The Australian Children's Laureate Foundation (ACLF) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, founded in 2008 to champion and promote the transformational power of reading in the lives of young Australians. ACLF is a collegial and inclusive organisation with representation from across the field of children's and young adult literature. Over the years, AISWA has collaborated with ACLF to bring world-renowned Australian authors and illustrators to Western Australian to work with schools and students across the state.
For more information about ACLF, please visit their website.
To express interest in havng an author or illustrator visit your school, please view the Author and Illustrator Visits page in the members area of our website.
Australian Children's Laureate for 2020 - 2021:
Ursula Dubosarsky
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She is a frequent visitor in libraries, schools, and festivals around the world, where she talks about books and reading, and teaching children and adults the art of creative writing.
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Read For Your Life! Calendar
You can get more resources like this on the ACLF page. |
Hear what Ursula's mission is as the Australian Children's Laureate
"We all want our children to become good readers. The only way to become a good reader is to keep reading." - Ursula Dubosarsky
Australian Children's Laureate for 2018-19:
Morris Gleitzman
 Morris Gleitzman is a bestselling Australian children’s author. His books explore serious and sometimes confronting subjects in humourous and unexpected ways. His titles include Two Weeks With The Queen, Grace, Doubting Thomas, Bumface, Give Peas A Chance, Extra Time, Loyal Creatures, Snot Chocolate and the series Once, Then, Now, After, Soon and Maybe. Morris lives in Sydney and Brisbane, and his books are published in more than twenty countries. |
Stories Make Us Calendar
The Story Calendar is a fun project for everyone – children, parents, teachers, booksellers, publishers, librarians and more. |
"Every story helps us understand ourselves and other people better." - Morris Gleitzman
See what the Laureates have been up to across AISWA schools:
Over the years, AISWA and ACLF have worked together to bring the Laurates to Western Australia so that schools and students have access to experts in the field. These expereinces provide quality and authentic opportunities that support young childrens learning and engagement.
School visits:
Jackie French: 2014-15 Laureate
Leigh Hobbs: 2016-17 Laureate
Artist-in-residency projects
Remote school visits
Remote school visits involve an artist-in-residency experience with Australian children’s authors and illustrators. The goal of these visits is to provide children with hands-on ways to engage with story, English and art, through mentorship and guidance from professionals in the field.
The beliefs that underpin these projects are:
- Children are capable and competent
- Everyone has a story to tell
- Stories can be told in a variety of ways
- Children deserve access to quality experiences regardless of location
Publications:
Alison Lester: 2012-13 Laureate
In 2017, celebrated children's author Alison Lester and Jane Godwin visited a remote community school, as artists in residence to work with the children to create stories and books. This project typifies AISWA and ACLF’s commitment to providing children in remote Independent Schools with access to authors and illustrators and the contribution that makes to improved literacy outcomes. Monster Party was then published by Australia’s leading Indigenous publisher, Magabala Books.
Order your copy from the Magabala website.
The children have a major achievement to celebrate by having their story being produced by a major a major Australian publisher. This is a fine example of children’s creativity and capacity to be successful as an outcome of rich experiences and deep learning from experts and dedicated teachers. Monster Party is an example of the capacity of young people to tell stories. - Ron Gorman, ACLF Chair and Deputy Director of AISWA
Videos of visits:
"One of the things as Laureate that I feel very strongly about is that kids experience what it’s like to tell a story, in whatever form, creatively without being gauged, or assessed, or ranked." - Leigh Hobbs
