The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival, founded in 2011 by James Kennedy, is an annual video contest in which kid filmmakers create movies that compress the stories of Newbery-winning books into 90 seconds or less. Ever since 1922, the Newbery Medal has been recognized as the most prestigious award in children’s literature. But it turns out any book, no matter how worthy and somber, becomes pleasingly ludicrous when compressed into 90 seconds. Here's 25 of the finest of the 100s of videos they've received over the past 3 years: http://bit.ly/1ajiAJt
The best of each year's movies are shown at FREE yearly screenings across the country, in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Portland, and Tacoma, co-hosted by James Kennedy and celebrity children's authors such as Jon Scieszka, Kate DiCamillo, and Blue Balliett. The shows combine movie screenings with kidlit comedy cabaret bits. Their shows have been at capacity from the start, with crowds of hundreds, including the young filmmakers themselves—who often get to meet the author whose book they filmed! See photos and video from the most recent screening in Chicago here: http://bit.ly/1fYpdBe

Curious? THE NEW YORK CITY SCREENING of the film festival is 3/22/2014 at the New York Public Library main branch, in the Bartos Forum, co-hosted by me & bestselling author LIBBA BRAY. Come! Details:http://bit.ly/L5t1HF

The mission of the 90-Second Newbery:

1) Entice students into reading and discussing Newbery winning books—especially older, unjustly forgotten titles.

2) Encourage the close reading necessary to write a script that wittily sums up a book in 90 seconds.

3) Give opportunity for students to use new technologies, such as video equipment and editing software, in a constructive way that promotes literacy.

4) Throw awesome screenings to celebrate the kids' great movies!