Last Friday, we put on a screening the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival at Tacoma, Washington’s Grant Center for the Expressive Arts! This was the final screening of our 2025 season, and it was a doozy. Big thanks to filmmaker and Grant Center teacher Bryan Johnson, who has been a big supporter of the 90-Second Newbery for years. And thanks to my co-host, Tacoma’s own Doug Mackey—in the video above, see him and me sing a Newbery-modified version of “The Phantom of the Opera” to open the show!

And thanks most of all to the kids who made these incredible movies! We called them all up onstage after the show for a picture:

The first video I’d like to feature is based on Dave Eggers’ 2024 Newbery Medal Winner The Eyes and the Impossible, and it’s adapted by Mr. Johnson’s 5th Grade Class from the Grant Center. They did it as remake of the video of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, with the lyrics rewritten to tell the plot of the book, and they nailed it! Dave Eggers even sent them a letter congratulating them on such a great movie. Check it out:

As the judges wrote in part in their review on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie has it all: cleverly rewritten lyrics that recount the story wittily and clearly enough so that the audience can understand what’s going on even if they hadn’t read the book, elaborate costumes for the dog, ducks, bison, and other animals in the cast, and winning performances from all the young actors! I particularly liked how the goofy-faced ducks always acted ridiculously whenever they came on the scene.”

Not to be outdone, Mr. Johnson’s K-2 Beyond the Bell filmmaking class at Grant Center made this cute and charming retelling of Wanda Gag’s 1929 Newbery Honor Book Millions of Cats:

As the judges wrote in part in their review on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “A supremely entertaining and adorable adaptation! The various narrators did a compelling job of telling the story in cooperation with the actors’ physical performances and line readings. The energetic, gesticulating way the old woman delivered many of her lines, particularly ‘They must have all ate each other!’ was very fun, as well as the way the actor playing the old man pretended be ‘old’ so vigorously that he nearly toppled over at the beginning! It was an effective and authentic-feeling idea to use backgrounds drawn by the young filmmakers themselves.”

This year, Gig Harbor’s Actorcraft Page Stage and Screen, in partnership with 13 Shot Films, made two standout 90-Second Newbery movies. Check out this beautifully-produced, impressively-acted movie of Neil Gaiman’s 2009 Newbery Medal Winner The Graveyard Book:

As the judges wrote in part in their review on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This was an exceptional movie—with a clever and snappy script, charismatic performances, and professional-level cinematography and editing . . . I really liked the plummily unflappable narrator (especially how he appears at the end with his pipe and smoking jacket with a ruminating, thoughtful expression).”

Actorcraft and 13 Shot Films also made this similarly brilliant movie of Kelly Barnhill’s 2017 Newbery Medal Winner The Girl Who Drank The Moon:

As the judges wrote in part in their review on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “What a beautiful, ingenious, astonishing movie . . . I liked how most of the movie was shot outside, with sets in the forest such as Xan’s hut. This movie had everything going for it: a tight script, great locations and props, resourceful special effects, and superior cinematography and editing . . . but most of all, brilliant and compelling performances from all the actors!”

Every year, I look forward to the movies made by Tacoma homeschoolers Nigel, Simone, Fletcher, Otto, and Hansel. This year they submitted two of them! This first one is based on Marguerite Henry’s 1946 Newbery Honor Book Justin Morgan Had a Horse:

As the judges wrote in part in their review on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), ” I love that this movie adapts an older, lesser-known Newbery book—right away, that makes the entry stand out. And this underdog story of a horse that became one of the greatest breeding stallions of all time, serving as the foundation of the Morgan breed, is particularly exciting to watch because it uses real horses, along with actors who know how to ride . . . Splendid performances from all the young actors . . . and the horses were pretty great actors too! Entertaining, resourceful, and impressive.”

Every year this same group submits a movie based on a vignette from one of the Frog and Toad books by Newbery Honor winner Arnold Lobel. This year was no different, and their movie is based on “Shivers,” in which Frog tells a nervous Toad a ghost story about the Old Dark Frog who eats children for dinner, and freaks Toad out with the spooky story about the Old Dark Frog. But this version has a twist: Frog and Toad learn that the Old Dark Frog isn’t that scary after all, and he turns out to be a kind teacher who teaches them how to make fire! (And indeed, that teacher is played by their longtime homeschool teacher.)

So here is “Shivers,” as adapted by Nigel, Simone, Fletcher, Otto, Hansel, and Mr. Mathew:

I had dinner with the whole family after the show, and they were just as delightful in real life as they are onscreen!

The final locally-produced movie I’d like to feature is made by Rainier Elementary School at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord. It’s based on Eleanor Estes’ 1952 Newbery Medal Winner Ginger Pye:

As the judges wrote in part in their review on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “An inventive and surprising retelling of the story! Here, there are not one but two animals: the dog Ginger Pye, and also Curious George! Just as in the original book, the animal(s) go missing . . . I was particularly impressed by Elphaba’s elaborate witchy black costume and amazingly green skin! I also loved the big, detailed circus poster. This was a complete transformation of the original story in a fun and creative way, with engaging performances, resourceful props and costumes, and even a goofy ‘trapeze’ performance at the end!”

And that was the Tacoma 2025 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! Thanks to Bryan Johnson, Doug Mackey, Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, and of course all the young filmmakers, and the teachers, librarians, and family who helped them. I’m already looking forward to next year!

Oh and one last thing: the 90-Second Newbery relies entirely on private donations and grants to keep going. It’s only through your generosity that we can continue bringing our free public screenings and book-to-movie workshops to libraries and schools nationwide. You can make your (tax-deductible!) donation here. Donations are handled through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.