Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, has been appointed as the new children’s laureate, following the term of Anthony Browne.  Donaldson is the first Scottish-based laureate.  She has been a children’s book author for over 20 years and is best known for her picture books. 

Librarians will be happy to hear of her plans for her tenure:

"Maybe I’ll be able to talk to the minister of culture and persuade the government to have some kind of overall plan because at the moment I feel all the library cuts and closures are very piecemeal, so I’ll do what I can," she added.