Inspiring …our next generation
By Ann James AM

The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature is a treasure trove. It houses not just the books created and published by Australian creators, it holds the stories of the stories – who created them and how they came to be. These are inspirational to generations of teachers, creators and children. For 45 years, creating and promoting picture books has been my life. As many others have, I intend to donate my own archive to the Centre.

The importance of being exposed to the creative process, story and books as vehicles to inspire creativity in others

I was encouraged as a child to play, experiment and make. It built my curiosity and confidence. As a teacher and artist, I’ve been keen to encourage the same in children through play and art and story – and as an illustrator, through books. Telling stories through pictures is natural, and books are a perfect vehicle. I strongly believe in the uniqueness of the physical book, especially for the very young. It is a form that’s perfect for sharing. Like live music. Like theatre.

And the picture book is not about learning to read. It’s about loving to read. When you share a picture book with a child you and they are using all your senses. It’s an intimate thing like singing together, cooking together, eating together. You are creating the story together at your own pace, you can turn pages back and forth, skip to the end then back to the middle. Read together. Repeat words. Ask questions. Touch the pictures and talk about them. Stop and have a chat or a cuddle.

The importance of physical books

We know our future is built on learning from our history – so this is a plug for keeping that. Keep our classics, old and new, in print. And celebrate and support the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature with its fabulous Archive of books, writers’ papers and illustrators’ works of process.

Ann James AM was an art teacher who began illustrating children’s books in 1980 and has since illustrated over 70 books. Ann helped establish the Society of Book Illustrators in 1988; was a director on the Board of The Australian Society of Authors for 20 years and a founding director on the Board of the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF) for 10 years. As an Ambassador of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF), Ann works on creative story-based projects in remote communities. She continues to illustrate and write in her studio in South Melbourne.

See also:
Ann James – Wikipedia
Ann James website
NCACL catalogue entries for Ann James
James, Ann – NCACL
Ann James Copyright Agency
ASA Medal 2024 from website
ASA Letter to Ann James
Books Illustrated
John Barrow Art Collection

Posted by: NCACL | Published: 20 Jun 2025