Children’s laureate is a title awarded every two years in the United Kingdom to an outstanding children’s author or illustrator. The award celebrates the lifetime achievement of the titleholder. The United Kingdom children’s laureate represents England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. A separate children’s laureate exists for Ireland. The laureate works to promote writing and illustration for children, focusing public attention on the role of children’s books in the cultural life of the United Kingdom.
The children’s laureate is appointed by a committee that includes a representative of the International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) as well as librarians, booksellers, publishers, writers, and teachers. Schoolchildren in the United Kingdom may also make nominations. The children’s laureate position is administered by Booktrust, an independent British charity. Booksellers and publishers help sponsor the position. The laureate receives a modest annual salary.
Two British writers conceived the idea of a children’s laureate in 1998. They were the children’s author Michael Morpurgo and Ted Hughes, at that time the poet laureate of the United Kingdom. The first children’s laureate was appointed in May 1999. He was the illustrator and writer Quentin Blake. Cressida Cowell, who became children’s laureate in 2019, had a third year added to her term to ensure that plans made at the start of her tenure could be fulfilled despite delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (worldwide epidemic).
