Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

1972 Newbery Medal Winner

Adapted by The Leland Street Players (2025)

From Chicago, IL

Judges’ Remarks: The 90-Second Newbery house team The Leland Street Players (see all their movies here) present Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH in the style of a full singing-and-dancing musical adaptation in the style of the first scene of the 2016 hit movie La La Land, telling the story to the tune of the song “Another Day of Sun”! Fantastic vocal performances from our lead performers Joy as Mrs. Frisby and Ella as Nicodemus, with an enthusiastic and talented supporting cast of Lucy K. as the owl, Ingrid as the farmer, Lucy D. as Dragon the cat, Zella as Timothy, and everyone as the various rats and scientists of NIMH. I love the gleeful energy in every frame of this movie, and the absolute commitment of everyone in the cast. The strongest entry from the Leland Street Players yet? I think so!

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All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

2021 Newbery Honor Book

Adapted by Treehouse Children’s Museum (2027)

From Ogden, UT

Judges’ Remarks: Christina Soontornvat’s 2021 Newbery Honor Book All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys Soccer Team is a nonfiction account of how, in 2018, a soccer team of 12 boys and their coach were trapped in the flooded Tham Luang cave in Thailand for 18 days. Thanks to heroic efforts, all 13 survived. In this 90-Second Newbery retelling, we have five silly, privileged, self-absorbed reality TV contestants visiting the same cave: “The Real Housewives of Being Trapped in a Flooded Cave in Thailand”! I love all the performances here, with each “real housewife” having their own goals and foibles: the ditzy influencer Felisha, the hard-driving #girlboss CEO Fauna, the shallow spiritual seeker Tiffany, the dead-eyed psycho Krysti, the backstabbing competitor Paisleigh, and even the ebullient show host. Their acting really nailed the ludicrous self-regard of reality TV personalities. Brilliant!

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Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel

1973 Newbery Honor Book

Adapted by Treehouse Children’s Museum (2027)

From Ogden, UT

Judges’ Remarks: This group adapted the “Dragons and Giants” vignette from the book, in which Frog and Toad go on an adventure in the woods to prove they are brave, but end up running away from the various snakes, birds, and avalanches they encounter all while exclaiming “I am not afraid!” Ingeniously and hilariously, this group did it in the style of a kinetic, over-the-top movie trailer. I loved how this movie used clips from action movies as well as trailer tropes, and the performances were super satisfying!

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When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller

2021 Newbery Medal Winner

Adapted by Treehouse Children’s Museum (2027)

From Ogden, UT

Judges’ Remarks: The original book is about a girl Lily who goes with her family to visit her ailing grandmother. There is a tiger that only Lily can see, and the tiger’s appearances are connected to her grandmother’s illness. This adaptation has a big twist at the end about the tiger and its relationship to the grandma’s sickness … they really did a great job portraying how only Lily could see the tiger, the emotions and performances were on point, and I laugh every time I see the tiger giving CPR to the grandmother!

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The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

2008 Newbery Honor Book

Adapted by Ava B., Gabby H., and Veda C. of Orono Intermediate School (2027)

From Long Lake, MN

Judges’ Remarks: A scattershot and hard to understand retelling, but made with admirable attention to detail, with good green screen work, excellent music throughout, and ingenious touches like the split screen phone scene. The performances were fun to watch, and I liked the way you were able to represent the rodents chasing after Holling. Good fairy outfit for Holling too, which made the scene with Mickey Mantle all the more believable. Helter-skelter but entertaining!

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Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

1998 Newbery Honor Book

Adapted by Tommy L., Caden H., and Henry S. of Orono Intermediate School (2027)

From Long Lake, MN

Judges’ Remarks: I liked the idea of telling the story using Lego stop motion with a green screen behind it, although the green screen wasn’t used to actually put any different images behind the scenes, and the shaky, always-moving, chaotic camera made it difficult to follow the story. There were many fluidly-animated moments ,but it was hard to understand the story, especially with an underwritten script in which it was unclear who was speaking or even who the characters were. That said, the stop-motion animation was ambitious and fun to watch!

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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

1963 Newbery Medal Winner

Adapted by Cody V., Jude N., Landon G., and Willy W. of Orono Intermediate School (2027)

From Long Lake, MN

Judges’ Remarks: This movie made capable use of green screen, wigs, goofy voices, and fun performances to tell the story. I liked the snarky script (“I hate you! Why’d you possess my brother?” “I don’t know. but I get that a lot”) and the use of the mannequin or dummy for some of the scenes was resourceful. I also like how our “heroes” made the robotic basketball-playing kids cry! A sarcastic, silly, fun retelling.

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The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

2022 Newbery Medal Winner

Adapted by Landon V., Griffin S., and Andrew H. of Orono Intermediate School (2027)

From Long Lake, MN

Judges’ Remarks: Good use of a combination of green screen and real locations to tell the story—it was particularly resourceful to make the lockers into “stasis pods” and have the characters actually go inside them! The background music was effective too. Although I wouldn’t have understood what was happening in this movie if I hadn’t already read the book, this movie was made with ingenuity and commitment that made it rewarding to watch.

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The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

2008 Newbery Honor Book

Adapted by Henrik Q., Charlie K,. and Conrad H. of Orono Intermediate School (2027)

From Long Lake, MN

Judges’ Remarks: Made with a lot of energy and commitment … if a bit loose and hard to understand! To be sure, if I hadn’t already read the book, I’d be pretty confused about what was going on in this movie. Good use of green screen and the occasional sound effects, though, and the humorous acting was compelling and fun to watch.

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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

1963 Newbery Medal Winner

Adapted by Quinnlan B., Mia P., Tillie S., and Reese C. of Orono Intermediate School (2027)

From Long Lake, MN

Judges’ Remarks: This movie had high-spirited performances, an original script, and a resourceful use of green screen to put us in the various locations. The fun sound effects (like the thunder) were great extra touches, and I was amused by the sometimes snarky script, with lines like “I’m Calvin O'Keefe and I’m onlyhere for emotional support.” I appreciated the attention to costumes, like angel wings for Mrs. Whatsit, or the mysterious person in black. I was particularly impressed at how the witch “transformed” for the kids to ride on her, with the blanket thrown on her and then some clever camera trickery to switch her out with a table (?) with the same blanket draped over it so the kids could “ride” on her. There were some fun chilling moments too, like how all the kids robotically bouncing the basketballs had their faces turned away from the camera. Imaginative and creative!

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The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

2008 Newbery Honor Book

Adapted by Charlotte H., Abigail R., Olivia P., Estelle M., and Jordyn W. of Orono Intermediate School (2027)

From Long Lake, MN

Judges’ Remarks: Okay, so if I hadn’t actually already read The Wednesday Wars, I’d have little idea of what is going on in this movie … but I liked the energy and ingenuity of the adaptation! Although the green screen sheets were never replaced with true background images (why not?), I liked the idea of representing Walter Cronkite on a TV by pasting a picture of the newscaster on a cardboard fake TV, and the rat cage prop was resourceful. I was also amused by how Holling was running through the parking lot pursued by the rats-on-strings, and the kissing puppets. Chaotic and scattered, but goofy fun!

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