New Children's Laureate announced

Illustrator and writer Chris Riddell, who has worked with classic authors Quentin Blake, Michael Rosen and Neil Gaiman and illustrated Russell Brand’s first kids’ book, has been named children’s laureate. He is the ninth author to hold the two-year post.
Riddell, who takes over from Malorie Blackman, will focus on creativity and visual literacy, extolling the meditative pleasure – for everyone – of creating a drawing every day.
In advance of the announcement he said: “Do you have hands? Excellent. That’s a good start. Can you hold a pencil? Great. If you have a sketchbook, open it and start by making a line, a mark, wherever. Doodle. Take a line for a walk, as Paul Klee said. Lose your inhibitions about drawing and just do it.”
Riddell will post a daily illustration on an online “laureate log” for the duration of his tenure, and will organise events with other illustrators.

www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/09/illustrator-chris-riddell-named-uk-childrens-laureate


Chris was shortlisted for the Sheffield Children's Book Award with Neil Gayman
in 2014 for Fortunaltly the Milk...
Fortunately the Milk
This is quite possibly the most exciting adventure ever to be written about milk since Tolstoy's epic novel War and Milk. Also it has aliens, pirates, dinosaurs and wumpires in it (but not the handsome, misunderstood kind), also a never-adequately-explained-bowl-of-piranhas, not to mention a Volcano God.