Children's Laureate

Children's Laureate is a position awarded in the UK once every two years to a distinguished writer or illustrator of children's books. A biannual bursary of £10,000 is offered. "The idea for the Children's Laureate originated from a conversation between (the then) Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and children's writer Michael Morpurgo."

A panel of judges considers nominations from a range of organisations representing librarians, critics, writers and booksellers, including the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). They also consider authors and illustrators nominated directly by children.

The award is funded by the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) and a range of other publishing industry and charity sector sponsors. Its main sponsor is Waterstone's, the UK's largest bookseller. The award was previously sponsored by Ottakar's before the companies merged.

The Children's Laureate selection panel for the 2007 to 2009 award was chaired by Shami Chakrabarti, director of pressure group Liberty.

The Laureate for 2009 to 2011, Anthony Browne, was announced on 9 June 2009, selected by a panel chaired by Andrew Motion, the Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009.

On 7 June 2011, Julia Donaldson was named as the Children's Laureate for 2011 to 2013.

U.S. equivalent
In January 2008 the Library of Congress inaugurated its National Ambassador for Young People's Literature scheme, as the U.S. equivalent of the Children's Laureate. The inaugural Ambassador was Jon Scieszka.

Ireland
Ireland has a Laureate na nÓg.