Center for Children’s Literature

Irma Black Award

The Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature (Irma Black Award) goes to an outstanding book for young children—a book in which text and illustrations are inseparable, each enhancing and enlarging on the other to produce a singular whole. The Irma Black Award is unusual in that children are the final judges of the winning book.

The 2024 Irma Black Award Ceremony

Thousands of children in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the United Arab Emirates will participate in the voting process in 2024. We will share links to videos from the gold and silver medalists on this page in late May.

2024 Irma S. & James H. Black Award

King Penguin Irma Black
Gold Medal
 summer is for cousins irma black
Silver Medal
 the green piano irma black
Silver Medal
 rainbow shopping irma black
Silver Medal

Gold Medal

The King Penguin by Vanessa Roeder (Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)

Silver Medals

Summer Is For Cousins by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Abhi Alwar (Abrams)

The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music by Roberta Flack with Tonya Bolden, illustrated by Hayden Goodman (Random House Kids)

Rainbow Shopping by Qing Zhuang (Holiday House)

News Coverage

SLJ Staff. (2024, May 15). 2024 Irma Black Award and Cook Prize winners announced. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/2024-Irma-Black-Award-Cook-prize-Winners-Announced

2024 Irma Black Award Winner

The King Penguin
Author: Vanessa Roeder
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House

Honor Books

  • Summer Is For Cousins by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Abhi Alwar (Abrams)
  • The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music by Roberta Flack with Tonya Bolden, illustrated by Hayden Goodman (Random House Kids)
  • Rainbow Shopping by Qing Zhuang (Holiday House)