty much my favourite book and definitely my most read one. I have four copies, one signed, one that fell apart because I read it so many times, one to replace that one, and one that I bought in Japan because I regretted not taking a copy with me. When I found out that the movie studio that had made Spirited Away – which had recently blown my then 13 year old mind – was making an adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, I went into a new world of excitement. To say that I love this book is something of an understatement. After its publication Nosaka received many offers to turn the book into a movie. He declined them all, claiming that it would be impossible to recreate the blasted landscape of Japan during the war and that he doubted child actors would be able to portray the necessary emotions convincingly. However, when an anime was suggested and Nosaka was shown provisional storyboards, he agreed to it, saying that it was not possible to film the novel any other way.

Tales from Earthsea was the first feature film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, son of animator Hayao Miyazaki. It was loosly based on the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. The English name of the adaptation shares the name of a short story collection by Le Guin, but the movie actually draws on plot elements from many different books in the series. In Japanese the film is called ゲド 戦記 （ せんき ）, literally Ged's War Chronicles. However you cannot ignore the impact this film (and by rights Studio Ghibli) has had on popular culture and this book charts both the film that spawned them and the story that gave them life. After all how many iconic characters can we identify and yet know next to nothing about them or the story that they came from. For any fan of Studio Ghibli you will eventually come across certain titles - both for the fame and for their beauty. My Neighbour Totoro is probably at the top or at least very close to it (of course it is subjective and very personal). If you are studying Japanese, I would really recommend trying to read Kiki. Having a rough idea of the story from the movie will help you move through it faster, even if like me your Japanese reading skills aren't the best. As the movie and the book differ, there will still be plenty of surprises to keep you hooked. Since it is a kids' book there are furigana to help you out. It's still a very popular book in Japan and you should be able to find a copy in book stores or libraries. I think the title says it all and it more than lived up to its promise. Getting a layered, detailed and revered insight into the Ghibli oeuvre was a journey worth taking. It faithfully covers Ghibli's best, mediocre and downright painful with a tart and honest approach.

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Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo on January 5, 1941. He started his career in 1963 as an animator at the studio Toei Douga, and was subsequently involved in many early classics of Japanese animation. From the beginning, he commanded attention with his incredible ability to draw, and the seemingly-endless stream of movie ideas he proposed. Featuring 900 original illustrations, sketches, and imageboards from films such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises, the two-volume series offers a detailed look into the animation studio’s production processes, from planning to completion. Until now, many of the images have only been seen within the context of the museum itself, such as excerpts from its 2017 exhibition Delicious! Animating Memorable Meals and 2013’s The Lens at Work in The Ghibli Forest. Also, if you master that challenge, maybe you'd like to try the sequels. Eiko Kadono has written 5 more books in the Kiki series. These are キキと 新 （ あたら ）しい 魔法 （ まほう ） (Kiki and Her New Magic), キキともうひとりの 魔女 （ まじょ ） (Kiki and the Other Witch), キキの 恋 （ こい ） (Kiki's Love), 魔法 （ まほう ）の 止 （ と ）まり 木 （ ぎ ） (Perch of Magic), and それぞれの 旅立 （ たびだ ）ち (Each and Every Departure). The most recent was published in 2009 and it appears to be the last in the Kiki series.

AGNèS VARDA: DIRECTOR'S INSPIRATION DELMONICO BOOKS/ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES ISBN: 9781636810607 The book and the movie diverge at the point Kiki arrives in her new town. While the movie gives Kiki a strong character arc, the book is more of a series of vignettes about each of Kiki's deliveries. Miyazaki commented on the changes saying, The movie stays fairly close to the plot of the first book, although it does draw in a character from the second book in the series. The biggest change is certainly the setting, moving the action from 1950s England to modern Tokyo. The change only has one downside in my opinion. The names of the Borrowers are also borrowed from English words, such as Pod and Homily. In a Japanese setting, these names make little sense. However, looking past that, I think this is a fine adaptation that captures the spirit of the book. I was particularly impressed by the sound design, which gave a wonderful feeling of being small in a huge world. The source material is Mary Norton's 1952 book The Borrowers. This is the first animated version, but the classic story of tiny people surviving in the world of comparatively massive humans by "borrowing" things from them has been adapted for television multiple times.This approach has its problems. Anyone who has read books created from a series of newspaper columns or radio pieces will recognise them immediately. There is a huge disjoin between each chapter, and the result is very bitty.

While there can be no doubt that Studio Ghibli draws strongly on Japanese material, such as the folk tales of the tanuki in Pom Poko or Shinto gods in Spirited Away, Ghibli is by no means culturally isolated. We may be dazzled by the Japanese elements, the gods, spirits, monsters and settings, but for Japanese audiences some of the movies have elements foreign to them as well. Though stories set explicitly in real foreign countries are often moved to Japan, fantastical mix-ups of European culture remain untouched. In fact, the source material is often not by Japanese authors. If we look at this list of the 50 children's books recommended by Studio Ghibli's acclaimed director Miyazaki, we can see that 48 are by non-Japanese authors from across the world. Several of these books have also been adapted by Studio Ghibli. The book is lavishly produced, with lots of great pictures, and I rarely criticise the design or form of a book. Tastes differ, and that's fine. But I must take issue with whoever designed this book. The main text is probably the smallest I've ever seen in a mass-released work, and the chosen font is a light one. It is a difficult book to read, and that's never good. This book is put together by Mike Leader and Jake Cunningham, who produced a podcast of the same name. Leader had always been a Ghibli fan, and Cunningham hadn't, so each episode allowed the expert to outline the film and its place in Ghibli history, and the novice to give a review of his first viewing. There are some really wonderful books behind the Ghibli films, and reading them can give insight into the underpinnings of some of your favourite movies. I will try to keep this article as spoiler free as possible. However, if you haven't seen any of the movies, then I suggest you rush out and do so. After that (or before if that's more your taste), rush out and read the books! Grave of the FirefliesPEDRO ALMODóVAR: INSTALLATION/INSTALACIóN DELMONICO BOOKS/ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES ISBN: 9781636810195