Children’s Laureate 2020-2021

THE AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN’S LAUREATE 2020–2021

Welcome Ursula Dubosarsky the sixth Australian Children’s Laureate

Ursula Dubosarsky is the author of over 60 books for children and young adults published in Australia and around the world. She has won many national literary prizes and been nominated for the international Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards. Her work includes picture books, such as The Terrible Plop, novels for older children, including The Blue Cat, and the non-fiction Word Spy books about language. She has also had several works adapted for theatre. Her most recent publications include the timeless picture book The March of the Ants, which highlights the power of a book, and Pierre’s Not There, a book bringing together both novel and playwriting.

Ursula’s first year as Australian Children’s Laureate coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She quickly became ‘The Digital Laureate’ using technology to speak to enormous numbers of children and adults to share her theme ‘Read For Your Life!’ which is about the transformative power of reading and creativity. She was the face behind a new collection of online resources, available through the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation website, supporting young people to develop their reading and writing skills.

In keeping with her focus on the vital importance of universal free access to books, Ursula’s particular project has been to encourage every child to join their local library and get their own library card. Despite intermittent Covid lockdowns, library services have taken up the free resource offered of a special children’s Laureate library card. This resulted in documented increases in numbers of child members.

‘The library was where I became a reader,’ Ursula says. ‘I can’t imagine my childhood without a library, and I want every child in Australia to feel that the local library belongs to them — for life.’

2021 has Ursula back on the road and working to reach young people in every Australian state and territory. Children at events receive collateral developed by the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation and illustrators Andrew Joyner and Tohby Riddle. These include posters, an activity booklet, bookmarks, bookplates and even a Laureate chatterbox.

The ACLF and Ursula are grateful to the following organisations who have supported Ursula’s journey as Laureate: her publisher Allen & Unwin, The Australia Council for the Arts, the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, AISWA, Gourlay Charitable Trust, Costello Family Foundation and Children’s Publishing Committee.

www.childrenslaureate.org.auwww.ursuladubosarsky.squarespace.com

Enriching the lives of young Australians through the power of story.

@ozlaureate

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