2020 Mitten Award

The 2020 Mitten Award Work Group scrutinized more than 168 picture books to select this year's Top Ten Titles, winning title and honor books. Collectively, work group members devoted more than 230 hours to reading and evaluating picture books to select the titles published in 2019 that best meet the criteria as books of especially commendable quality that exhibit venturesome creativity and reflect and encourage children’s interest in a unique or innovative fashion.

2020 Mitten Award Work Group

• Chair: Amy Young, Clinton-Macomb Public Library
• Vice-chair: Michael Golczynski, Ionia Community Library
• Kimberlee Gardner, Rochester Hills Public Library
• Laura Grant, Herrick District Library
• Kristen Jayska, Livonia Public Library
• Ashlee McClaughry, Bloomfield Township Library
• Kathleen Merucci, Salem-South Lyon District Library
• Kathleen Mitchell, Kent District Library
• Jennifer Ryan, Howell Carnegie District Library
• Ashten Wilkey, Kent District Library

2020 Mitten Award Winner

The winner of the 2020 Mitten Award is The VERY Impatient Caterpillar, written and illustrated by Ross Burach and published by Scholastic Press.

The Very Impatient Caterpillar: Am I a Butterfly Yet? is a side-splitting tribute to a challenge many children face – being patient! Our hero is intrigued when his friends tell him they are going off to metamorphosize and he hurries to join them. However, when he learns that metamorphosizing is all about waiting, readers may wonder if he is up to the task. Young people will sympathize with his refrain, “Is it time yet?” and rejoice with him when it actually is.

The Mitten Work Group found this title award-worthy because it manages to weave a problem many children face – being patient – with science and comedy. The illustrations both extend the meaning of the text and increase the humor. It is a book that appeals to multiple age groups and has the potential to spark or extend interest in life sciences. Beyond that, it makes children laugh so they do not even realize they might be learning something – about both science and the benefits of exercising patience.

"The VERY Impatient Caterpillar: Am I a Butterfly Yet? by Ross Burach is a laugh-out-loud lesson on the importance of being patient," said 2020 Work Group Chair Amy Young, Clinton-Macomb Public Library. "Kids of all ages will sympathize with the lead character while at the same time learning a little something about life science. It’s not very often that STEM books and comedy mesh this well!"

2020 Mitten Award Honor Books

The 2020 Mitten Award Honor books include Who Wet My Pants, written by Bob Shea, illustrated by Zachariah Ohora and published by Little, Brown and Company; Fly! written and illustrated by Mark Teague and published by Beach Lane Books; Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story written by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal and published by Roaring Brook Press; and The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family written by Ibtihaj Muhammad & S.K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly, and published by Little, Brown and Company.

2020 Mitten Award Top Ten Titles

2020 Top Ten Titles List (In Random Order)

• Bloom Boom! by April Pulley Sayre
• Fly! by Mark Teague  
• Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, Juana Martinez-Neal
• Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis     
• The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad, S.K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly
• Truman by Jean Reidy, illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins
• The Little Red Stroller by Joshua Furst, illustrated by Katy Wu
• The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison             
• The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach              
• Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea, illustrated by Zachariah OHora

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