The first time I saw Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle, I pondered out loud whether it was weird to have a crush on a cartoon character. Howl, with his uncanny brooding abilities, dry sarcasm, and soft spot for Sophie, won me over in a heartbeat. The Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator has a talent for creating characters and worlds that are so believable, it's impossible **t to fall in love with them. Some of his animated films are more geared toward children, like Totoro and Spirited Away, but those films - along with so many of his other masterpieces - speak to adults in very real ways as well.
Miyazaki understands the minds of children, and he challenges the minds of adults. His stories are inspiring to so many of us, but what has inspired him? In 2010, Miyazaki listed his favorite children's books of all time, and these 50 reads are a variety of stories from all over the world that will pull at your heart strings and remind you what it was like to be a kid.