Irma Simonton was born in in Paterson, New Jersey. She majored in English and mathematics at Barnard College, and received an A.B. in 1927. She went on to complete a teaching course at the Bureau of Educational Experiments of the City of New York, and she did graduate work at New York University. In 1931 she began working for the Bureau of Educational Experiments, first as a teacher at the Harriet Johnson Nursery School, then as a child development researcher, and later, as a faculty member teaching children�s' literature. In 1934, she married attorney James Hammond Black, and together they had a daughter. In 1950, the Bureau became The Bank Street College of Education, and Irma became the head of the Division of Publications and Communications, a position she held for the rest of her life. She was a founding member of the the Writers' Laboratory, and later became its head. She was an author and editor of The Bank Street Readers series of children's books that provided a were multi-ethnic alternative to Dick and Jane-style readers. In the 1950s and early 1960s, she wrote a monthly column called "You and Your Child" for Redbook Magazine. She was the author of more than twenty children's books and three non-fiction books for adults. In 1972, she died of stab wounds in her Greenwich village home. In her honor, the Bank Street College of Education established the Irma Simonton Black Award, which was changed to The Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature in 1992.