Congratulations to Anthony Browne, who today becomes the sixth children's laureate. It's a little over 10 years since the then-poet laureate Ted Hughes, and his Devon neighbour Michael Morpurgo, first suggested that there might be a laureate for children's books, and 10 years exactly since the appointment of the first. Today, it's hard to imagine how we ever managed without one.
From inaugural laureate Quentin Blake, to Michael Rosen, who stands down today, each has made a significant contribution to the debate about children's reading – both in terms of quality and quantity – and childhood in general. In addition, each has left a project with a more tangible legacy: Blake put children's book illustrators' work alongside the masterpieces in the National Gallery; Anne Fine built up a home library scheme; propelled by infectious enthusiasm, Morpurgo took books to children the length and breadth of the country; Jacqueline Wilson championed the importance of reading aloud and, after two years of campaigning on all issues around reading in schools, Rosen has finished his spell by announcing that he'll head up Just Read, an industry-wide campaign looking to create a national policy on reading.
Taken together, these amount to a colossal achievement. The five children's laureates have transformed the role: what was conceived of as an honour conferred for a lifetime's achievement in children's books has, through the energy of the post holders, become a job. But a job with such an infinite remit is bound to interfere with the holder's next book – or two or three – and in doing so, it creates a challenge that not all authors and illustrators want to take on. Fortunately for the selection panel on which I served, that did not hinder the appointment of the sixth outstanding children's laureate.
Feted nationally and internationally, Anthony Browne is an illustrator of exceptional distinction whose surrealist pictures have long proved convincingly that picture books cannot, and must not, be confined to the time and space "before reading". His powerful storytelling, full of rich visual references to other artists, and especially his countless visual jokes which delight both adults and children, propel his distinctive books; "reading" his pictures encourages reading of all kinds, and shows how pictures tell so many stories at once.
Through his pictures, Browne also led the way in showing that picture books are for older readers too. In titles including Piggybook, Gorilla, and Willy the Wimp – and many others – Browne's memorable images carry a powerful social commentary which has given readers of all ages exactly the picture books they need to keen them engaged and excited about reading, while also appealing to the traditional picture book audience. Anthony Browne's appointment as children's laureate celebrates the significance of his special contribution, as well as giving us all the opportunity to be led by his desire to see illustrations taken seriously as works of art.
