What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedEarth's Children
Jean M. Auel · Book · 1980
If you loved Earth's Children, start with The Land Before Time (Don Bluth, 1988) — a film on the same thread. Below: 4 films, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Earth's Children across media.
What hooked you in Earth's Children was the way the struggle for survival forces a radical, intimate re-evaluation of human culture.
Films on the same thread
Children of Men
Alfonso Cuarón · Film · 2006
Explores: Infertility, Societal Collapse, Hope in Darkness.
Just as Ayla navigates the harsh landscapes of Earth's Children, this story forces characters to confront societal collapse and the desperate, primal hope required to ensure human survival.
The Land Before Time
Don Bluth · Film · 1988
Shares a thread with Earth's Children: Survival.
This journey mirrors the migration challenges found in Earth's Children, highlighting the necessity of forming unlikely bonds and finding friendship while navigating a dangerous, unfamiliar prehistoric world.
Planet of the Apes
Franklin J. Schaffner · Film · 1968
Explores: Xenophobia, Speciesism, Reverse Role.
The jarring cultural clash experienced by Ayla in Earth's Children is echoed here as a man finds himself an outcast in a society that views him as primitive.
The Piano
Jane Campion · Film · 1993
Explores: repressed desire, female agency, isolation.
If you appreciated the intense focus on female agency and isolation within the wilderness of Earth's Children, this period drama offers a similarly gripping exploration of individual survival.
Series on the same thread
Primal
Genndy Tartakovsky · Series · 2019
Shares 2 threads with Earth's Children: Survival, Prehistoric Fiction.
This animation captures the raw, visceral human-animal bond and the constant threat of extinction that defined the most harrowing stretches of Ayla’s journey in Earth's Children.
Outlander
Ronald D. Moore · Series · 2014
Shares a thread with Earth's Children: Historical Fantasy.
The fish-out-of-water experience that drives Earth's Children is central here, as a woman is thrust into an unfamiliar era where she must adapt to survive and love.
The Clone
Glória Perez · Series · 2001
Shares a thread with Earth's Children: Cultural Clash.
The deep cultural friction that Ayla encounters throughout Earth's Children resonates in this story, where identity and belief systems collide to complicate an impossible and forbidden romance.
ThunderCats
Theodore Walter Wolf · Series · 1985
Shares a thread with Earth's Children: Survival.
Fans of Earth's Children will recognize the classic hero's journey theme, where a small group of survivors must navigate the loss of their homeworld against great odds.
Podcasts on the same thread
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Dan Carlin · Podcast · 2026
Explores: civilizational collapse, human nature, moral ambiguity.
If the deep historical immersion of Earth's Children fascinated you, this podcast provides a similar, thought-provoking examination of civilizational collapse and the core nature of human history.
Stuff You Should Know
iHeartPodcasts · Podcast · 2026
Explores: Curiosity, Intellectual exploration, Trivia.
For those whose curiosity was piqued by the technical details and cultural observations in Earth's Children, this show offers a wide-ranging exploration of the world and human knowledge.
Keep exploring
Common questions
What order should I read the Earth's Children series in?
The Earth's Children series begins with The Clan of the Cave Bear, which introduces the heroine Ayla. The story continues in the subsequent book titled The Plains of Passage, where Ayla and Jondalar travel across Ice Age Europe on horseback.
Is The Plains of Passage part of the Earth's Children series?
Yes, The Plains of Passage is part of the Earth's Children series. It follows the journey of Ayla and Jondalar as they cross the grasslands of Ice Age Europe, encountering hunter-gatherers who have never seen tamed animals before.
Who is the main character in Earth's Children?
The heroine of the Earth's Children series is Ayla. She is first introduced in the initial book, The Clan of the Cave Bear, and continues her journey alongside Jondalar in later installments like The Plains of Passage.
What is the setting of the Earth's Children books?
The Earth's Children series is set in Ice Age Europe. In The Plains of Passage, Ayla and Jondalar travel across the continent's windswept grasslands, meeting various groups of hunter-gatherers who find the pair and their tamed horses to be enigmatic and frightening.