More movies, musicals, and bad puns than you can shake a wand at

There is an incredible amount of children's and teen books being adapted into all manner of performances, I'm having trouble keeping track of everything I want to see! To help myself, and you, too, of course, here is a list to pencil into the calendar...

Staff favorite technogeek-thriller Little Brother by Cory Doctorow has been adapted for the stage at Chicago's Griffin Theatre. The show runs through July 19th, and you can even meet Doctorow after the July 9th performance. After PW reported interestingly mixed reviews, I can only hope it will come out closer to Boston someday...

I doubt I even need to call more attention to it, but the 6th film installment of the world's favorite wizard premieres July 15th. If you still haven't seen the trailer, try the official website: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The bookclub some of us staffers belong to is trying to plan a bookclub-cum-Potter meeting, probably discussing our latest books (ghost stories!) in line - we'll see how that pans out! Now, where did I leave my Luna glasses?

I almost didn't even know about Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs becoming a movie - but I am pretty excited that Bruce Campbell is contributing his voice talents to this classic picture book tale! It's slated to premiere September 18th.

Another eagerly anticipated children's film is the adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are which roars into theaters October 16th. From Spike Jonze, the director of such bizarre films as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, it certainly promises to be wild. I hope that after the movie they serve everyone a hot supper. (My puns are awful, aren't they?)

Because there is no such thing as enough Neil Gaiman, there is now a Coraline musical at the MCC Theater in New York. It's a one man show (!) by Stephen Merritt closing July 5 but may perhaps travel (pick us, pick us!).

While Katie geeks out over Gaiman, I'm swooning over director Tim Burton's latest work...Alice in Wonderland! One of my favorite directors with one of my favorite stories?! Heaven! Over at USA Today you can tour a scene and Cast Photos, featuring, of course, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Oh, yum, I can barely wait until March 2010.

Kate DiCamillo's heartwarming chapter book had already been adapted for the screen in 2005, now Because of Winn-Dixie becomes a musical, with a live Winn-Dixie trained by Bill Berloni, trainer of Annie's Sandy. PW says there are no set filming schedules yet.

Are those still not enough to satiate your movie thirst? Try free movies in the park in Brookline - July 13th The Princess Bride and July 27th E.T., and in Boston August 14 Inkheart at the Hatch Shell. Be prepared for a chance of rain, though probably not (soy) meatballs.

I love seeing how books translate into different mediums - and it's certainly fun to see your favorite story retold (Alice! Squeal!) - I just hope those movie folks continue to create new stories, too.