Laureate na nÓg

"Children are the best readers in the world!"

Siobhán Parkinson was named yesterday as Laureate na nÓg, Ireland's first laureate for children's literature.

One of her main aims as laureate is to ensure that "every child in the country has access to a nice, bright, warm, cheerful, comfortable library, where they can go and find the books that will open their minds and bring them off into wonderful imaginary places. That sense of excitement and joy about books I want every child to have, and not all children do get that." she also believes that "that children's literature lays the foundations of the imaginative life of a people, and that every child deserves to have access to a reading haven."

Siobhán has done trojan work over the years in the name of Children's books, she has written over twenty books, winning the Bisto Book of the Year, she has been the editor of Bookbird and Inis and is now a publisher and commissioning editor with Little Island.

Quite simply Siobhán Parkinson will be a fantastic advocate for Children's Books in Ireland, she will listen and absorb what the needs of young readers are, and she will raise the profile of Children's Books in Ireland and all over the world.

This is a wonderful day for Irish readers and writers alike. I am absolutely delighted for Siobhán. Bravo!