Take 3: Laureates

Hobbyhorse

Quentin Blake
Blake’s ambition was to make both adults and children more aware of the skills and nature of illustration and of the relationship between words and pictures. Most of his many talks were to professional or family audiences, rather than to schools.

Anne Fine
Fine’s obsession was that kids without access to libraries should build up their own. It’s a measure of her persuasiveness that www.myhomelibrary.org now showcases 200+ illustrated bookplates and cartoons to encourage pride of ownership of new and second-hand books.

Michael Morpurgo
Morpurgo wanted above all to emphasise the sheer joy of stories, of listening to them, reading them, writing them. He wanted to remind everyone, teachers, parents, grandparents, government and children, of the universal appeal and importance of stories.

Track Record

Quentin Blake
Blake appeared on radio and television and helped curate exhibitions (A Baker’s Dozen on children’s book illustrators, and Tell Me A Picture which mixed illustration with modern paintings and old masters). His illustrated diary of two years’ tenure, Laureate’s Progress, was published in 2002.

Anne Fine
With her ‘rich authors’ whip-round’ and a few prison visits, Anne raised £30,000 to get ClearVision started on a national brailled picture book project stalled for lack of cash. She also commissioned the country’s first ‘tactile wall’ for blind children.

Michael Morpurgo
The jury’s still out. Michael has a few months to run as Children’s Laureate. When he’s done, it’s for others to decide in what ways it might have been worthwhile.

Genesis

Quentin Blake
Well-known for his collaboration with a number of authors, including John Yeoman, Russell Hoban, Michael Rosen and Roald Dahl, as well as creating his own picture-books, Blake also taught illustration for over 20 years at the Royal College of Art.

Anne Fine
Fine’s books for all ages (including adults) combine critical acclaim with steady commercial success. She’s won most major children’s prizes – several more than once – and last year ranked in the top ten of a survey of children’s favourite writers.

Michael Morpurgo
Slow, stuttering as a reader and a writer. A love of the magic in words was given to him by his mother reading to him. Came to writing late through teaching. Hasn’t stopped scribbling since, one hundred books or more.

Furore

Quentin Blake
Blake’s best chance of a furore was drawing on the walls of the National Gallery, fatally undermined by the fact that the idea was proposed by the Director of Exhibitions there.

Anne Fine
Fine’s 2002 Patrick Hardy lecture took a swipe at publishers’ shoddy practices, authors’ rushed work and reviewers’ poor judgement (Ouch!). Issues she raised in her 2002 International Library Federation Conference keynote address are still hotly discussed.

Michael Morpurgo
Reminds people it’s everyone’s fault – government, parents, teachers, the media, writers, publishers, bookshops – if many children don’t read. Believes we need a dedicated storytime on radio for children, a Jackanory on TV, government to focus more on creativity than targets.

Quote

Quentin Blake
‘I confess that beforehand I regarded the idea of the scheme, and of someone called a Children’s Laureate, with doubt and circumspection. Once I had been elected all my educational instincts resuscitated and I enjoyed myself like anything.’

Anne Fine
‘I accepted the laureateship because there were things I’d always wanted to do and I knew it would help. But the stay-at-homes (often the very best) wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole. There’s a problem to tackle there.’

Michael Morpurgo
‘The Laureateship has been like writing a book, intense, hard work, deeply engaging, frustrating. A privilege and a joy. But it’ll be a blessed relief when it’s all over.’