Diana Wynne Jones’ classic fantasy novel Howl’s Moving Castle has been reissued as a collectible hardcover book. Published September 9, Howl’s Moving Castle Deluxe Limited Edition is on sale for only $20 (was $25) at Amazon. Fans can also preorder a new paperback box set containing the entire World of Howl Trilogy for only $32.
The Deluxe Limited Edition and World of Howl Box Set would look great displayed next to the Steelbook Edition of Studio Ghibli’s animated adaptation. The 2004 adaptation written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki strays considerably from the source material, but both the film and novel are magical in their own ways.
$20 (was $25) | Released September 9
The 352-page Deluxe Limited Edition of Howl’s Moving Castle features beautiful new jacket art, full-color endpapers by artist Devin Elle Kurtz, black-and-white illustrations throughout the novel, and more premium flourishes. The publisher recreated a starry night sky by digitally printing the blue page edges. Bright white streaks resemble shooting stars.
If you remove the hardcover book’s dust jacket, you’ll find gold foil-stamped text and shooting star graphics on the front/back covers and spine. The front cover features a well-known line from the novel: “Howl’s quite heartless, you know.”
If you’ve never read the novel, Howl’s Moving Castle follows Sophie Hatter after she accidentally attracts the attention of the Witch of the Waste. Transformed into an old woman, Sophie’s only chance at breaking her curse lies within the Wizard Howl’s castle, a mobile base ruled by an infamous heartbreaker who is tormented by dark secrets from his past.
$32 | Releases October 7
On October 7, Greenwillow Books is publishing Diana Wynne Jones’ complete trilogy as a paperback box set.
Howl’s Moving Castle is the first book in the World of Howl Trilogy. It was followed up by Castle in the Air in 1990 and House of Many Ways in 2008. All three books are standalone stories with different protagonists, but Howl appears in both of the follow-ups, so you should definitely read Howl’s Moving Castle first.
Castle in the Air follows unsuccessful carpet salesman Abdullah as he daydreams about a more adventurous life. House of Many Ways focuses on Charmain Baker as she explores a family home that can bend time and space.
All three novels are also available individually in paperback, and standard edition hardcovers with durable library bindings of the first two books are in print, too.
World of Howl Series:
- Howl’s Moving Castle
- Castle in the Air
- House of Many Ways
Studio Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle on Blu-ray
As mentioned, the 2004 Studio Ghibli film deviated quite a bit from the book, as it featured a different aesthetic, certain characters stuck around for much longer, and even the dynamic between Sophie and Howl plays out in an unconventional way.
If you want to add the Studio Ghibli adaptation to your home movie collection, you can get the Howl’s Moving Castle Limited Edition Steelbook for only $18.89 or the standard edition for $15. Both editions come with Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film as well as a nice selection of special features, including storyboards, documentaries, interviews, and the original promotional materials. Howl’s Moving Castle has a star-studded cast of voice actors, including Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, and Billy Crystal, who voiced various characters.
You can pair the Blu-ray with The Art of Howl’s Moving Castle, an excellent official companion book published in 2005. Priced at $19.44 (was $35), The Art of Howl’s Moving Castle offers a sprawling collection of concept sketches, fully rendered character and background drawings, paintings and cell images, and commentary from the Studio Ghibli crew that worked on the movie.
Howl’s Moving Castle is just one of numerous Studio Ghibli animated films inspired by a novel, short story, or manga. We’ve rounded up some of the other adaptations and their source materials below. We only included Ghibli films that pull from source material that’s readily available in English. At the bottom, you’ll also find a few examples of the reverse situation: written and illustrated stories adapted from Studio Ghibli films.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Written by. Eiko Kadono and illustrated by Akiko Hayashi, Kiki’s Delivery Service is a popular Japanese children’s novel originally published in 1985. Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed the 1989 animated adaptation. The adaptation has an official art book as well as a comic adaptation of its own.
- Read the novel:
- Watch the adaptation:
- Books based on the movie:
Tales from Earthsea
The 2006 Ghibli film Tales from Earthsea is a notable one here because Goro Miyazaki–Hayao Miyazaki’s son–adapted parts of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series as well as his father’s graphic novel Shuna’s Journey. The film pulls from the first four novels in Le Guin’s classic fantasy series. A Wizard of Earthsea, the first novel in the fantasy series, was published in 1968. Humorously, the film gets its name from the fifth book in the series, but it doesn’t include elements from its namesake.
Shuna’s Journey, meanwhile, was published in Japanese in 1983 and received an English translation in 2022. It has beautiful watercolor artwork by Hayao Miyazaki. We’d also highly recommend The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, a lavish 1,008-page hardcover collecting Le Guin’s full series.
- Read Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel series:
- Read Hayao Miyazaki’s graphic novel:
- Watch the adaptation:
The Secret World of Arietty
The Borrowers, a 1952 fantasy novel written by Mary Norton was adapted by Studio Ghibli in 2010 as The Secret World of Arietty. Hayao Miyazaki wrote the screenplay, and Hiromasa Yonebayashi directed the film.
- Read the novel:
- Watch the adaptation:
When Marnie Was There
When Marnie Was There, a 1967 children’s novel by Joan G. Robinson, was adapted to a film of the same name in 2014. Yonebayashi directed and co-wrote the psychological drama.
- Read the novel:
- Watch the adaptation:
The Cat Returns
Baron the Cat, a 2002 manga by Aoi Hiiragi, was adapted the same year as The Cat Returns. Aoi Hiiragi’s manga was translated to English in 2005 with the title Baron: The Cat Returns. The Baron from the book and movie previously appeared in Studio Ghibli’s 1995 film Whisper of the Heart. This is because Aoi Hiiragi also wrote the original manga it’s based on. Unfortunately, the 1989 manga Mimi o Sumaseba has never received an English translation.
- Read the manga:
- Watch the adaptation:
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Hayao Miyazaki has adapted exactly one of his own published works: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. First published in 1982, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is Miyazaki’s only manga series. He based the screenplay for the 1984 film adaptation on parts of the first and second volumes of what eventually ended as a seven-volume series in 1994. Since the manga ran for a decade after the film’s release, it’s no surprise that the 1,100-plus page series is markedly different than the movie. The Nausicaa manga is available in trade paperback or in a deluxe, two-volume hardcover box set with a display case, fully illustrated endpapers, and a watercolor poster. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’s Blu-ray and DVD combo pack is one of many Studio Ghibli films available with a steelbook case.
- Read the manga:
- Watch the adaptation:
- Read books about both:
My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbor Totoro isn’t like the films and books listed above. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, My Neighbor Totoro released in 1988. A four-volume ani-manga released in Japan almost simultaneously. Viz Media translated those volumes to English in 2004-05. Just last year, all four were reprinted as My Neighbor Totoro Film Comic: All-in-One Edition. The nearly 600-page hardcover book is available for the bargain price of $30. The film was also adapted into a picture book the same year it released. For Totoro’s 25th anniversary, author Tsugiko wrote a novelization of My Neighbor Totoro with illustrations by Miyazaki.
- Watch the movie:
- Read the books based on the movie:
My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service aren’t the only Studio Ghibli films to receive ani-manga (film comics in the US) adaptations. Fans can also get omnibus editions of comics adapted from Spirited Away and Ponyo. The 856-page Spirited Away Film Comic: All-in-One Edition is on sale for $25.60 (was $35). Ponyo’s All-in-One Edition released in July and is up for grabs for $25.87 (was $30). Ghibli fans can also preorder the Princess Mononoke Film Comic: All-in-One Edition ahead of its publication next January.
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