Morris Gleitzman is the new Children’s Laureate

Once by Morris Gleitzman (Published by Puffin, 2005)

Morris Gleitzman has written nearly 40 books for young people, including Two Weeks with the Queen, Boy Overboard, Bumface, the Felix series and the Wicked series; and the Australian Children’s Literature Alliance has announced that he is the Australian Children’s Laureate for this year.

Toad Delight by Morris Gleitzman (Penguin Random House Australia, 2016)

The theme for Morris Gleitzman’s two-year term will be Stories Make Us – Stories Create Our Future. The new Children’s Laureate will be presented with the laureate’s Magpie Award at a ceremony at the State Library of New South Wales on 15 February.

The Laureate's role is to promote the importance of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians. Gleitzman said that he will use his two-year term to “promote the value of stories for young people in developing resilience, empathy, smart thinking, optimism and hope”(SMH February 12, 2018).  Previous Laureates include Alison Lester, Boori Monty Pryor (2012-13), Jackie French (2014-15) and Leigh Hobbs (2016-17).

Too Small To Fail by Morris Gleitzman (Puffin, 2011)

The Stories Make Us calendar, created by Morris Gleitzman and illustrated by Andrew Weldon, is a fun project for children, parents, teachers, booksellers, librarians and more. Each month has a different theme to inspire your story adventures!

Stories Make Us Calendar 2018-19

Why not visit the website and find book lists, activity ideas and more on each monthly theme. You can also signup for the newsletter for more ideas as they become available.

The Australian Children’s Laureate initiative was developed by the Australian Children’s Laureate Alliance (ACLA) to ‘promote the importance and transformational power of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians’.

The Australian Children's Literature Alliance