Do you want the 90-Second Newbery to continue next year? Please make a tax-deductible donation here to keep us going. Every little bit helps! We’re under the nonprofit fiscal sponsorship of Fractured Atlas.

The 2018 season of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is finished at last! Fourteen screenings in fourteen cities, from February to April. Hundreds of people came to the shows, and I got to meet young filmmakers from coast to coast and show off their movies to big crowds. What a thrill!

Every year I try my best to keep up on blogging the shows as they happen, but the pace of the season means I always fall behind. For instance, on March 3 and 4 (two months ago!) we did 90-Second Newbery screenings at the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library. And I was delighted to have as my co-host bestselling author Michael Northrop (Polaris, the Tombquest series, and more).

Michael was a natural performer, funny and quick on his feet. He was full of stories of his scrappy young days as a standup comedian in New York, experience which he put to good use in the show. Here we are doing the opening skit for the Brooklyn show, in which Michael scandalizes me with revelations about video-game versions of Newbery-winning books, which eventually culminates in a song-and-dance encouraging folks to make their 90-Second Newberys as weird as possible, all sung to the tune of “Make A Man Out Of You” from the Disney classic Mulan:

This year, thanks to the great planning and support of the NYPL’s Tali Stozenberg-Myers, Emily Krell, Beth Dukes, Arden Armbruster, and Serena Rockower, and the BPL’s Brandon Graham and Paquita Campoverde, we had more New York entries than ever—more movies than we could show even in these two screenings! The screenings always work best when there’s lots of local participation, and the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library really delivered this year. (Both libraries also set up opportunities for me to do presentations to kids from schools and after-school programs in the days leading up to the screenings, which I really enjoyed!)

And of course, thanks to all the young filmmakers, and their parents and teachers and others who supported their creative efforts!

Let’s take a look at some of those local entries that we featured at the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library screenings. First: Brooklyn!

90-Second Newbery veteran Violet W. returns for another year, this time with an animated paper cut-out puppets version of Scott O’Dell’s 1961 Newbery Medal winner Island of the Blue Dolphins:

The judges on the 90-Second Newbery website said Violet’s movie was “beautifully done, a real masterpiece! The paper puppets were elaborately detailed and the sets they moved through were satisfyingly layered and rich.” You can read their full review here.

For the past few years, siblings Jillian and Joseph Parrino have been consistently making great movies for the 90-Second Newbery, often with very clever twists. This year was no exception. Jillian adapted Polly Horvath’s 2002 Honor Book Everything on a Waffle, literally on a waffle:

The judges wrote in part “This is the kind of bizarre, inventive twist that is perfect for the 90-Second Newbery. The illustrations on the waffle were expressive and served as a great visual complement to the brisk, skillful voiceover narration . . . Entertaining and offbeat!” You can read their full review here.

Not to be outdone, Jillian’s brother Joseph adapted Margi Preus’ 2011 Honor Book Heart of a Samurai in animated form:

The judges said, “The illustrations were bracingly stark and bold, telling the story with simple vividness . . . This movie is idiosyncratic and original in all the right ways.” Read their full review here.

I’m glad so many library branches got in the act of making movies this year. For instance, here’s E.B. White’s 1953 Honor Book Charlotte’s Web, as adapted by the Clarendon Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library:

As the judges said, “Charming illustrations and a super-fast, super-efficient retelling of the story! I liked the punchy, direct script . . . Using the Scratch programming language to make the movie was an ingenious move.” Read their full review here.

The Canarsie Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library did their own adaptation of Charlotte’s Web, by Baby Benny, Baby Jayni, Leila A., Marie I., Morgan L., Thom O. J., Yosef A., Cassie H., and Julia L.:

As the judges said, “I liked the contrast between the pictures of the cute kids and the occasionally brutal voiceover (‘Wilbur! We’re gonna KILL you!’) . . . fun to watch, lots of good stuff here!” Read their full review here.

The Central Library of Brooklyn also did a movie! This one was an adaptation of Arnold Lobel’s 1973 Honor Book Frog and Toad Together, by Kye T., Angie W., Lizzy A., Onaje G-S., Niemah B., Raymond MdO, Selin Y., Izni S., Kelly B., and Tyler M.:

As the judges said, “Funny, at times ingenious . . . lots of clever, inventive, funny touches, like when Toad’s face is covered with the crumbs of eaten cookies, or when the cookies themselves come to life and start dancing around, pleading ‘eat me! eat me!'” Read their full review here.

The Flatbush branch of the Brooklyn Public Library adapted Jacqueline Woodson’s 2015 Honor Book Brown Girl Dreaming:

The judges wrote, “A unique and surprisingly detailed sprint through the book . . . The various performances were strong and engaging and committed . . . Entertaining to watch, and it does the book justice!” You can read their full review here.

Almost every year we’ve done the 90-Second Newbery in New York, we’ve had a great entry by the talented Mohana Buckley. I’m always delighted to see what interesting idea she cooks up next. Here’s her ingeniously computer-animated version of Mildred D. Taylor’s 1977 Medal Winner Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry:

As the judges said, “I liked this original animation idea: representing every character with a little box with their initials in it! It was fun to watch the boxes whiz around as the voiceover narration explained the plot . . . Clever and entertaining!” You can read the full review here.

But wait, let’s not forget about the movies we received from the folks in the New York Public Library system! For instance, Astral and Defy of the Home School 2nd Graders (Star Stuff Academy) adapted Beverly Cleary’s 1982 Honor Book Ramona Quimby, Age 8 entirely with dolls:

The judges wrote in part, “Impressive and elaborate! This movie creates an amazingly immersive environment of dolls, small furniture, and homemade props to put us in a convincing cinematic world . . . The voiceover work was expressive, engaging, and fun.” Read their full review here.

AltSchool East Village did two versions of Matt de la Pena’s 2016 Medal Winner Last Stop on Market Street. This first one is by their “Ponies” team:

As the judges said, “A delightful adaptation of the book, and amazingly cute . . . The voiceover and all the performances were adorable and it got the main points of the book across effectively.” Read the full review here.

And here’s another movie of Last Stop on Market Street, also from AltSchool East Village, by the Phoenixes team:

The judges wrote in part, “Charming and effervescent . . . Bursting with goofy energy, it’s clear everyone had a ball making this joyful movie!” Read the judges’ full review here.

Madeleine L’Engle’s 1963 Medal Winner A Wrinkle in Time is here given a puppet adaptation by Olivia, Violet, Hunter, and Ben:

As the judges wrote in part, “Ingenious puppetry and voiceover work! I appreciated the expressiveness of the puppets: the dour look on Meg’s face and the wide-eyed goofball look on Charles Wallace’s face, for instance. This movie nailed all the major plot points with style, all while keeping up a brisk pace.” Read their full review here.

We got a lot of great clay stop-motion entries from kids in the NYPL’s Enrichment Zones programs. For instance, here’s an adaptation of Jacqueline Woodson’s 2015 Honor Book Brown Girl Dreaming by NYPL’s West New Brighton Enrichment Zones, New York Public Library in Staten Island:

As the judges said, “Inventive and funny and fun to watch . . . This was true to the book, resourcefully accomplished, and entertaining!” You can read their full review here.

The NYPL’s Inwood Enrichment Zones in Manhattan turned in this great version of Gary Paulsen’s 1988 Honor Book Hatchet, done in the style of a Lynchian nightmare world:

As the judges said, “I loved the horrifying sounds while Brian’s plane is crashing, and how the rest of the movie is set in a dark world only occasionally lit up by flashlights. The repetition of identical gasps and evil chuckles and howls of horror were legitimately disturbing!” Read their full review here.

The NYPL’s Francis Martin Enrichment Zones in the Bronx created this stop-motion of Katherine Applegate’s 2013 Medal Winner The One and Only Ivan:

As the judges wrote, “The clay creatures of this movie (both animal and human) were well-constructed and expressive . . . A dizzyingly, accelerated sprint through the story, but true to the book’s basic plot and themes. Very fun to watch!” Read the full review here.

The Hunts Point Enrichment Zones of the NYPL of the Bronx did this Lego stop-motion version of Hatchet:

The judges wrote, “There were lots of resourceful details, like making a “porcupine” out of clay with toothpicks sticking out of it, or using an electric candle to simulate a campfire, or goldfish crackers to indicate the fish in the water . . . This was a tight script, which picked out the most important details and told the story with economy and verve.” You can read the full review here.

Hunts Point Enrichment Zones from the Bronx also did this claymation version of 1956 Honor Book The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings:

The judges wrote, “There was a great combination of ways of telling the story: switching back and forth between the illustrations in the original book and the stop-motion clay animation. The voiceover told the story in a charming, natural style.” Read the full review here.

The High Bridge Enrichment Zones of the Bronx made this claymation adaptation of The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights:

The judges wrote, “It was ingenious how the movie incorporated Marian Anderson’s original recordings into the audio of the movie. Her animated clay figure was satisfyingly detailed, right down to the way she shrugged her arms about as she spoke and the tears streamed down her face . . . Entertaining throughout!” Read the full review here.

Finally (whew! this is a lot of movies!) we have this version of Beverly Cleary’s 1978 Honor Book Ramona and Her Father by The High Bridge Enrichment Zones from the Bronx. It’s in Claymation, and cleverly told from the point of view of the Quimbys’ cat Picky-Picky:

As the judges wrote, “The legos and clay and drawn backdrop combined well to tell the story . . . It was amusing how Picky-Picky got on the computer and found a job for Mr. Quimby while the rest of the family was sleeping, and the “all thanks to me!” comment at the end was perfect.” Read the full review here.

All right! Thanks again to all the filmmakers, and to the folks at the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library, and to my co-host Michael Northrop. I can’t wait to come back next year!

Here are the end-of-show montages from the end of the screenings. First, the montage from New York Public Library show:

And here’s the montage from the Brooklyn Public Library screening:

Thanks again!

Do you want the 90-Second Newbery to continue next year? Please make a tax-deductible donation here to keep us going. Every little bit helps! We’re under the nonprofit fiscal sponsorship of Fractured Atlas.

Do you want the 90-Second Newbery to continue next year? Please make a tax-deductible donation here to keep us going. Every little bit helps! We’re under the nonprofit fiscal sponsorship of Fractured Atlas.

On March 17 and 18, we brought the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival to San Francisco and Oakland! I’m always delighted to make this trip because I get to stay with my friends Alisha and Sharon Ardiana. Sharon runs three restaurants in San Francisco: Gialina, Ragazza, and the brand-new Ardiana. Some of the best food I’ve ever had. And every time I come to town, Sharon and Alisha always take me out to some new restaurant they’ve discovered, and throw a big party after the screening for everyone. I’m lucky to have them as friends.

They also took me to see a drag show of Star Trek, which I loved. The Captain Kirk of the show was particularly amazing. Here’s an article about it.

My co-host for the 90-Second Newbery was my good friend Marcus Ewert, who has co-hosted with me in the Bay Area in years past! He is the author of the picture books Mummy Cat, 10,000 Dresses, and the upcoming Mr. Pack Rat Really Wants That. But to my shock and chagrin, I realized that we didn’t video our opening skit, nor did Marcus and I take any pictures together! Such a shame, because Marcus really nailed the opening skit and song, and he cut quite a dashing figure. Since I don’t have those images, I’ll put up pictures of him and his books instead:

So let’s look at some of the movies we received from San Francisco this year! The first is Felix and Taytum’s action-movie adaptation of Kelly Barnhill’s 2016 Medal Winner The Girl Who Drank The Moon. Felix and Taytum reliably submit a boundary-pushing, visionary movie for the 90-Second Newbery every year. This one was no different! As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “The camera work is blazingly kinetic, with lots of great angles and movement. The editing is propulsive when it needs to be, but also lets the scenes breathe when they need to. I like the special effects: the purple smoke, the gunfire, the fireball, the ‘teleporting’ effect. The fight scenes were brilliantly choreographed and really felt exciting and high-stakes, with so many great weapons: guns, swords, even a whip!”

Omara, Karina, and Lilah have also made fantastic 90-Second Newbery movies in the past, and I was thrilled with thei entry this year: an adaptation of Victoria Jamieson’s 2016 Honor Book Roller Girl, done entirely with animated paper cut-outs! As the 90-Second Newbery judges said on the website (full review here), “Impressively detailed . . . I loved how the separately articulated arms and legs of the characters were always in motion, making the movie feel lively and energetic. It was especially funny when Nicole does her ballet moves and when the girls roller skate for the first time (to the tune of ‘Twist and Shout,’ no less!). There was great voice acting throughout, pushing forward the narrative clearly and engagingly — concentrating not just on the roller-skating, but also the ups and downs of the friendships.”

San Franciscan Atom Glover is also in the stop-motion business. Last year he submitted a great stop-motion Lego version of The Westing Game, and this year he’s back with a similarly animated Flora and Ulysses . . . with the twist being, instead of Flora taking in a superhero squirrel, the story is set in the future and Flora befriends an alien who thinks it’s a squirrel. As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I like the twist of retelling the story in the new setting of space. The bouncy old-time piano music kept the energy up throughout . . . Good voiceover acting, and the sound effects were resourcefully deployed. I liked how the giant vacuum cleaner and phone dwarfed all the characters. My favorite line might have been the deadpan ‘They do not teaching spelling in alien kindergarten.’ I especially like the fight between Ulysses and the cat!”

San Francisco’s Glen Park Elementary submitted this version of Katherine Paterson’s 1978 Medal Winner Bridge to Terabithia, which has a political and humanitarian twist. As the judges wrote on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “A timely and relevant take on the book: Leslie doesn’t die, but is deported. The script was tight and moved the story along swiftly and engagingly. The shots were well-framed and the editing was brisk, with hardly a second wasted! . . . I appreciated how the movie used so many good locations: the rainbow-mural background for Terabithia, the pedestrian overpass acting as the bridge to Terabithia, the watercolors on the wall for the art show, etc.”

Thanks to Erica Siskind and Nina Lindsay at the Rockridge branch of the Oakland Public Library, and thanks to Christy Estrovitz and Carla Kozak at the San Francisco Public Library, for helping me to make this film festival happen again in the Bay Area. Thanks to Kenny Avila for running the tech booth at the San Francisco show, and thanks to Summer Dawn Laurie and Ingrid Nylund of Books Inc. for selling books at the Rockridge show.

And thanks to all the folks who came out to the shows, and most of all thanks to the filmmakers and the parents and teachers and librarians who encouraged them! It’s not too early to start working on movies for next year’s show. They’re due on January 11, 2019, but they can be turned in at any time!

Here was the final montage that wrapped up the San Francisco show:

Do you want the 90-Second Newbery to continue next year? Please make a tax-deductible donation here to keep us going. Every little bit helps! We’re under the nonprofit fiscal sponsorship of Fractured Atlas.

Do you want the 90-Second Newbery to continue next year? Please make a tax-deductible donation here to keep us going. Every little bit helps! We’re under the nonprofit fiscal sponsorship of Fractured Atlas.

On March 11, 2018, our 90-Second Newbery Film Festival had its seventh annual Chicago screening. It was at the Harold Washington Library Center, in their grand Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. We filled up the place, and I was grateful to be able to bring the program back to the library. Frankly, it was one of our best 90-Second Newberys ever!

Check out our opening skit below, in which I—along with co-host Keir Graff (author of The Matchstick Castle and the upcoming Phantom Tower)—confront weird video games based on Newbery winners. The skit develops into a celebration of the strangest 90-Second Newbery movies we’ve received, sung to the the tune of “Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan. Keir really nails his performance here. I’m so glad to have him as a co-host. Here’s the skit:

It was a good year for 90-Second Newberys all around. We received a ton of great local Chicago entries this year, many of which I also showed all over the country in the national tour! Let’s highlight some of the featured videos.

Now that my daughters Lucy and Ingrid are old enough, we can make our own 90-Second Newbery movies. This summer we rounded up their friends and we all worked together on this epic version of Ruth Stiles Gannett’s 1949 Honor Book My Father’s Dragon (full review on the 90-Second Newbery website here):

Anybody who knows me knows I’m a sucker for all things David Lynch. Maybe that’s what my niece and nephew Amalia and Domingo were banking on when they made this Twin Peaks-style version of Natalie Babbitt’s 1971 Honor Book Knee-Knock Rise, a book about a boy named Egan who visits his family in a small town in which everyone is terrified of a monstrous sound coming from the mountains that they call “The Megrimum.” Egan journeys up the mountain, and discovers the haunting sound has merely natural causes—but nobody in town believes him. Paranoia-in-a-small-town is perfect fodder for a Twin Peaks treatment, and Domingo and Amalia nail the tone here with great performances and cinematography (full review here):

Another movie I’ve shown all over the country this year is this rap version of Kwame Alexander’s 2015 Newbery Medal-winning book of poetry The Crossover, which tells the story of two basketball-loving twin brothers. This incredible, professional video is Ashton, Adrien, Celina, Dylan, Keene, and Owais from Lincoln Hall Middle School in Lincolnwood, IL (full review here):

Here’s another movie I’ve been showing at every nationwide screening: this hilarious adaptation of E.B. White’s 1953 Honor Book Charlotte’s Web, in the style of a Michael Bay action movie. Who knew that Charlotte’s Web would be so improved by copious explosions? This movie is by the consistently brilliant Ava Levine of Chicago (full review here):

Just like Ava, we’ve had other great filmmakers from previous years return with even better, more ambitious movies. Spencer Sabath of Highland Park wowed us last year with his musical take on Last Stop on Market Street; this year he takes it to the next level with his adaptation of Mary Hays Weik’s 1967 Honor Book The Jazz Man, in the style of “Another Day of Sun” from the movie La La Land (full review here):

This year the Chicago Public Library encouraged their branches to submit movies, and you can see the payoff here in this movie from the Rudy Lozano Branch in Pilsen. Their YOUMedia group did this ingenious adaptation of Gary Paulsen’s 1988 Honor Book Hatchet, with the main character Brian updated as a YouTube star livestreaming his survival adventure (full review here):

Another consistently entertaining contributor is Corbin Stanchfield from Lafayette, Indiana. He’s the one who made that great Shiloh-with-a-bagel-for-a-dog that was referenced in the opening skit, and a clever Al Capone Does My Shirts-in-the-style-of-a-1980s-informercial from last year. This year Corbin got a lot of laughs with this reimagining of Richard and Florence’s 1939 Honor Book Mr. Popper’s Penguins in the style of an action movie trailer (full review here):

We kicked off the Chicago screening with John and Meg’s unique take on Wanda Gag’s 1929 Honor Book Millions of Cats. This calm, soothing, beautiful movie was the perfect antidote for Keir’s and my opening skit. And John and Meg put their own clever stamp on the story: instead of millions of cats, it’s millions of polar bears (full review here):

Last year Charlie from Highland Park showed us Hatchet in the style of a virtual reality game; this year he teams up with his friends Sammy and Tommy to adapt Kelly Barnhill’s 2016 Medal Winner The Girl Who Drank the Moon in the style of augmented reality, again with hilarious results (full review here):

Here’s another movie done in a unique medium. Not futuristic like augmented reality, but a throwback to old-fashioned black-and-white silent movies! This is Steve and Lucie’s charming, authentically old-looking black-and-white movie of Kate DiCamillo’s 2001 Honor Book Because of Winn-Dixie (full review here):

The Maiorca family have been coming to the 90-Second Newbery screenings for years. This year they took the plunge and made a movie! Here is Theo, Sabrina, and Vivian’s adaptation of Lois Lowry’s 1994 Newbery Medal winning dystopian classic The Giver. See if you can guess the TWO parts of this very entertaining movie that elicited audible gasps of horror from the audience (full review here)!

Lydia, Hannah, Gabi, Elizabeth, and “Hannah Banana Cinnamon Sue Boby” of Edgewood Middle School turned in this heartfelt and engaging adaptation of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s 1992 Medal Winner Shiloh. Great acting and cinematography in this one, and such a cute dog (full review here):

The students of Mark DeLay Elementary and Indian Prairie Public Library District stepped up with this fun and resourceful adaptation of Matt de la Pena’s and Christian Robinson’s 2016 Medal Winner Last Stop on Market Street (full review here):

I always love it when somebody adapts an older, more obscure Newbery honoree. That’s certainly the case here, with the sixth graders of John B. Murphy Elementary making a movie of James Cloyd Bowman’s 1938 Newbery Honor Book Pecos Bill, which is all about the mythical adventures of a rootin’ tootin’ larger-than-life hero of the old American West. I particularly like the part where Pecos Bill wrestles that tornado (full review here):

I love the Newbery-winning books of poetry, whose brevity and precise language often make for great 90-Second Newbery fodder. That’s certainly the case here, with John, Steve, Meg, and Lucie’s adaptation of Paul Fleischman’s 1989 Medal Winner Joyful Noise: Poems For Two Voices, a book of poems from the point of view of various insects, which the kids imitate here (full review here):

Hazel, Violet, Nora, Devin, and Ray’s adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 1944 Honor Book These Happy Golden Years was a crowd favorite on Sunday. Lots of funny moments with energetic and committed performances from the kids. This family has been making 90-Second Newberys of the Little House books for years, and they just get better and better (full review here):

Whew! That’s a lot of movies . . . and that’s not even counting the out-of-town movies we screened on Sunday, or the dozens of Chicago-area movies that were submitted that we didn’t have time to show.

Thanks so much to Elizabeth McChesney, Maria Peterson, Mary Beth Mulholland, Patrick Molloy, and Alexandria Trimble of the Chicago Public Library for coming together and doing all the behind-the-scenes work to make this year’s 90-Second Newbery happen. Thanks to Leland in the tech booth for making the show run smoothly. Thanks to the Book Cellar for doing book sales after the show, and thanks to Keir Graff for being a great co-host.

Thanks most of all to the filmmakers, and the parents and teachers who helped them, especially those who came on Sunday!

It was an incredible afternoon. It’s not too early to start making movies for next year! The deadline is January 11, 2019, but you can turn them in anytime!

Here’s the final montage that played us out:

Do you want the 90-Second Newbery to continue into next year and beyond? Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to keep us going. We are under the nonprofit fiscal sponsorship of Fractured Atlas.