This afternoon, I was at a function in the headquarters of the Arts Council to celebrate the announcement of Ireland’s first ever Children’s Laureate. A host of us crowded into the room to hear President Mary McAleese declare Siobhan Parkinson our first Laureate.
So for the benefit of anyone who doesn’t spend half their life immersed in the children’s books world, I’m going to ask: What is a Children’s Laureate and what do they do? Well, for a start, here were the conditions laid down for nominations:
- The Laureate must hold an internationally recognised body of high quality children’s writing and/or illustration.
- The Laureate must have made a particularly significant contribution to the field of children’s literature in Ireland and have had a considerably positive impact on readers as well as other writers and illustrators.
- The Laureate must demonstrate both eagerness and skill in engaging with children, young people, adults, and media and with the sector as a whole.
- The Laureate should demonstrate an enthusiasm for promoting children’s literature in general.
And I can tell you, in Ireland, the people who match all of those requirements make up a very short list. There are substantially more pandas in the world, (and they’re easier to handle).
This is both an award to recognize a person’s contribution to children’s literature, and a bizarre kind of two-year, part-time job that they agree to take on. Britain has had one of these since 1999. 
We basically nicked the idea from them and painted it green. But hey, who cares as long as it works, right?
The original idea was born out of a conversation between the then Poet Laureate (that’s Britain’s official poet to the Queen, responsible for writing poetry to celebrate State occasions) Ted Hughes and children’s author Michael Morpurgo. Quentin Blake, who illustrated so many of Roald Dahl’s books, was Britain’s first Children’s Laureate, serving for two years from 1999 to 2001. After him came Anne Fine, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen and the current Laureate, Anthony Browne. These are Very Important People in the world of children’s books.
Yeah, okay. But what do they do?
The way I see it, the Children’s Laureate has three very different duties. Firstly, they provide a focus for everyone working within the children’s books industry. It helps if they have a campaign, some goal they aim to achieve before the end of their term. Examples from the UK include encouraging people to read out loud more, reading and writing more poetry, and sharing and enjoying picture books. But the main thing is that the Laureate acts as a figurehead, an inspiration and a driving force for those around them. They say ‘let’s all try and work together for the next while to accomplish this one task ‘. In the wayward world of children’s books, this is harder than it sounds. Sometimes it’s really difficult to get everyone to do one simple thing together.
But possibly even more important than pulling the industry together, is the Laureate’s second role as a spokesperson for the children’s books crowd, communicating for all of us to the outside world. Up until now, we haven’t had one person who could claim to represent all of us. And this is a major disadvantage in an environment where the arts is an easy target for politicians and business people looking for ways to cut costs, and where literature has been taking more than its fair share of the pain. There are a lot of other organizations and bodies out there who seem to be making their case better than we are. We need a single, clear voice delivering a coherent message.
Oh, and the third role? That person is a single human face which kids can identify as representing the industry that provides them with their reading material. So, they have to be good with kids. Although, once you’ve learned to deal with politicians and bureaucrats, kids are easy. At least kids can admit it when they’re caught acting like eejits.
Siobhan has some job ahead of her. As the first ever Irish Laureate, it’ll be up to her to lay the ground for everyone who comes after. But she’ll also have to be someone we can rally around, a strong voice to make the case to anyone who’ll listen, for the importance of books and stories and illustrations and the inspiration they bring to the children who read them. I heard recently that one in three kids is leaving school barely able to read. One in four adults is in the same boat. And yet we’re living on a small island where we punch well above our weight, because we turn out people who have self-confidence, drive, character, imagination and oodles of creativity. And to use an old country phrase, ‘it’s not off the ground they licked it’.
Siobhan is one of those people, and is intent on helping create more of them. And she is a veteran campaigner, who has the perception, intelligence, and articulate wit to do a bloody good job of it.
Congratulations Siobhan; it’s an award you thoroughly deserve, and a job for which you’re eminently qualified. Good luck . . . you’re going to need it!