Lauren Child is the new Children's Laureate

Lauren Child, creator of Charlie and Lola and now the new Children's Laureate, has said she aims to champion children's creativity during her tenure. Child is the tenth Children's Laureate.

The role of the Waterstones Children's Laureate is awarded every two years to celebrate and recognise the important contribution children's literature makes to cultural life. Lauren Child, artist and author-illustrator of the Charlie and Lola and Clarice Bean picture books and Ruby Redfort novels, will be the Waterstones Children's Laureate during 2017-19. The announcement came today in a ceremony in Hull, which is UK City of Culture 2017, where Child received a specially commissioned solid silver Waterstones Children's Laureate medal from outgoing Laureate, Chris Riddell. Child, a former artist's assistant to Damien Hirst, is being celebrated not only for creating her own books, but translating them into other media - most significantly in her role as associate producer of global hit television series Charlie and Lola. Launching her laureateship by championing creativity, she said: "I want to inspire children to believe in their own creative potential, to make their own stories and drawings and ignite in them the delight of reading for pleasure. In an increasingly fast-paced world, children need the freedom to dream and imagine; to enjoy reading, drawing and telling their own stories without value judgement or restrain." She intends to encourage individuality and creativity in children by seeding ideas throughout her tenure that spark stories and drawings and to 'celebrate random acts of imagination'. She also wants to build stronger links between children's literature and other art forms, explaining, "My books have taken inspiration from many different art forms - from the illustrations of E.H. Shepard through Scandinavian Design, dolls houses and miniatures as well as the films of Woody Allen and Alfred Hitchcock. "Now I would like to focus on building stronger links between the world of children's literature and other art forms such as fine art, film, music, television and design." The ceremony announcing the new Children's Laureate was hosted by CBBC Blue Peter presenter Radzi Chinyanganya, who was on the selection committee of the 2017-19 Laureate, alongside Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, children's buyer at Waterstones Florentyna Martin, and all members of the Waterstones Children's Laureate Steering Group. Waterstones is the lead sponsor of the Children's Laureate post, while BookTrust manages the award. Chair of the Waterstones Children's Laureate Steering Group, Abigail Campbell, said: "Lauren Child is utterly brilliant. Loved by adults as well as children, her work is witty, innovative and absolutely unique. We're thrilled to announce her as the tenth Waterstones Children's Laureate." Previous Laureates include Quentin Blake, Anne Fine, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, Anthony Browne, Julia Donaldson, Malorie Blackman and, most recently, Chris Riddell.