New York’s Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature (CCL) has announced the four finalists for its 2015 Irma Black Award for the best read-aloud picture book for first and second grade and the four finalists for its 2015 Cook Prize for the best picture book that teaches science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) principles. Both winners will be determined by students from around the world. The 2015 Irma Black Award The four picture book finalists chosen for the 2015 Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature are: Blizzard by John Rocco (Hyperion) Elizabeth, Queen of the Sea by Lynne Cox, illus. by Brian Floca (Schwartz & Wade) Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illus. by Jon Klassen (Candlewick) Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton (Candlewick) The finalists were chosen by third and fourth graders at the Bank Street School for Children from a pool of 16 read-aloud books selected by a jury of teachers, librarians, reviewers, graduate faculty, Bank Street College alumni, and members of the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee. To encourage participation in the process, CCL is offering suggested discussion guidelines for the Irma Black Award and for the Cook Prize to help librarians and educators host their own picture book talks. There is also an online registration form so that students around the world may participate in the voting process. The deadline for all ballots is April 20. CCL is also inviting children to create their own clever campaigns in order to lobby for their favorite Irma Black Award and Cook Prize candidates, according to Jennifer M. Brown, CCL’s director. “We like to celebrate your students' campaigns for their favorite book, so please send us photos of their posters, murals, and bookmarks,” she says. She can be contacted at jbrown@bankstreet.edu. The awards ceremony will be held at the Bank Street College of Education on Thursday, May 14, 2015. Former Irma Black Award winner Fiona Robinson (for What Animals Really Like) will deliver the keynote. The students spent a month—one week each with rotating sets of four books—working together with their teacher to vote for their favorite book each week, then met with children’s librarian Allie Bruce to discuss the eight books that received the most votes and choose the finalists. Through these discussions, the students helped each other think deeply about the books, Bruce told SLJ, such as one student’s comments about Blizzard: "The pictures go really good with the words. It keeps track of the days, and I feel how deep the snow is and how much work it is. Without the pictures, that would be hard to imagine." The Irma Black Award was established in 1972 to honor Irma Simonton Black, author, educator, and long-time faculty member at Bank Street College of Education. The 2015 Cook Prize  The four finalists chosen for the Cook Prize for the best picture book that teaches STEM principles for third and fourth graders are: Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle by Cheryl Bardoe, illus. by Alan Marks (Charlesbridge) Galápagos George by Jean Craighead George, illus. by Wendell Minor (Harper) Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis, illus. by Gilbert Ford (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell, photos by Sarah C. Campbell & Richard P. Campbell (Boyds Mills)  The finalists were chosen by a jury composed of two graduate faculty at Bank Street College of Education, two teachers in the Bank Street School for Children, and two distinguished alumni from the Bank Street College of Education. Cook Prize suggested discussion guidelines for third- and fourth-grade students can be found here, and schools may register to vote on the finalists here. The Cook Prize was established in 2012, in honor of two ground-breaking Bank Street educators—Don Cook of the Graduate School of Education and Michael Cook of the School for Children. In naming this award “The Cook Prize,” Bank Street not only honors Michael and Don for their intangible contributions to the world of education but encourages excellence in publishing informational books on STEM topics for elementary-aged children, Brown says.