BANK STREET COLLEGE OF EDUCATION PRESENTS
THE 32ND ANNUAL
IRMA S. AND JAMES H. BLACK AWARD FOR
EXCELLENCE IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Thursday, May 20, 2004 at 8:00 a.m.

New York, April 15-- Bank Street College of Education is proud to present the 32nd annual Irma S. and James Black awards for Excellence in Children's Literature on Thursday, May 20, 2004, at the Harvard Club, 27 West 44th Street, New York, NY. The keynote speaker will be noted 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, have been presented annually since 1973 by Bank Street College of Education. The four Irma S. and James H. Black finalists for books published in the year 2003 are:

The Dot, written and illustrated by Peter Reynolds (Candlewick).

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

The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, written by Darcy Pattison, illustrated by Joe Cepeda (Harcourt).

Tanuka's Gift: A Japanese Tale, retold by Tim Myers, illustrated by R.G. Roth (Cavendish).

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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