New York, May 21-- Bank Street College of Education held its 32nd annual Irma S. and James Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature on Thursday, May 20, 2004, at the Harvard Club in New York City. The keynote speaker was author Judy Freeman (see bio below).

Irma Simonton Black was a writer and editor of children's books and a founding member of the Bank Street Writers Lab, which included such stars of children's literature as Margaret Wise Brown and Maurice Sendak. The Irma S. and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, which commemorates Irma's achievements, has been presented annually since 1973 by Bank Street College of Education. The 2004 winner of Irma S. and James H. Black published in the year 2003 is:

How I Became a Pirate, written by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon (Harcourt).

With the tale of a boy who is recruited by pirates into their high seas adventure, author Melinda Long fulfills many a child's dream of such a life, but shows that being a pirate is not all it's made out to be. As a regular, soccer-playing kid by day and a pirate by night, young Jeremy Jacob lives out his greatest fantasies and realizes a pirate's life filled, with fun without rules and parents. As fun as that may seem though, Jeremy comes to see pirate life as less than perfect when he realizes that while pirates may be fun-loving, they don't maintain good hygiene or give goodnight kisses. Illustrator David Shannon captures the mood of the story with captivating pictures that bring this great tale to life.

Melinda Long is a teacher and the author of several picture books. She lives in Greenville, South Carolina. David Shannon is the illustrator of many successful picture books. His numerous awards include a Caldecott Honor for No, David! He lives in Burbank, California.

Judy Freeman is a well-known speaker and writer on reading aloud, storytelling, book-talking, and all aspects of children's literature. She is a visiting lecturer at the Rutgers University School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies in the Professional Development Studies Program, where she has taught numerous courses and seminars on children's literature and library-related topics since 1982. She also teaches at Pratt Institute in New York City. Freeman is a national presenter for BER (Bureau of Education and Research) and also gives a variety of seminars on children's literature throughout the U.S. and Canada for teachers, librarians, parents, and children. She served as a member of the Newbery Committee to select the Newbery Award book for the year 2000.

Freeman's popular Books Kids Will Sit Still For: The Complete Read-Aloud Guide, and its companion, More Books Kids Will Sit Still For, are both indispensable resources for literature-based classrooms. Hi Ho Librario!: Songs, Chants, and Stories to Keep Kids Humming is a book and audio cassette/CD package for book- and nonsense-loving children and grown-ups. She also writes the monthly "Book Talk" children's book review column for Instructor magazine, and is a consultant to RIFNet, a monthly television program and technology project for Reading Is Fundamental.

The mission of Bank Street College is to improve the education of children and their teachers by applying to the educational process all available knowledge about learning and growth, and by connecting teaching and learning meaningfully to the outside world. In so doing, we seek to strengthen not only individuals, but the community as well, including family, school, and the larger society in which adults and children, in all their diversity, interact and learn. We see in education the opportunity to build a better society.

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