The 2020 Orange Marmalade Juicy Book Awards

It’s time once again to award the Juicies!

Each year I look back on the hundreds of books I’ve read and highlight titles that outstandingly reflect six core values of Orange Marmalade.

An extra List of Ten gives me wiggle room to include a few gems that don’t fit as easily into those groupings.
Click on any title to read my review.

As always, I am in awe of the tremendous skill and love poured into these books by authors, artists, and publishing teams. Thanks to you all for your gifts to us!

OUTDOOR PLAY

The Juiciest: Sometimes Rain
Meg Fleming and Diana Sudyka/Beach Lane Books

Captivating artwork circles us around the seasons with kids merrily playing outdoors whatever the weather. An absolute gem celebrating the glories of nature and the happiness of free-wheeling discovery.

Oh-So-Juicy: Come Next Season
Kim Norman and Daniel Miyares/Farrar Straus Giroux

Oh-So-Juicy: How to Two
David Soman/Dial Books for Young Readers

LOVING THE EARTH

The Juiciest: Earth Heroes
Lily Dyu/Nosy Crow

The brightest heroes of our time include good people standing up and digging in to arrest our terrible degradation of the planet and working to restore it. This collection of 20 biographical sketches of international environmental heroes made my heart sing.

Oh-So-Juicy: Wildheart: The Daring Adventures of John Muir
Julie Bertagna and William Goldsmith/The Yellowstone Conservancy

Oh-So-Juicy: Little Doctor and the Fearless Beast
Sophie Gilmore/Owlkids Books

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

The Juiciest: My Grandma and Me
Mina Javaherbin and Lindsey Yankey/Candlewick Press

Gorgeous, culturally-rich remembrances of Iran, the velvet-soft, iron-strong love of a grandmother, and harmony between those of different faiths all rocket this book to the top of many fabulous multicultural reads this year.

Oh-So-Juicy: B is for Baby
Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank/Candlewick Press

Oh-So-Juicy: When Spring Comes to the DMZ
Uk-Bae Lee/Plough Publishing House

IMAGINATION

The Juiciest: Cornelia and the Jungle Machine
Nora Brech/Gecko Press

A fantastical scene of towering trees with a network of keen treehouses, treetop walkways, and cascading rope ladders all tantalize us. It’s the place of our wildest, best dreams in this Norwegian import that’ll inspire copious fort-building.

Oh-So-Juicy: Harold Snipperpot’s Best Disaster Ever
Beatrice Alemagna/Harper Collins Children’s Books

Oh-So-Juicy: Fern and Horn
Marie-Louise Gay/Groundwood Books

KINDNESS

The Juiciest: Alma and the Beast
Esmé Shapiro/Tundra Books

A wacky and immensely happy tale that turns the tables to help us see better what kindness towards the Other looks like. Shapiro’s wildly imaginative storytelling is equal parts word and image in this delightful gem.

Oh-So-Juicy: Ernestine’s Milky Way
Kerry Madden-Lunsford and Emily Sutton/Schwartz & Wade

Oh-So-Juicy: Peace and Me
Ali Winter and Mickaël El Fathi/Lantana Publishing

QUIETUDE

The Juiciest: River
Elisha Cooper/Orchard Books

Nobody does watercolor like Elisha Cooper. Here he carries us along on a gorgeous, strenuous, solo canoe trip down the length of the Hudson River. An impeccable, pristine, calling to the bounty of wilderness, solitude, fortitude.