One year after its first print run, New York Times bestseller Juniper’s Christmas (book cover pictured) is being adapted as a family feature film by Bonnie Arnold (Toy Story) and Louise Goodsill (The Phantom of the Opera). 

Penned by Irish author Eoin Colfer (best known for his Artemis Fowl kidlit series), this tween novel is about an 11-year-old girl’s search for her mother—who went missing just days before Christmas—with help from a mysterious woodsman who she suspects might actually be Santa Claus.  

Arnold has just finished producing another holiday-themed family feature called That Christmas (Locksmith Animation) that’s slated to hit Netflix on December 4. With past credits on major hits such as Tarzan (1999) and the How to Train Your Dragon movie franchise (2010 to 2019), she is also attached as an EP on the latest Peanuts movie that WildBrain Studios is working on for Apple TV+.

Published by HarperCollins (UK) and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group (US) last October, Juniper’s Christmas earned a spot on Kirkus Reviews’ 2023 list of Best Middle Grade Books of the Year.

Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series spans eight titles that have sold more than 25 million copies since 2001. Walt Disney Pictures produced an Artemis Fowl fantasy film that launched on Disney+ in 2020 before getting axed as part of the streamer’s content purge last year.