Committee Members

Jina Miharu Accardo holds an M.S. Ed. in reading and literacy education from Bank Street College.  She currently works as a substitute classroom and library teacher at the Bank Street School for Children, and freelances as both a reading/writing tutor and a copy editor.

Marilyn Ackerman retired from New York Public Library’s BookOps and Brooklyn Public Library after serving as a children’s materials selector, branch librarian, and curriculum materials specialist.  A member of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), Marilyn has been a member of the Newbery, Caldecott, Batchelder, and Carnegie Medal/Notable Children’s Videos committees.  She has also served as a storyteller for Brooklyn Public Library’s Hospital Storytelling Program.

Alice Belgray earned a Ph.D. in Musicology but changed careers many years ago. She studied children’s literature and worked as a children’s book editor for several major publishing firms. She later joined the Children’s Book Committee, which she chaired from 1997 to 2011.

Jenny Brown, senior editor of Shelf Awareness, has spent the past 30 years toggling between her two passions – education and bookmaking. She has served as director of the Center for Children’s Literature and interim children’s librarian at Bank Street College of Education, and publisher of Knopf Books for Young Readers. When she’s not combing bookshelves for her next read, you can find her performing cabaret at Don’t Tell Mama in New York. Jenny lives with her husband in Hewitt, NJ.

Sheila Browning received her MS degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street in 1970 and began her teaching career at PS 3, an alternative public school in Greenwich Village. In 1977, she was a founding member on the staff of PS 234 in TriBeCa where she taught Grades K-3, was trained and served as a Reading Recovery Teacher, and worked as a part-time Librarian. After her retirement from the NYCDOE in 2004, Sheila had a small private tutoring practice. Returning to Bank Street in 2017, 47 years later, brings her career full circle, a most meaningful next chapter.

Miriam Lang Budin was a children’s librarian for over forty years before her 2017 retirement. As a member of ALSC, she has served on the Caldecott Committee twice and the Newbery Committee once. She has also chaired the Ezra Jack Keats Award Committee. Her long career as a storyteller has led her to teach many storytelling classes for adults, particularly librarians. She currently reviews for School Library Journal and Horn Book Guide.

Christina Clark has a bachelor’s degree in Art History from Smith College and a Master’s degree in Education from Harvard University.  She has lived in China, the Netherlands and the UK where she received a Post Graduate Degree in Education from the University of London.  Christina has been an elementary and middle school teacher and has taught in both the British and the US school systems.  She helped design the middle school program at the Neighborhood House Charter School in MA.  Christina served on the Board of Rhyl Primary School in London and Hong Kong Academy in China.

Deborah E. Cohen retired after working for 32 years in public school libraries in Maryland and New Jersey. Deborah designed curriculum for secondary school students and specialized in both the research process and information literacy and consistently advocated for students to become life-long readers. She received a BA degree in Library Science Education from the University of Maryland and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Services from Rutgers University. She has been a member of the Children’s Book Committee since 2015.

Carmen Colón is an Advisor and Instructor at the Graduate School at Bank Street College of Education. She has been an Educational Consultant in Curriculum Development in Dual language, General and Special Education practice and Getting ready for Pre-K: An Institute for Educators. Previously she has been an Early Childhood educator and after school Spanish teacher.

Becky Eisenberg is a 9/10s teacher at the Bank Street School for Children. Becky has a passion for teaching reading and for children’s literature. She received an M.S.Ed. in Teaching Literacy and Childhood General Education from Bank Street College. Becky’s favorite young readers are her two children.

Margery Fisher served as the Library Media Specialist at Coleytown Middle School in Westport CT for 25 years. During that time she guided the automation of the Library, assisted with the change from junior high to middle school, served as Advisor to the Student Government and began a Service Program for students. Since her retirement, she has been a member of the Children’s Book Committee and has been an editor of the annual list.

Helen Freidus is newly retired from the faculty of the Bank Street College Reading and Literacy Program where she taught for the past 25 years.  She has conducted research and published about the uses of digital pedagogy in constructivist classrooms, knowledge development of pre-service and in-service teachers, and early childhood literacy development.  Her understanding of early literacy has taken a quantum leap in the past few years as she has watched her grandchildren follow diverse pathways through the world of

Alexandra Grannis is a learning disabilities specialist who works with children who have difficulty in learning to read. She is interested in promoting the best children’s literature for all students, but especially for the children she teaches. She is co-director of the Young Reviewers Program.

Melinda Greenblatt has been a librarian for over 40 years. She was the Chief Librarian of the Information Center on Children’s Cultures, a service of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, where she began her long-standing study of diversity in children’s literature.  Through the Library Power and Library Connections programs, she created better school libraries throughout the NYC public school system and the Archdiocese of NY.  Most recently, she was the Director of Briarcliff Manor Public Library.  She has served on the Newbery and Pura Belpré committees for the American Library Association and currently reviews children’s and YA literature for Kirkus Reviews, The Horn Book Guide, and Shelf Awareness, an online newsletter.  She is happy to rejoin the Children’s Book Committee in 2017, having previously served from 2005 – 2011.

Linda Greengrass was the Children’s Librarian at Bank Street for over 15 years. She then became the director of the Bank Street Library, a position she held for eleven years. She has served on the Children’s Book Committee for more than 35 years and is currently co-chair of the Committee.

Todd Jackson was a Learning Specialist in the Bank Street School for Children for 20 years. Upon retirement from the SFC, she joined the Children’s Book Committee, where she is co-director of the Young Reviewers program. She works to enrich the language arts and library program at the Cornelia Connelly Center – a private middle school for low-income girls on the Lower East Side.

Andee Jorisch is a retired NYC elementary school teacher, having worked in Washington Heights, teaching 5th and 6th graders for 35 years. Book groups with her classes were her favorite. She taught at the Workshop Center for Open Education at City College, participated in the Lincoln Center Institute and the Metropolitan Opera program. She also worked with the Council on the Environment on Student Energy Projects, and was part of the Goddard Riverside Camping program.

Gloria Koster has over 20 years’ experience as a children’s librarian, primarily at West Elementary School in New Canaan, Connecticut. She has also worked as a high school librarian and as the interim director of Pound Ridge (NY) Library. In addition, Gloria is the author of several picture books, including her most recent title – Little Red Ruthie. She reviews regularly for School Library Journal.

Mollie Welsh Kruger has been an early childhood and elementary school teacher in New York City for over twenty years. While working on her doctorate, she became engaged in deeper conversations regarding literacy and, thus, children’s literature. Currently, Mollie is on the graduate faculty of Bank Street College of Education in the Reading and Literacy Program and is co-chair of the Children’s Book Committee.

Patricia Lakin, a former elementary school teacher, is a full-time writer of children’s books. She has written over 60 children’s books one of which is the middle grade biography, Steve Jobs: Thinking Differently. Her latest is the 4 book Made By Hand Series published by Simon & Schuster. She makes frequent school visits where she shares her writing experience and also gives writing workshops to students and teachers.

Caren Leslie is now an Assistant Principal for Kindergarten to Second Grade at Academy of the City in Woodside, Queens.  After earning her masters in curriculum development from Bank Street, she has taught elementary grades in NYC independent schools, directed early childhood programs and taught community college students, and bachelor’s and master’s candidates education courses.  She began her interest in children’s literature while a senior at Smith College.

Elizabeth Levy has been writing children’s books since 1971, with over 100 books published, including the Something Queer Mysteries, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein, and My Life as A Fifth Grade Comedian. In August 2019, Roaring Brook will publish, Bringing Down A President: the Watergate scandal.  She co-authored the book with Andrea Balis, History professor at John Jay College.  She does frequent school visits and also loves to write with children, working on stories with children from the Bronx to India.

Muriel Mandell is the author of a dozen books for children that have been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages. She’s taught in New York City from kindergarten to graduate school, and, as assistant to the Director of Communications Arts of the NYC Board of Education, she wrote manuals for the teaching of both writing and reading. Earlier, with a a Masters from the Columbia School of Journalism, she worked as a reporter, magazine editor and   Washington correspondent for Overseas News Agency.  In recent years she has written and adapted more than 50 stories for an app for young children. She has been on the CBC since 1984 and has been an editor of the annual list.

Kathryn L. Payne holds a PhD in Germanic Languages and Literatures with a specialty in World War II children’s literature. She has also been a classroom teacher in the NYC public schools working with challenged and at risk students, as well as teaching German and research skills at the college level. Now semi-retired, she still works as a researcher and is writing a YA novel and a comprehensive bibliography of World War II children’s literature.

Martha Rosen has been a member of the Book Committee for fifteen years. She was a Library Media Specialist at the Edgewood School in Scarsdale, NY, for 23 years and continues as a part-time Children’s Librarian at the Scarsdale Public Library.

Caroline Schill is a public librarian who has devoted her career to Children and Young Adult library services.  She has over 10 years of experience in the field.  Whether working as a library manager or as a floor librarian, she has always advocated tirelessly and enthusiastically for children and the adults who care for them.  As a librarian, Caroline worked hard to ensure access to a diverse and well curated collection of materials and to cultivate inspiring, safe, family friendly spaces. Currently at home raising 3 kids of her own, Caroline now gets to experience the library through new eyes as a parent and a patron.  Caroline joined Bank Street’s Children Book Committee in the summer of 2018.

Elizabeth Segal earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Bank Street College of Education and is currently a freelance proofreader, copy editor, and fact-checker.

Charissa Sgouros holds a master’s degree in elementary education and one in reading and literacy.  She is involved in elementary education teaching children, teachers, and teachers-to-be.  Charissa is the author of the picture book A Pillow for My Mom and is currently a learning specialist at LREI.

Dale Singer recently retired as a psychotherapist working with adolescents and adults. She is presently involved in a prison education program, working with inmates at Sing-Sing Correctional Facility. She admires the work of the committee and is delighted to share her reactions to the amazing literature for children.

Hadassah Tannor is a psychologist/learning disabilities specialist with an M.A. in School Psychology. She is a Founder and Director of the Children’s Learning Improvement Center, specializing in the diagnosis and remediation of learning disabilities.

Jane Thompson was a NYC public school teacher in East Harlem for 30 years.  She helped develop the Title III program for her district and ran literature and writing after-school programs. She has developed a literature curriculum and taught teachers about approaches to literature for New York State. She has also worked with arts programs such as the Lincoln Center Institute and the Metropolitan Opera school program for many years.  In addition she has studied and lived in the Philippines, Mexico and Guatemala and has traveled extensively.  She has been a committee member for over 25 years.

Margaret Tice is the head librarian at Magen David Yeshivah (grades K-8) in Brooklyn, NY, and is also an adjunct professor at the Queens College Graduate School of Library & Information Studies. A children’s librarian in the New York metropolitan area for over 35 years, Margaret was the Coordinator of Children’s Services at The New York Public Library from 2001-2009.  Margaret is active in the American Library Association and has served on the Newbery, Sibert, Notable Video and Carnegie Committees.

Morika Tsujimura teaches Math and Science in the Lower and Middle divisions at Grace Church School. Previously, she taught 7th grade Math and Science at Bank Street School for Children, where she also helped facilitate middle school affinity groups for kids of color. Her other volunteer roles include mentor at iMentor, Dog Captain at the ASPCA, Master Composter through the NYC Compost Project hosted by the New York Botanical Garden, and member of the Diversity Committee for the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS).

Leslie Wagner began her career in California as a criminal defense attorney specializing in juvenile court matters. She subsequently moved to New York where she first became a legal writer and editor. She is now a staff attorney at the Safe Passage Project, where she represents unaccompanied children in immigration court.

Cynthia Weill is trained as an art historian and worked as both an educator and in humanitarian assistance.  She holds a doctorate from Teachers College Columbia University.  She completed her dissertation work in Oaxaca, Mexico where she worked closely with artisans to collaboratively develop a series of bilingual children’s books. She is the current director of the Center for Children’s Literature at Bank Street.

Michele Weisman is the Founder and Executive Director of Meet the Writers. Inc., an education nonprofit that promotes literacy by bringing inspiring authors to students in New York City schools. Prior to Meet the Writers, Michele worked for 25 years in product development with some of the most respected names in children’s publishing, including Children’s Television Workshop, Time for Kids, and Highlights for Children.