I love doing the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival at the Brooklyn Public Library! With my co-host and friend, Newbery Honoree Rita Williams-Garcia, we packed the house with a rambunctious, happy, ready-to-laugh-and-enjoy-some-movies crowd.

And of course, Rita and I kicked it off with a song:

Many of the filmmakers attended the show, and after the show we had them all come up onstage to take a group picture:

I have amazing friends in New York, and they arranged an afterparty for the show, and we whooped it up accordingly:

All right, but let’s look at the locally-made videos that we featured at the screening! Matthew, Chris, and Angel of North Bergen, NJ’s Nicholas J Sacco Junior High School adapted Susan Cooper’s 1974 Newbery Honor Book The Dark Is Rising. They said this is a “very very very loose adaptation” of the high fantasy novel “in the style of an 80’s fantasy movie such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, or Excalibur.” Personally, I loved the puppet goblin and the magical special effects! You can read the judges’ comments here.

Daniel, Micaela, and Izzy of Queens made this assured, professional-looking adaptation of Lois Lowry’s 1990 Newbery Medal winner Number the Stars. The original score of piano music was impressive, especially in the way it subtly mirrors the moods of the various scenes, and the performances were sensitive and authentic-feeling! You can read the judges’ complete comments here.

We had a special treat at this year’s show—catching up with a 90-Second Newbery veteran! Back in 2012, a teenaged Leo Lion made the following movie of Lois Lowry’s 1994 Newbery Medal winner The Giver as a one-man show. It’s a 90-Second Newbery classic that I often show at presentations when I’m trying to explain what the film festival is all about (and you can read the judges’ comments here). Before I go on, here’s the movie:

Fourteen years later, Leo Lion is grown, and he came onstage and told us what he’s been up to since The Giver. He is the Artistic Director of a theater group he founded, The Firebird Project, “a theater company and arts education community that tells unforgettable stories with young and emerging artists in NYC.” Recently, he got lots of great attention for his one-man show HELP ME!!!!, an “interactive mime seance,” that has been so successful that he’s taken it on the road all over the country and the world, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! Here are Leo and me catching up:

I’m thrilled to see Leo doing so well . . . still doing one-man shows, now as a successful career!

Every year, we got a lot of movies from Lloyd Harbor School in Huntington, NY. For instance, Jack did this version of Kate DiCamillo’s 2001 Honor Book Because of Winn-Dixie. It’s also a kind of one-man show: Jack plays Opal, Opal’s mom, and Opal’s dad, who is terrified of going to the grocery store because of his fear of . . . egg salad sandwiches?! The stakes get raised when a living egg salad sandwich captures Winn-Dixie. Can Opal win her dog back? (Read what the judges have to say here.)

Here’s another version of Because of Winn-Dixie from Lloyd Harbor School, this time by Charlie, Colin, and Liam. In this movie, when Opal finds Winn-Dixie in the supermarket, here called “Spider-Dog,” the store manager challenges the dog to a fight. Both of them go into training, but who will eventually prevail? This also veers wildly away from the original story, but it’s fun, but it makes great use of a trampoline and green screen! Read what the judges have to say here.

Cori, Estella, Eva, and Sarah of LLoyd Harbor School did this adaptation of Arnold Lobel’s 1973 Honor Book Frog and Toad Together. To be sure, this movie doesn’t seem to tell any story I recognize from the Frog and Toad books, but it goes far in capturing the gently whimsical vibe in this story of Frog and Toad meeting tortoises “Tim and Todd.” I especially loved all the costumes . . . and the odd product placement for 7-11’s banana Slurpees! Read the judges’ complete review here.

Graham, Henry, and Xander of Lloyd Harbor School did this adaptation of William Steig’s 1983 Newbery Honor Book Doctor Desoto. The original story is about a mouse dentist and his wife who treat other animals. They just have one rule: They won’t treat dangerous predators. So when a fox shows up at their offices with a toothache, they have a difficult decision to make: risk their lives by treating the dangerous beast, or let the fox suffer? I liked the low-key, casual performances of the rodent dentists and the more energetic fox, and I appreciated the attention to detail with the elaborate costumes and props. Read the judges’ complete review here.

Chloe, Dylan, Harper Sale, Mae, and Quentin of Lloyd Harbor School adapted Cece Bell’s 2015 Newbery Honor Book El Deafo. In one of the subplots of the original autobiographical graphic novel, Cece has a crush on a boy named Mike Miller. Same in this movie, but it has a twist in which Mike has evil otherworldly plans for Cece. Great performances and green screen UFO work! Read the judges’ complete review here.

Ayden, Joey, and Wolfie of Lloyd Harbor School did this adaptation of Gary Paulsen’s 1988 Newbery Honor Book Hatchet. In this version, marooned-in-the-forest Brian befriends a talking cow (“How are you speaking?” “I don’t know”) and must deal with a hungry, rampaging wolf! Read the judges’ review here.

Stella of Lloyd Harbor School made this adaptation of Katherine Applegate’s 2013 Newbery Medal Winner The One and Only Ivan in the style of Star Wars! I appreciated the elaborate and impressive costumes as well as the performances: Chewbacca’s subtitled grunting and barking, Princess Leia’s flustered resourefulness, and even Darth Vader’s deep-voiced menace! Read the judges’ complete review here.

Here’s another version of The One and Only Ivan, this time by Caine, CJ, James, and Louis of Lloyd Harbor School. In this version, the gorilla Ivan goes crazy and turns against his owner Mac, chasing him around the office, and even and putting him in his cage! Read the judges’ complete review here.

But wait! There are two more versions of Because of Winn-Dixie that we got from Lloyd Harbor School. This version by Harper, done in the style of The Hunger Games, has Winn-Dixie played by an expressionless, mostly motionless bearded dragon. A funny mash-up of the two stories, and I particularly like the scene where Opal is chasing after her pet reptile! Read the judges’ complete review here.

And here’s another version of Because of Winn-Dixie, this time by Elizabeth, Isla, and Siena. In this version, Winn-Dixie is a dog who can speak for herself, and often in quite a sassy and funny way! Read the judges’ complete review here.

Gravesend Library 90-Second Newbery Teen Interns made this animated version of Neil Gaiman’s 2009 Newbery Medal Winner The Graveyard Book. Inventive and entertaining! You can read the judges’ complete review here.

We also showed some movies from out of town! You can click the below links to check them out:

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O’Brien, 1972 Medal Winner) in the musical style of the first scene of La La Land, by the Leland Street Players of Chicago, IL

Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Richard and Florence Atwater, 1939 Honor Book) with Mr. Popper as an internet-addled would-be TikTok influencer, by Budlong Woods Library + Ella and Joy of Chicago, IL

Last Stop on Market Street (Matt de la Pena, 2016 Medal Winner) in the style of a zombie apocalypse by The Harley School of Rochester, NY

Doctor DeSoto (William Steig, 1983 Honor Book) in the style of a TV medical drama like E.R. or The Pitt, by the Treehouse Children’s Museum 90-Second Newbery Camp, Ogden, UT

El Deafo (Cece Bell, 2015 Honor Book) in the style of a silent movie by Rolling Meadows Elementary, San Antonio, TX

The Eyes and the Impossible (Dave Eggers, 2024 Medal) in the style of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” by Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, Tacoma, WA

Thanks to all the young filmmakers, and the teachers, librarians, and family who helped them! Special thanks to Jessica Cox and Paquita Campoverde and everyone at the Brooklyn Public Library who sponsor the show every year and let us use the beautiful Dweck Center. Thanks also to Lloyd in the tech booth, running the lights and helping with AV.

Inspired to make your own movie for the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival? Start working on it right now! The deadline is sometime in January 2027, so you have plenty of time. You can find complete details at the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival website.

Oh and one last thing: the 90-Second Newbery also relies on private donations and grants to keep going. It’s 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.