Oh, wow. Just . . . wow. Some of you may already be aware of the Boogie Woogie blog, run by author/illustrator Aaron Zenz and his three kids. The fact that it may be the best blog out there in which kids participate in the discussion of children’s literature is evidenced by nothing so much as today’s video. I hope you stayed for the credits. This is their contribution to the James Kennedy 9o-Second Newbery Film Festival (to be held in my library in November) and if it doesn’t rock your socks off, nothing will. Failing that, James received some more submissions on his blog the other day, including this magnificent take on The Witch of Blackbird Pond from Mrs. Mrs. Powell’s 5th grade class at Laurelhurst School in Portland Oregon.
Remember, folks, to get you kids’ classes involved! Have them make a video of their own and submit! I admit that the bar is high, but there’s a lot of great stuff going down. We’d love more submissions. Keep ‘em coming!!!
Speaking of contests, I was tipped off about this fantastic video contest the Ottawa Public Library held for its teens. The Teen Tech Video Contest may sound like it’s YA fare, but many of the videos submitted were definitely of children’s books. And of the children’s books they covered, my favorite (hands down) was this take on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
It came it second to The Outsiders which, this being Ottawa, says that they are on the “outside” of society in a delightfully Canadian way. Be sure to check out some of the other videos going on there. These Ottawa teens have some mad talent. Big time thanks to Jane Venus for bringing these to my attention.
Picture book trailer time. I think the genius behind this take on the Katie Davis book Kindergarten Rocks is the first child featured here. Methinks the the child doth protest too much. In any case, if your cute kid quotient is low for the day, here is the perfect cure:
Library Journal takes at 
Kids officially make the greatest videos ever. Why do we bother letting grownups make movies at all?
Another wonderful video roundup, Betsy! I loved the Star Wars videos in particular.
JINX — I blogged about that shadow-puppet “Where The Mountain Meets the Moon” today too, heaping it with well-deserved praise and pairing it with a “Walk Two Moons” I received from some undergraduates at Longwood University ( http://bit.ly/ja7ql3 ). I’m getting more and more excited for this film festival!
Oh! And you even included background info on the Boogie Woogie vid. Well played, sir.
I should probably confess to you that I am using my librarian superpowers to delay the birth of your child so that she might arrive on the same date as my own. If I can make Heather late and myself earlier then my nefarious plan will come to fruition soon. Mwah-ha-ha!!