What is the Children’s Laureate?

The Children’s Laureate is a special award given to a writer or illustrator of children’s books every two years. Every two years, a group of adults, including a librarian, a bookseller and someone who teaches people about children’s books at a university, gather together to decide who should be named the next Children’s Laureate. They also look at votes from other adults who work with children’s books in different ways.

When a writer or illustrator is asked to be the Children’s Laureate, it is a way of saying thank you to them for all the brilliant books they have written or illustrated (or both) and of showing them that many people have enjoyed and admired their work.

The award also helps everyone to see that children’s books are important and that we should be proud of the children’s books written and illustrated in the UK.

Anthony Browne is the sixth Children’s Laureate. He will be the Children's Laureate from 2009 to 2011.

Anthony Browne says:

'It's a great honour to be the Children's Laureate for 2009-11. I know all about the amazing things the five previous Laureates have done, and I'm in awe of their hard work. I hope to encourage more children to discover and love reading, but I would like people to think especially about picture books, and the reading of both pictures and words.

'I believe picture books are for everybody at any age, not books to be left behind as we grow older. What excites me about them is how often the pictures can tell us so much more than the words. I like the way they can reveal clues as to what a character is thinking or feeling. Picture books are special – they're not like anything else. Sometimes I hear parents encouraging their children to read what they call "proper books" (books without pictures), at an earlier and earlier age. This makes me sad, as picture books are perfect for sharing, and not just with the youngest children. We have in Britain some of the best picture book makers in the world, and I want to see their books appreciated for what they are – works of art.'

Find out more about Anthony Browne

Read more about Anthony Browne

Watch a short video with Anthony in which he tells us a bit about himself and his books

View a gallery of some of Anthony Browne's illustrations

Find out about Anthony Browne's favourite game - the Shape Game - and have a go yourself with Booktime's online game

Find out about some books by Anthony Browne

Read about some of our favourite Anthony Browne books.

View a list of all the books Anthony has published – there's over 40 of them!

Activity sheets

Download these free activity sheets.

New shape game activity sheet - colour

Quick shape game – black and white (Adobe Acrobat 2.09Mb)

Activity sheet (Adobe Acrobat 1.7Mb)

Colouring sheets (Adobe Acrobat 2.09Mb)

Visit the children's drawing gallery to see some children's artwork inspired by Anthony's books.