Rippin appointed Australian Children’s Laureate 2024–25
The Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF) has named Sally Rippin as the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2024–25.
Rippin has written over 100 books for children and young adults, including the series Billie B Brown, Hey Jack!, Polly & Buster, and School of Monsters, as well as the adult nonfiction book Wild Things: How we learn to read and what can happen if we don’t (Hardie Grant), focusing on helping neurodivergent children to read.
The ACLF said Rippin was Australia’s highest selling female author and ‘writes stories with heart, and characters that resonate with children, parents and teachers alike’. In the role of laureate, Rippin will ‘champion reading, writing and creativity for all Australian children’, through engagement with the educational community, members of government, librarians, parents, and children.
The mission for Rippin’s term is ‘All kids can be readers’, through which she plans to work towards creating public awareness around learning difficulties, as well as effective practice in teaching children to read. ‘Ideally, by the time children have finished primary school, they should all have the literacy skills they need for life’, said the ACLF. ‘Where this isn’t possible, or where children have fallen through the gaps, we need to look at how to continue to support young people to reach their potential by advocating for them and providing appropriate intervention and assistance.’
As laureate, Rippin will highlight the reading challenges faced by millions of Australian children—including but not limited to neurodiversity, disability, mental health, access to books, and language barriers. ‘All adults need to take responsibility for young people to ensure no child is left behind when it comes to reading—and explore other ways for children to learn if traditional methods aren’t working,’ said Rippin.
The Australian Children’s Laureate initiative was established in 2008 to ‘promote the transformational power of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians’. Rippin succeeds laureate Gabrielle Wang (2022–23) and previous laureates, the most recent of which include Ursula Dubosarsky (2020–21), Morris Gleitzman (2018–19), Leigh Hobbs (2016–17), Jackie French (2014–15) and Alison Lester and Boori Monty Pryor (both 2013–14).
An event to honour Rippin’s appointment as laureate will be held at the Wheeler Centre on Tuesday 20 February at 11am (AEDT) and livestreamed online. More information about the program can be found on the ACLF website.
Category: Awards Local news
