5 Books That Feel Like Watching A Ghibli Movie

There is something so utterly beautiful and calming about the Studio Ghibli films. Whether it’s the whimsical My Neighbor Totoro with its glorious (and slightly insane) catbus, or Porco Rosso with its flying pigs, every film made by Hayao Miyazaki and his team has a special place in our hearts.

But they’ve made the last one — The Boy and The Heron was said to be Hayao’s last ever film. (Although, there are rumors that he’s not quite done yet! We can keep our fingers crossed).

For those of us who simply can’t wait to see if anything more comes out of the studio, and who love those cozy vibes, rewatching Howl’s Moving Castle three times a month can only do so much…

Fortunately, we’ve found the perfect solution. Here are six books that feel just like a Studio Ghibli movie.

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

This story is so moving, I had to put it down and catch my breath a few times when reading it. It was so full of joy and sadness that my heart simply didn’t know if it was coming or going!

The story follows the two (or three, I suppose) main characters: Tokue, an elderly woman with Hansen’s disease, Sentaro, a writer with a criminal record and broken dreams, and Wakana, a young teenage girl.

Sukegawa’s story shows how food brings people together, and once the characters are tied to one another, it goes on to explore friendship, social discrimination, classes, and day-to-day politics in Japan.

It’s got the cozy, lovable characters of Ghibli, tied in with food that you swear you can smell from the description alone and finished off with that darker, deeper level that a lot of Miyazaki’s films are known for.

The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill

The Girl Who Drank The Moon was a New York Times Best Seller and the winner of the Newbury Medal, and it’s really not hard to see why. From start to end, the story is just beautiful. So much so that a lot of people have read it in one sitting.

The book follows Xan, a witch who lives in the forest. On one side of her home there is a town that loves her, and on the other, a town that hates her.

The hateful town believes they must sacrifice a child to her each year to appease her, but Xan knows nothing of this, and each year saves the babies and finds them homes! Until one day, she accidentally feeds a baby moonlight, giving the infant power, and decides to keep her. Luna, the child, and Xan stay together with their misfit little family.

Eventually, the town that hates the witch decides to take control, and things get very tense very quickly for the woodland misfits. It’s a story about identity, found family, real love, and what it means to believe in something.

Sounds pretty Ghibli — right?

Welcome To The Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

This tale is comforting and heartwarming, and is all about prioritizing your own wellbeing and accepting yourself as you are — however that might be in the moment.

The story has moments that are tear-jerking, characters that you cannot help but fall in love with and root for, and all against the backdrop of a gloriously cozy little bookstore.

A large part of what makes people fall in love with this book is its characters. There are so many characters, from so many walks of life, all of whom find solace and refuge in this little bookshop in the center of Seoul. They’re all handling very real, very heavy issues, from the main character Yeongju’s burnout and divorce to other excruciatingly plain human experiences.

The book is full of connection, of troubled pasts, and at its core is a delightfully sweet, character-lead tale of change and new beginnings. It feels like a good cup of tea on a cold winter’s day, and I’m not sure what else we could ask for!

Days At The Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

Another Japanese translation, this story is short and easily readable. It looks at love, loss, courage, and hope, and how all of those things come together to push us to strive for what we really want, all while following a heartbroken woman who finds herself in amongst the stacks of a bookstore.

The story sees Takako move into the room above her uncle Satoru’s bookstore after a devastating betrayal from her boyfriend. Hoping to hide away from the world and ignore life until she feels better, Takako accepts.

Only, once she finds herself there, things don’t go that way. She finds out that actually, there’s more to healing than hiding away, and that maybe she and her book-obsessed uncle have more in common than they thought.

Yagisawa explores family, love, and new beginnings in this book, and it’s the perfect antidote for a long, lonely day or a dark evening — just like a Ghibli film.

The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

A much older book than some of the others on this list, The Little Prince was originally written in 1942 by a French author, Antoine De Saint-Exupery.

The story has been a classic for a long time, being translated into over 300 languages and given to many students when they’re learning French for the first time. But it’s more than just an aid to help learn a language, there’s much more going on than that.

The story follows a pilot who is stranded in the Sahara Desert. Whilst he tries to get his wheels back in the air, he meets the Little Prince, who has come to Earth in search of a friend. The two of them get talking, and the pilot soon learns all about the Little Prince’s exciting and bizarre journey to the desert.

Through the Little Prince’s stories, Antoine De Saint Exupéry shows readers, or rather, allows us as readers, to see the world through the eyes of a child again. Through the prince’s connection with the pilot and the endeavors he makes to make friends with everyone else, it explores compassion and connection.

It’s a heartwarming tale, and one that will stick with you for years after you’ve read it.