Children's Laureate

This prestigious role celebrates creativity and storytelling, promotes the vital importance of reading and children’s literature, and champions the right of every child to enjoy a lifetime enriched with books and stories. Each Laureate brings their own passion and creativity to their tenure.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is a multi award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter. Millions, his debut children’s novel, won the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal and he is the Waterstones Children’s Laureate for 2024–26.

Frank has pledged to dedicate his two-year tenure to starting a national conversation about the role books and reading can play in transforming children’s lives, building on the compelling evidence showing that reading for pleasure improves life-chances, as well as highlighting the ​‘crisis point’ facing the millions of children now living in poverty. 

This campaign – which is called Reading Rights: Books Build a Brighter Future also includes plans for a national summit bringing together expert voices in the political, education, literacy and early years sectors. 

His books include Cosmic, Framed, The Astounding Broccoli Boy, Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth, Runaway Robot, Noah’s Gold and The Wonder Brothers. 

He has enjoyed a long-time collaboration with award-winning illustrator Steven Lenton. His books have been shortlisted for a multitude of prizes, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children’s Fiction Award, The Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award. Frank is also a highly successful screenwriter.

He has written for the hit TV series Dr Who and his script for Michael Morpurgo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom won a British Animation Award. Along with Danny Boyle, he devised the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics.

Frank has been the judge for the 500 Words competition and the BBC’s One Show As You Write It competition. Frank is a lifelong champion of children’s books. In 2023 he launched a successful podcast with Nadia Shireen, The Island of Brilliant!, celebrating writing and illustration for children of all ages. 

On January 22 2025, the Waterstones Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce and BookTrust hosted a Reading Rights Summit to address the ​‘invisible privilege and inequality’ within books and reading.

The day-long summit brought together expert voices in the political, education, literacy, early years, arts and health sectors to recommend an urgent course of action to policymakers that will help ensure that the life-changing benefits of children’s reading are taken seriously and made accessible to every child.