My vision for the future of children’s literature is an optimistic one. I like the think that the doom and gloom of declining book sales are behind us and people are once again seeing the value that good literature can bring to our lives.

I think that going forward parents are going to push reading and books even more as a push back to the amount of screen time children are exposed to. I have already had many discussions with parents who are desperate for their children to read more and experience the joy of reading.

I also feel that there will be less of a focus on ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ focussed novels. In our library, we have begun the process of weeding out the books that play into strong gender stereotypes and are not adding value through any other factor. Another focus will most likely books that address social issues. We have already started to see a huge range of different children’s fiction enter the market this year that tackles issues such as refugees and disability. This will only continue.

I do not think there will be a huge shift away from print books towards e-books. From my experience with students, a lot of them are not keen to use them but I do think we will start to see more interactivity with books and stories.

I hope that children will be the main driving force for the future of children’s literature because they have great ideas about what they want to be reading. I also think there is a role for teachers and librarians to continue to push the joy of reading and continue to grow their knowledge of quality children’s literature.