Cressida Cowell to continue as Children's Laureate

Cressida Cowell's tenure as Waterstone's Children's Laureate will be extended by another 12 months - the first time anyone has continued in the role for longer than two years - in response to the current pandemic.

Booktrust, which manages the laureate's role, said the extension to three years "will ensure that the ambitions laid out at the start of her tenure can become a reality and make a tangible difference to children's lives". When she was appointed in June 2019, the message in Cressida's Laureate Charter was that the magic of books and reading must urgently be available to absolutely everyone. She planned to campaign for statutory school libraries and to help develop children's creative intelligence, and has since been working behind the scenes to bring this 'magical to-do list' to life with new projects. Last month, as the UK went into lockdown, Cressida launched with BookTrust a new digital hub - BookTrust HomeTime - to entertain children and families to enjoy book-related activities at home with drawing lessons, competitions, quizzes and readings - including daily reading of the very first How to Train Your Dragon from Cressida's writing shed. Cressida Cowell said, "Thank you to BookTrust for extending my Laureateship so that we can take this time to adapt our plans in progress to best face this challenging moment. It is when times are hardest that we need the transformative magic of books and creativity the most. To bring books into the hands of each and every child in the U.K. is going to require some practical magic and action. I'm delighted to have this extra year to bring these plans to life." Michael Morpurgo, who originally created the Children's Laureate role along with Ted Hughes, said, "At this time more than any other I have known we need a Children's Laureate with heart and hope, and we have just who we need in Cressida. I'm so pleased she is happy to extend her time as Laureate. Roar on, Cressida. We need you. Dragons rule!" This is the first time in the 20-year legacy of the Children's Laureate that the role has been extended beyond two years. Historically, it has been awarded biennially to a leading children's author or illustrator to honour outstanding achievement in their field. Previous Children's Laureates include Quentin Blake, Malorie Blackman and Jacqueline Wilson.