Meet the first angry Laureate: Frank Cottrell-Boyce on how he wants every child to be read to

The new Children's Laureate says he is 'furious' about inequalities that persist when it comes to children and reading.

Frank Cottrell Boyce took over the role from Joseph Coelho in July.

In his inaugural speech as the new Waterstones Children's Laureate, the author said Britain was “a stranger to equality”, with more than 4.3 million children growing up in poverty in the country, which he said was creating a barrier to books, and added that “children who read regularly are more likely to overcome disadvantage”.

He said: "Other Laureates have visited lots of libraries and lots of schools, but I want to be knocking on the door of Number 10 and saying it’s about time we did something about this nationally."

He said he wants to speak directly to the Prime Minister about the issues preventing young people from reading at an early age.

Cottrell-Boyce said: “We know that if children encounter books when they’re very young, they’re given an enormous advantage, both educationally and emotionally, especially in terms of being happy.“

"We also know that 50 percent of our children are not being read to before they start school."

At Trinity Catholic Primary school in Vauxhall, Liverpool, they know only too well the importance of learning to read.

It is one of many schools that Frank visits around the UK, reading to children and working with teachers and parents to help them overcome obstacles which can prevent children from enjoying books from an early age.

"I see areas where health visitors are involved, with people doing great work as childminders and in kindergartens and places like that.

"I want to collect all that good work and share it, highlight it, and show people what is possible and help people get the confidence to read to their own kids.

"I think people sometimes don't do it because they feel that they're not up to the job, but it doesn't matter how well you do it- it's the fact that you're doing it.

"It's a wonderful expression of love, and if the child's first experience of books is as an expression of love, as opposed to hearing 'read this' in school, then they're being given this huge invisible privilege that will be with them throughout their life.

"We have no clue what world we're sending our children into. We don't know what their jobs are going to look like, what roads are going to have, but we know they're going to need to know that to be happy.

"And we have this ability to do it. But we're not using it. So that's my mission, is to make sure that every child gets read to before they go to school.

"This is something that can be done. One of the reasons that I'm so fired up about this is it's really important, but it's also really do-able.

"It's already happening - we just have to make sure that it happens for every child, not just children who are lucky enough to live near an inspirational headteacher or a brilliant health visitor. It needs to be accessible."

Cottrell-Boyce will be part of a team which will host a summit called Reading Rights: Books Build a Brighter Future, which will bring together expert voices to discuss how to improve children’s access to literature.

The Bootle-born children’s writer achieved fame when he wrote the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and was entrusted by the Ian Fleming estate to write three sequels to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

During his career, he has also written a number of film and television scripts including Millions, 24 Hour Party People, and Coronation Street.

Frank shares his tips to help children learn to enjoy reading:

Cottrell-Boyce said: “We have a huge treasure chest of amazing books in this country, brilliant books are being written now.“

"But if you think back, there’s Harry Potter, Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, these are just the Ps and they are figures that straddled the world and are part of our inheritance"

The Children’s Laureate began in 1999, with Quentin Blake, best known for his Roald Dahl illustrations, the first to take on the laureateship.

Since then there have been 13 laureates, including Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, and Julia Donaldson.

The honour is given to a writer with “exceptional talent”, with the aim of promoting the importance of children’s literature and reading.

Cottrell-Boyce, 64, will hold the role until 2026.