A new kidlit adaptation is coming down the tracks. Banijay Kids & Family’s Kindle Entertainment studio has bought the rights to adapt the children’s book series Adventures on Trains as a package of family-friendly films. 

The preteen novels are written by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman, and published by Macmillan Children’s Books. Lead title The Highland Falcon Thief debuted in 2020 and has sold more than 100,000 copies in 20 languages worldwide. 

The franchise spans six titles in total, featuring stories that revolve around a boy and his uncle who embark on exciting train trips rife with on-board mysteries that need solving.

Based in London, Kindle is still riding high on the success of its recent four-quadrant film adaptations of Annie Barrows’ New York Times bestselling Ivy + Bean books for Netflix. Collectively, the three 60-minute, live-action movies (two of which launched in 2021 and one in 2022) racked up 14.5 million hours of watchtime from January to June 2023, according to Netflix. 

Kindle’s focus is on drama content for YA and family audiences, and other titles in its catalogue include the teen-skewing series The A List for BBC and Netflix and Kiss Me First for Channel 4 and Netflix. 

Morgan Green Creatives, a London-based writers agency that reps Leonard, Sedgman and the Adventures on Trains adaptation rights, brokered this deal.