Back when I was in elementary school, the one book I had a love/hate relationship with was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. We read it in our GATE class because it was a Newbery Award winner and one of the first science fiction books aimed at children.
I thought the plot of the book was rather cool, but I wasn’t great at sticking to the same chapters as the rest of the class or turning in the vocabulary homework. As a result, the D- I got that semester was the lowest I ever received and I got into trouble with my parents.
If I’d made a video like this when I was a kid, I wonder if my teacher would have raised my grade?
Created by children’s book author James Kennedy (The Order of Odd-Fish), this hilarious video was made in order to promote the 90 Second Newbery contest which he is holding jointly with the New York Public Library.
The challenge is to take either an award winner or a Newbery Honor winner and to recap the story in 90 seconds. Submissions in link form are due on September 15, 2011 and even fanfic crossover videos could even be considered, according to Kennedy who added:
If the film is sufficiently ingenious, we might even bend the rules. Okay, I admit it: for years I’ve wanted to see the rodents of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh (1972) fight their counterparts in The Tale of Despereaux (2004). Rat-fights make for gripping cinema!
I really can’t argue with the man on that point. So, round up your kids, the neighbor’s kids, your nieces and/or nephews, cousins… basically grab as many child actors as you can, and you too could have your video screened at the film festival this fall.