Award-winning author Morris Gleitzman has been named the new Australian Children’s Laureate!

The role of the Australian Children’s Laureate is to promote the importance and transformational power of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians. The theme for Gleitzman’s two-year-term will be ‘Stories Make Us - Stories Create Our Future’. Gleitzman plans to use this appointment to promote the value of stories for young people in developing resilience, empathy, smart thinking, optimism and hope.

‘Young people need stories more than ever,’ Gleitzman says. ‘Stories to delight, stories to beguile, stories to inspire, stories to move deeply. And through these experiences, stories that equip young readers to embrace an often dark and uncertain world with optimism, resolve and creativity.’

For more than thirty years, Gleitzman has been writing books to make young people laugh, think and feel. His acclaimed Felix series (Once, Then, Now, After, Soon and Maybe) depicts the events and ongoing effects of World War II with candour and sensitivity, and his other titles includes such comic delights as Two Weeks With the Queen, Boy Overboard, Bumface and Toad Rage. Testament to his influence and range, Gleitzman’s books are published in more than 20 countries.

Gleitzman will serve as the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2018-2019, succeeding Leigh Hobbs and previous Laureates Alison Lester, Boori Monty Pryor and Jackie French. Find out more about the Australian Children’s Laureate initiative here.