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.
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.
 Gold Medal |
 Silver Medal |
 Silver Medal |
 Silver Medal |
Gold Medalist
The King Penguin by Vanessa Roeder (Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
Vanessa Roeder Acceptance Speech
Silver Medals
Summer Is For Cousins by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Abhi Alwar (Abrams)
Rajani LaRocca Acceptance Speech
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)
Qing Zhuang Acceptance Speech
Honor Books