Children's Laureate, now known as the Waterstones Children's Laureate, is a position awarded in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field". The role promotes the importance of children's literature, reading, creativity and storytelling while promoting the right of every child to enjoy a lifetime of books and stories. Each Laureate uses their tenure to focus on an aspect of children's books – these have included poetry, storytelling, readers with disabilities and illustration. The aim of the Waterstones Children's Laureateship is to celebrate and promote creativity and storytelling, and to inspire all children to read a rich and diverse range of stories. The Laureateship also promotes the importance of children's books, reading and champions the right of every child to enjoy a life rich in books and stories. The post stemmed from a discussion between the poet laureate

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

and children's writer

Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as '' War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelli ...

. The Waterstones Children's Laureate receives a £30,000 bursary and an inscribed silver medal. The main sponsor of the Waterstones Children's Laureate is

Waterstones Waterstones Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British bookselling, book retailer based in London, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, ma ...

, with additional funding from

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

and support from children's publishers. A selection panel considers nominations from a range of organisations representing librarians and sellers, including the

International Board on Books for Young People International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. The Waterstones Children's Laureate is managed by BookTrust, who supports the Laureate and organise events. The post is currently held by Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

UK officeholders

Comparable offices elsewhere

Australia

In 2008, an Australian Children's Literature Alliance was founded to select and appoints an annual Australian Children's Laureate. In fact, the first year saw two writers sharing the role.

Boori Monty Pryor Boori Monty Pryor (born 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian author best known as a storyteller and as the inaugural Australian Children's Laureate (20122013). Early life and family Pryor is descended from the Birri Gubba nation of the Bowen re ...

and

Alison Lester Alison Jean Lester (born 17 November 1952) is an Australian author and illustrator who has published over 25 children's picture books and two young adult novels — ''The Quickstand Pony'' and ''The Snow Pony''. In 2005 Lester won the Child ...

were announced in Adelaide in December 2011, with Noni Hazlehurst as patron.

Ireland

Ireland has a Laureate na nÓg, a two-year office inaugurated by the

Arts Council of Ireland The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts". About It was established in 1951 by the government of Ireland, to encourage interest in Irish art ( ...

in May 2010. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is one supporter.

The Netherlands

From 2013, every two years, the Dutch Reading Foundation appoints a well-known children's books author as an ambassador for children's literature. Since 2017, this 'Kinderboekenambassadeur' has a seat in his special embassy in the Children's Book Museum in The Hague.

Sweden

The Swedish Arts Council appoints an author as "Ambassador for reading", Läsamabassadör, for a two-year office since 2011. The ambassador is announced at Gothenburg Book Fair by the Swedish

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

. As part of the tenure, the ambassador help communicate to children about books and reading.

United States

In January 2008, the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

inaugurated its National Ambassador for Young People's Literature scheme, as the U.S. equivalent of the Children's Laureate. The inaugural Ambassador was

Jon Scieszka Jon Scieszka ( : born September 8, 1954) is an American children's writer, best known for his picture books created with the illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and the founder of Guys Read – a web-based ...

. A similar honour is awarded bi-annually by the

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is a United States literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthrop ...

for the Young People's Poet Laureate.

References

;Citations
''Children's Laureate''
(childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 2013-09-28.

External links

* {{official website, http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk British children's literary awards British children's literature 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom