High-quality children’s books invite young readers to explore new ideas, ask important questions, and discover joy in reading and learning as they develop a deeper understanding of the world around them.
For more than 100 years, Bank Street College has been at the forefront of celebrating and advancing excellence in children’s literature. As part of this year’s book award season, the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature and the Children’s Book Committee (CBC) presented several awards and booklists recognizing outstanding titles across genres and age levels, including the debut of a new award.
“Each year, we are proud to highlight the very best books that demonstrate literary and artistic excellence and resonate deeply with young readers,” said Cynthia Weill, Director, Center for Children’s Literature. “Our awards and booklists are made possible through the thoughtful engagement of committee members, educators, and children who help us identify the most exceptional contributions to the field.”
This spring, the Center for Children’s Literature announced the recipients of the Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature (Irma Black Award), an annual award that recognizes outstanding books for young children in which the text and illustrations are inseparable, blending words and images together to create an enriched story.
The Book That Almost Rhymed by Omar Abed, illustrated by Hatem Aly, was awarded the gold medal. Silver medalists included Pedro’s Yo-Yos: How a Filipino Immigrant Came to America and Changed the World of Toys by Rob Peñas, illustrated by Carl Angel; Meena’s Saturday by Kusum Mepani, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail; and Claudette Colvin: I Want Freedom Now! by Claudette Colvin and Phillip Hoose, illustrated by Bea Jackson.
The Irma Black Award engages young readers around the world, with thousands of first and second graders casting the final votes to select the winning book. Earlier in the process, third and fourth graders from Bank Street School for Children help determine the finalists.
The Center for Children’s Literature also presented the winners of the Cook Prize, which honors the best science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) picture books for children ages 8 to 10.
The gold medal was awarded to Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Jason Chin. Silver medals were awarded to Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park by Lori Alexander, illustrated by Jenn Ely; The Iguanodon’s Horn by Sean Rubin; and Yasmeen Lari, Green Architect: The True Story of Pakistan’s First Woman Architect by Marzieh Abbas, illustrated by Hoda Hadadi.
The Cook Prize, like the Irma Black Award, invites students from third and fourth grade classrooms to vote for their favorite STEM picture book from a selection of four finalists chosen by a panel of Bank Street educators from both the Graduate School of Education and School for Children, as well as alumni who work in math and science education.
Several weeks earlier, the CBC announced a new Youth Choice Award recognizing a book of outstanding literary merit on sensitive subjects written for a youth audience. The award honors late children’s book author and educator Robie H. Harris, GSE ’70, whose work embraced the complexities of childhood and used powerful storytelling to affirm young people’s feelings and experiences.
Selected by the Youth Choice Award Committee, which includes members of the CBC’s Young Ambassadors Program, the inaugural award was presented to the middle-grade novel Louder Than Hunger by John Schu.
“The Youth Choice Award is a celebration of books that inspire young readers to see themselves and the world with more kindness and understanding,” said Quade, Co-Chair of the Youth Choice Award Committee. “The award dedication is a tribute to Harris’s legacy, honoring books that capture the spirit of exploration, psychological depth, and literary excellence that she championed throughout her life.”
Additionally, the CBC announced the recipients of its annual awards, which includes the Josette Frank Award for fiction, the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for nonfiction, and the Claudia Lewis Award for poetry.
The Josette Frank Award was presented to Not Nothing by Gayle Forman; the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award was presented to Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Jason Chin (Older Readers) and Witch Hunt: The Cold War, Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare by Andrea Balis and Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Tim Foley (Younger Readers); and the Claudia Lewis Award was presented to Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson, illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Older Poetry) and The Smell of Wet Dog: And Other Dog Poems and Drawings by Barney Saltzberg (Younger Poetry).
Beyond its annual awards, the CBC highlights a wide range of notable titles each year through its Best Children’s Books of the Year list. The newly released 2025 edition features over 600 books published in 2024 reviewed and selected by committee members.
At the start of the year, the Center for Children’s Literature announced the winners of the Margaret Wise Brown Board Book Award, which honors the late award-winning children’s book author who was a former Bank Street student and member of the Bank Street Writers Lab. The award is presented every two years and recognizes high-quality literature for infants and toddlers.
The 2025 gold medalists include Below the Ice by Michaël Escoffier, illustrated by Ella Charbon, and We All Play by Julie Flett. Is That the Bus? by Libby Koponen, illustrated by Katie Mazeika, received the silver medal.
The award jury included experts in children’s literature, education, and medicine, who brought a range of perspectives to the selection process. In addition, teachers and young children from the Bank Street Family Center read the nominated titles and provided valuable feedback that helped shape the final decisions.
“We were delighted to share our insights with such an illustrious group of judges,” said Jeanette Corey, Director, Bank Street Family Center. “Our teachers read the books to the children and made them available in their classrooms for the children to look through on their own. We all took extensive notes as we observed them interacting with and responding to the work. Our students had clear favorites.”
The CBC also released its 2025 edition of the Best Board Books of the Year, featuring a selection of the best board books published in 2023 and 2024, as well as the The Best Children’s Books of the Year in Spanish [2025 edition], an annotated list of the best children’s books in Spanish published or translated in 2024.
In addition, the CBC looks forward to the release of the next Best Spanish Language Picture Book prize in 2026, which is awarded every two years to a book that was published or translated into Spanish.