Anthony Browne

I grew up in Yorkshire, and once or twice a year, we'd travel over the Pennines to see my cousins in Cheshire.

As a boy, I devoured comics but never saw what we now describe as a picture book.

Picture books are for everybody at any age, not books to be left behind as we grow older. The best ones leave a tantalising gap between the pictures and the words, a gap that is filled by the reader's imagination, adding so much to the excitement of reading a book.

Children will come out and listen to a writer whose books they like. They don't need a government agency or a medal that says 'laureate' to continue that.

As a father, I understand the importance of the bond that develops through reading picture books with your child.

I played rugby from the age of 10 until my late twenties; an unlikely player - small, quiet, long-haired and 'wiry.'

Inspiring passion in children for books, and the world of imagination and creativity fuelled by them, is a fundamental reason for why the Children's Laureate post exists.

Never forget that children are at the heart of everything we do. Respect them, listen to them, talk to them as equals, and care about them.

I find it incredible and outrageous that public and school libraries are being forced to close - we'll all pay the price in the long term.

One day, I found my dad's dressing-gown in an old suitcase, and it transported me back to when I was five and thought he was a god or a superhero who could do anything. After that, I wrote my first positive book about fathers, about my dad.

Most of the day I work standing up, as I once read somewhere that it's the best position for the back.

My dad never decided what he wanted to do; at times he fought in the army, was a teacher, a boxer, a light engineer, and a then a publican. My mum was a traditional housewife and mother. They showed my brother and I unconditional love.

Something happens to our creativity as we go through the education process; most of us lose touch with it.

The first thing I put down on paper is a storyboard, like a film director.

Stories come to me in mysterious ways, more like dreams than reasoned creations.

Worrying can be a kind of caring, and as such is a healthy part of a balanced emotional life.

When I was a boy, I was a worrier, and so was my son, Joe. I used to tell him that worrying meant he had an imagination and that one day he'd be pleased.

Most people lose their natural creativity at about five or six - but not me.

Maurice Sendak is the daddy of them all when it comes to picture books - the words, the rhythm, the psychology, the design.

I grew up with an older brother who was always stronger and faster and better than me at everything, but I was close enough in age to try and compete, so we had a competitive childhood.