It’s the FIFTEENTH YEAR of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival—an annual video contest I founded in which young readers make short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in just a few minutes. Often with a fun twist! For instance, check out the Leland Street Players’ retelling of Robert C. O’Brien’s 1972 Newbery Medal Winner Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, done in the musical style of the first scene of the 2016 movie La La Land. (You can read more about the making of this movie here, and check out more all-time best 90-Second Newbery videos here.)

Tickets are now available for our 2026 season! We’ll be doing live screenings in seven cities: Brooklyn, Chicago, San Antonio, Rochester NY, Ogden UT, Tacoma WA, and Minneapolis. These FREE screenings are raucous, bombastic affairs, co-hosted by me and other superstar children’s authors. There are often audiences of hundreds, so make your reservations now!

And there’s still time to make movies for this year’s screenings! The general nationwide deadline for entries is January 16, 2026, with a special later deadline for San Antonio, Rochester, and Tacoma of March 20, 2026.

Love the 90-Second Newbery? Want it to continue? Please support us with a donation here. A lot of funding has dried up recently, so we’re running this thing on a shoestring lately. Every little bit helps!

Friday, January 16, 2026
GENERAL DEADLINE for submissions to the 15th annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. Entries for the Rochester, San Antonio, and Tacoma screenings have an extended deadline of March 20, 2026.

Wednesday, February 4, 2026
I’m hosting a “Best of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival” screening at the Seymour Brockport Library (161 East Ave, Brockport, NY). 6-7 pm.

Saturday, February 21, 2026
The OGDEN, UT screening, at the Treehouse Children’s Museum (347 22nd Street). Co-hosted by me and Keir Graff (author of The Tiny Mansion, the Minerva Keene Detective Club series, and more). 6 pm. Get your FREE tickets here.

Saturday, February 28, 2026
The BROOKLYN, NY screening, at the Brooklyn Public Library Central Library (10 Grand Army Plaza) in the Dweck Auditorium. Co-hosted by me and Newbery Honor winner Rita Williams-Garcia (One Crazy Summer and more). 1 pm. Get your FREE tickets here.

Sunday, March 15, 2026
The MINNEAPOLIS screening, at the Minneapolis Central Library (300 Nicollet Mall) in Pohlad Hall. Co-hosted by me and Jacqueline West (author of the NYT bestselling Books of Elsewhere series and more). 2 pm. Get your FREE tickets here.

Friday, March 20, 2026
EXTENDED DEADLINE for submissions to the ROCHESTER, SAN ANTONIO, and TACOMA screenings for the 15th annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival.

Sunday, April 12, 2026
The CHICAGO screening, at the Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State Street) in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. Co-hosted by me and Keir Graff (author of The Tiny Mansion, the Minerva Keene Detective Club series, and more). 2 pm. Get your FREE tickets here.

Saturday, April 25, 2026
The ROCHESTER, NY screening, at the George Eastman Museum (900 East Avenue) in the Dryden Theater. Co-hosted by me and Bruce Coville (The Unicorn Chronicles, Aliens Ate My Homework, and much more). 2 pm. Sponsored by the Irondequoit Public Library and RIT MAGIC, RIT College of Art & Design and RIT K-12 University Center. Get your FREE tickets here.

Saturday, May 9, 2026
The SAN ANTONIO, TX screening, at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in the H-E-B Performance Hall. Co-hosted by me and another author TBA. 11 am. Made possible by our partners at the Bexar County Digital Library BiblioTech and H-E-B Read 3. Get your FREE tickets here.

Friday, May 29, 2026
The TACOMA, WA screening, at Grant Center for the Expressive Arts (2510 N 11th St.). Hosted by me and Tacoma’s own Doug Mackey. 5 pm. Get your FREE tickets here.