Children's Laureate Facts for Kids

The Children's Laureate, now known as the Waterstones Children's Laureate, is a special award in the United Kingdom. It is given every two years to a fantastic writer or illustrator of children's books. This award celebrates their amazing work in the field. The person in this role helps everyone understand how important children's books, reading, creativity, and storytelling are. They also promote the idea that every child should get to enjoy books and stories for their whole life. Each Laureate chooses a special topic to focus on during their time, like poetry or helping children with disabilities.

The main goal of the Waterstones Children's Laureateship is to celebrate and promote creativity and storytelling. It also inspires all children to read many different kinds of stories. The Laureateship highlights how important children's books and reading are. It champions every child's right to enjoy a life full of books and stories. The idea for this special job came from a discussion between the Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and children's writer Michael Morpurgo. The Waterstones Children's Laureate receives £30,000 and a special silver medal.

Waterstones is the main sponsor of the Waterstones Children's Laureate. Additional money comes from Arts Council England. Children's publishers also help support the award. A group of judges considers nominations from different organizations. These include groups representing librarians and booksellers. The International Board on Books for Young People is one such group. The BookTrust organization manages the Waterstones Children's Laureate. They support the Laureate and help organize events. The current Laureate is Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

UK Children's Laureates
Children's Laureates Around the World
See also

UK Children's Laureates

Term	Laureate	What they did
1999–2001	Quentin Blake	Quentin Blake was the very first UK Children's Laureate. He showed how wonderful the art of illustration is. He also came up with the idea for The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, an arts charity.
2001–03	Anne Fine	Anne Fine focused on how important it is for children to read. She worked hard to make libraries more popular. She also started the My Home Library scheme. This encouraged children to build their own book collections at home.
2003–05	Michael Morpurgo	Michael Morpurgo took on the role almost five years after first thinking of the idea. He visited schools to encourage children to love reading and creative writing. He wanted them to find or rediscover the joy of stories.
2005–07	Jacqueline Wilson	Jacqueline Wilson encouraged children, parents, and carers to read aloud together. She traveled around the UK and Ireland. She spoke to over 40,000 children and adults. She also helped create the book Great Books to Read Aloud.
2007–09	Michael Rosen	Michael Rosen focused on children's poetry during his time as Laureate. He created online resources for teachers. These included video tips, book suggestions, and advice for making classrooms more poetry-friendly.
2009–11	Anthony Browne	Anthony Browne focused on helping children understand pictures and visual stories. His biggest project was The Shape Game. This project brought together many writers, artists, and celebrities. They created artwork to raise money for a children’s charity.
2011–13	Julia Donaldson	Julia Donaldson went on a six-week library tour. She visited 38 libraries to celebrate them as important community places. This was at a time when many libraries were at risk. She also celebrated performances and projects, including workshops for deaf children.
2013–15	Malorie Blackman	Malorie Blackman's main project was starting the YA Lit Con (YALC). This was the first big public event in the UK just for teen and Young Adult books. It is now an annual event.
2015–17	Chris Riddell	Chris Riddell celebrated illustration and doodling. He encouraged children to doodle every day with his Doodle A Day book. He also toured the UK, visiting schools, bookshops, and festivals.
2017–19	Lauren Child	Author-illustrator Lauren Child championed children's creativity. She encouraged them to take time to look around and 'stare into space'. She also made online resources to help creativity grow. These encouraged children to start their own creative projects.
2019–22	Cressida Cowell	Cressida Cowell's two-year term focused on encouraging every child to read for fun. She created a ten-point charter. This listed what she believed every child should have a right to. It included access to new books in schools, libraries, and bookshops. It also included the right to own their own book and be creative for at least 15 minutes a week.
2022–24	Joseph Coelho
2024–26	Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Children's Laureates Around the World

Other countries also have similar awards to celebrate children's literature.

Australia

In 2008, the Australian Children's Literature Alliance was started. This group chooses an Australian Children's Laureate each year. In 2011, two writers, Boori Monty Pryor and Alison Lester, shared the role for the first time.

Ireland

Ireland has a Laureate na nÓg. This is a two-year position started by the Arts Council of Ireland in May 2010. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland also supports it.

The Netherlands

Since 2013, the Dutch Reading Foundation chooses a well-known children's book author every two years. This author acts as an ambassador for children's literature. Since 2017, this 'Kinderboekenambassadeur' has a special office in the Children's Book Museum in The Hague.

Sweden

The Swedish Arts Council chooses an author as an "Ambassador for reading," called Läsamabassadör. This is a two-year role since 2011. The Swedish Minister of Culture announces the ambassador at the Gothenburg Book Fair. As part of their job, the ambassador helps tell children about books and reading.

United States

In January 2008, the Library of Congress started its National Ambassador for Young People's Literature program. This is like the U.S. version of the Children's Laureate. The first Ambassador was Jon Scieszka. The Poetry Foundation also gives a similar honor every two years for the Young People's Poet Laureate.

Children's Laureate facts for kids

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