Jury Citation

“Marianne Dubuc has created an unforgettable and enchanting oeuvre of stories. Funny and intimate, her books orbit the deepest of subjects, casting questions of friendship, loneliness, change, and loss, with the lightest of lines and quietest grace. Many writers for children are frightened of the blank page but Dubuc uses white space and silence with great confidence, demonstrating a profound respect for her young readers. She knows children are sage and curious and holders of immense feeling. She knows, as children know, that a story is often what happens between words. She lets us all in.   ‘You’re welcome to stay with me,’ Lion says in The Lion and the Bird. And we reply, ‘Yes. I think we will.’ With this award, we are delighted to celebrate and honour a writer and illustrator whose quiet brilliance is showcased in a body of work that includes, thus far, more than a dozen picture books available in both her langue maternelle, French, and in English translation, in Canada and around the world.” — 2020 Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People Jury (Caroline Adderson, Kyo Maclear, and Susan Perren)