This year marks the 25th anniversary of the bi-annual award.
Cottrell-Boyce, whose books include ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again’, ‘The Great Rocket Robbery’ and ‘The Astounding Broccoli Boy’, is pledging to dedicate his two-year tenure to ‘igniting a fierce’ national conversation about the role books and reading can play in transforming children’s lives, referencing the decades of compelling evidence showing that reading for pleasure is the single biggest factor impacting the life-chances of a child.
He replaces outgoing laureate Joseph Coelho. Other former children’s laureates include Quentin Blake, Michael Rosen, Malorie Blackman, Cressida Cowell and Michael Morpurgo.
Speaking at today’s award ceremony, he will say, ‘I am so proud to be here today, being passed the torch of the Laureateship. Writing and reading has transformed my life – and I write children’s books because I think they help build the apparatus of happiness inside us.
‘I’m privileged to be part of those intimate, crucial, person-forming moments when people share stories with the children in their lives. I’m privileged to visit schools up and down the country – to read to children, and to see a Britain that is innovative, eccentric, funny, up for it, open-hearted.
‘But I also get to see a different Britain. A Britain that is not fair. A Britain that’s a stranger to equality.
‘For too long, the life-changing benefits of children’s reading have not been taken seriously. And now – as our children face an unknown future – we risk losing a generation unless we act.
So, my tenure as Waterstones Children’s Laureate will be about addressing invisible privilege and inequality.
‘It will be about calling for national provision so that every child – from their earliest years – has access to books, reading and the transformative ways in which they improve long-term life chances.
‘It will be about campaigning for a visible sign that this country values its children – to show them they are important.’
'The appointment of Frank as Children's Laureate gives us a powerful advocate for disadvantaged and vulnerable children'.
Diana Gerald, chief executive of BookTrust, commented, ‘Reading can help young children who missed out on critical development opportunities during the pandemic and who have fallen behind in terms of literacy, language development, and communication skills. It can help children overcome the consequences of rising levels of poverty and inequality, particularly if we read with them in their early years.
‘The appointment of Frank as Children's Laureate gives us a powerful advocate for the disadvantaged and vulnerable children and the transformative effect that reading can have on their lives.’
