Bank Street Center for Children's Literature

Bank Street Center for Children's Literature Creating, identifying, and advocating for the highest quality literature for all children. Learning to read gives a child a tool for acquiring information.

Loving to read equips a child with an essential set of skills for developing a rich, imaginative and ever-expanding life. Our mission is to create, identify, and advocate for the highest quality literature for all children from infancy through adolescence. We ensure that such literature is readily accessible to every child, and to foster in parents, educators, and policy makers a commitment to the

principle that good literature is fundamental to literacy. The Center will provide workshops, guides and content for learning and social-emotional/ aesthetic development at all levels of childhood education. The faculty of Bank Street College of Education seeks to address a growing challenge: the diminishing use of children's literature in literacy programs, particularly in the early grades. As a result, many children are finding it much more difficult to "engage" in their own learning. The components of the Center are:

* The Children’s Book Committee
* Irma Simonton and James H. Black Award
* BookFest@BankStreet
* The Writers’ Lab.
* The Cook Prize
* BEST BOOKS FOR READING ALOUD WITH CHILDREN OF ALL AGES (ebook for Kindle and Nook)

The Center is housed in the Bank Street College Library. The Library has a circulating collection of over 68,000 children’s books, the Claudia Lewis reference research collection, as well as curriculum materials for teachers. The Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 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 Cook Prize honors the best science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) picture book published for children aged eight to ten. It is the only national children's choice award honoring a STEM book. The Cook Prize is administered with support from School Library Journal. BLOG: http://bankstreetcollegeccl.wordpress.com/

A wonderful printmaking workshop with award winning illustrator, Stephen Savage today at Bank Street! So many takeaways...
07/14/2026

A wonderful printmaking workshop with award winning illustrator, Stephen Savage today at Bank Street! So many takeaways for the teachers who attended!

Enjoy this amazing list of Center for Children's Literature Best Books and Awards assembled by our Bank Street Communic...
06/30/2026

Enjoy this amazing list of Center for Children's Literature Best Books and Awards assembled by our Bank Street Communications Department!

This year, the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature and the Children’s Book Committee (CBC) celebrated excellence in children’s literature through the release of several annual awards and booklists honoring outstanding titles across genres and age levels. Most recently, the CBC announc...

We are thrilled to announce that our 2026 Dorthy Carter Writer-in-Residence, Dan Gutman starts his residency at Bank Str...
04/06/2026

We are thrilled to announce that our 2026 Dorthy Carter Writer-in-Residence, Dan Gutman starts his residency at Bank Street School for Children tomorrow! We welcome him with open arms!

03/25/2026
03/20/2026
03/20/2026

First and second grade teachers! We have posted the four contenders for our annual Irma Black Award. The Irma Black is a literary prize in which children are the judges. Participation enhances reading, observation, advocacy and general critical thinking skills. Its an activity that helps children develop a lifelong love of reading. All you need to get started is to register. See below and
https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/center-for-childrens-literature/irma-black-award/
acquire the four books for your classroom!

03/20/2026

Publishers, we have begun reviewing spring 2026 titles for our Children’s Book Committee’s "Best Spanish Language Picture Book List 2027 for books published and translated in 2026."

We are seeking exceptional and star worthy board and picture books written or translated in 2026 that offer an accurate portrayal of the Spanish speaking world and give the reader insight into Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain or Latiné culture in the United States. To be considered books must be received by November 1, 2026.

Please see our website for more information: https://www.bankstreet.edu/library/center-for-childrens-literature/best-spanish-language-picture-book-award/

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New York, NY

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+1 212-875-4400

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