Anthony Browne is new Children’s Laureate

Anthony Browne reads some of the letters sent to him by children

Award-winning author and illustrator, Anthony Browne, has been chosen as the Children’s Laureate for 2009-11.

Anthony was awarded his Laureate medal in a ceremony on 9 June at Centre Point, London, by former Poet Laureate and chair of the selection panel, Andrew Motion. Andrew Motion said: “Anthony Browne is an absolutely distinctive and extraordinarily skilful artist – someone whose work entrances children, and has influenced an entire generation of illustrators. His pictures and stories give deep and immediate pleasures, while also insisting that we – children and adults – return to them – and when we return, we have a gradually-expanding sense of discovery.”

Accepting the accolade, Anthony said: “It’s an honour to be the Children’s Laureate for 2009-11” and said that while he hoped to encourage more children to discover and love reading, he would be focusing particularly on the appreciation of picture books. He commented: “Picture books are for everybody at any age, not books to be left behind as we grow older. The best ones leave a tantalising gap between the pictures and the words, a gap that is filled by the reader’s imagination, adding so much to the excitement of reading a book.”

He said that he was saddened when he heard parents encouraging their children to read ‘proper’ books, at an earlier and earlier age, saying: “Picture books are perfect for sharing, and not just with the youngest children.”

Anthony is an author and illustrator of children’s books, having created nearly forty titles. Many of his books feature primates and one of his best-loved characters is the chimp, Willy.

Read a Literacy Time PLUS author profile of Anthony Browne here.