Children's Laureate

Poet, playwright and author Joseph Coelho has been named the new Waterstones children's laureate, and will look to celebrate the power of poetry during his two-year tenure.  Read more

All of the UK's children's laureates, including Cressida Cowell, Quentin Blake, Malorie Blackman and Michael Rosen, are uniting to call for the government to dedicate £100m a year to revitalising "deteriorating" primary school libraries across the country, amid fears that literacy levels have dropped severely during the pandemic.  Read more

Lauren Child thinks children's book publishing still gets a bad deal. It's one of the reasons the best-selling author-illustrator and current Children's Laureate - her tenure ends this year - is so happy to be a judge for this year Oscar's Book Prize. "There's still a lot of snootiness about children's books. Just look at the teeny-weeny percentage that get reviewed compared to adults.  Read more

As I speak to the illustrator, writer and political cartoonist Chris Riddell - who has just been appointed the ninth Waterstones Children's Laureate - he is drawing, on a press release, a picture of himself drawing on a press release.  Read more

Several notable authors were walking the aisles of the Bologna Book Fair, from newcomers to the children's book world like bestselling adult author Sophie Kinsella to veterans like Malorie Blackman, the current U.K. Children's Laureate, whose next book for children will be her 61st.  Read more