The 90-Second Newbery submissions keep coming in!! Remember, there’s still lots of time to have your talented kids/students/neighborhood gamins submit their own shortened versions of Newbery classics. James Kennedy and I will be presenting them at New York Public Library in the fall, but we’d love more titles like today’s musical take on that William Pene du Bois title 21 Balloons. That book goes out like crazy from my library at this time of year due to its appearance on summer reading lists. And while I’m not allowed to have 90-Second Newbery favorites, this one is right up there. More info over at James’s blog.
Well, it was a good week for links I think. Some weeks you can’t find a decent video to save your soul. Other weeks you’ve a virtual embarrassment of riches. For example, you might be sent a trailer for a documentary (due out in 2012) about the profane and wonderful Tomi Ungerer. Warning: May not be work appropriate at times (much like Mr. Ungerer himself).
Big time thanks to Jules Danielson for the link.
There was also this accurate encapsulation of the flaw in the Hogwarts house system:
Thanks to Jonathan Auxier for the link.
Another great It Gets Better video was released recently. This time it’s coming from the employees of Abrams.
And to round out this day of delights with a video of the off-topic variety, The Onion A.V. Club has been inviting bands in to record and reinterpret a variety of different songs. Aside from They Might Be Giants (who do a strangely accurate cover of Tubthumping) I really didn’t know any of the bands invited. That didn’t stop me from watching a whole slew of the videos, though. My favorite thus far:
Thanks to Phil Nel for the link.
Love the hogwarts video. But wasn’t Cedric Diggory a Hufflepuff? Maybe it’s just that they’re all drop-dead gorgeous.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, just watched the Ungerer one. Wow. The documentary may be an unlikely screening in rural Maine, but as soon as it’s on Netflix, we’re in.
My children LOVE the 21 Balloons video. Personally, my favorite part is when, at the end, the actors take off their costumes. My 6-year-old jumped up when she saw this, and cried, “Ah-HA! I KNEW those beards were fake!”
I always figured the Hufflepuffs were the logistics people. Gryffendors are brave, Ravenclaws are intellectual, Slytherins are ambitious, but Hufflepuffs are the ones who excel behind the scenes — they’re the stage managers. Talent is all well and good, but you’ve got to have someone to wrangle the egos.
@Brooke I’m so glad to hear it! And I had the same reaction as your six-year-old. I’m not so easily fooled!