Thoughts from an Idle Hour

In February 2024, the Australian Children’s Literature Foundation announced Sally Rippin’s appointment as the Children’s Laureate for 2024–2025. The position, offered since 2012, is made biennially to ‘an Australian author and/or illustrator of children’s and/or youth literature’. The recipient must be making ‘a significant contribution’ to the Australian children’s literature canon.

Sally Rippin’s appointment delighted me. I met her (vicariously only) in 2014 when investigating the place of series fiction in children’s literature for my MA dissertation. Over the course of that year, I spent many hours with Rippin and her effervescent character, Billie B Brown.

About Sally Rippin

Rippin has a particular interest in fostering reading among neurodivergent children and those with learning difficulties. (She addresses this subject in her non-fiction book Wild Things: How We Learn to Read and What Can Happen if We Don’t).

‘Some people’, says Rippin, ‘may need extra support, especially if they are dyslexic, others may not be able to read traditional books if they are vision impaired. But this doesn’t mean we can’t all enjoy stories … My hope as Laureate is that children will be supported to access reading in the way that suits them most’ (‘Sally Rippin: About the Laureateship’).

Bille B Brown – The Series

Rippin’s Billie B Brown (BBB) series had its genesis in the learning-to-read challenges faced by one of her children. She created the BBB series ‘using accessible vocabulary, simple sentence structure and relatable characters’ (‘Billie B Brown’).

In preparing to write the series, Rippin re-visited the stories of Theodor Seuss Geisel and Richard Scarry, and the books in Joyce Lankester Brisley’s Milly-Molly-Mandy series. She took note of the limited vocabulary range in the Dr Seuss titles, was impressed with Scarry’s ‘unusual use of the second person’, and was struck that Brisley’s tales ‘contained no wizards or dragons, or even family tragedies’. Rippin decided that her stories ‘would begin in [the] second person, contain the language of a school reader and stick to the simplest day to day occurrences of a six to eight year old’ (‘Sally Rippin’s Tips for Encouraging Reluctant Readers’).

In all the time I spent immersed in Billie B Brown’s life, I never tired of her foibles and failures, her antics and adventures, or her family and friends. And I certainly didn’t tire of the day-to-day storylines Rippin created for Billie or of the deceptively simple illustrations drawn by Japanese-born New Zealander Aki Fukuoka. Here’s why…

Billie B Brown – The Character

Billie is, as Rippin intended, relatable. She is an energetic every-girl. Her middle initial is often associated with an aspect of her character: brave, bossy, busy, bouncy.

Billie lives with her mother and father; a baby brother joins the family group partway through the series. She has a best friend, Jack, who lives next door. He is an essential anchor to Billie’s sometimes flighty behaviour and also acts as her moral compass. He’s the best friend every child needs in their life. The counterpoint to Jack is Lola. Billie and Lola are regularly at odds with each other. They can be mean and competitive. Once again, Rippin highlights a relatable relationship.

Billie enjoys life outdoors. She plays soccer and cricket, goes to the park, swings on the monkey bars, runs fast and rides a bicycle. She also builds worlds in her indoor: shops, zoos, playgrounds and water worlds all find their way into her imaginative settings.

All in all, Billie is wonderfully ordinary.

Billie B Brown – The Stories

Each BBB book is self-contained and follows a similar narrative pattern. The stories often begin with Billie facing a situation that will be familiar to readers. She might be in her backyard, in the school playground or in the classroom when a scenario develops that involves a complication or a conflict – competing friendships, bullying or gender prejudice.

Billie meets the world head on. She is passionate, volatile, optimistic and resilient. In her own way, Billie is a teacher, idealistically enabling young readers to discover the world and their place in it through her enthusiasm, creativity and readily restored confidence.

Rippin’s Mission as Children’s Laureate

Rippin joins the growing ranks of Australia’s Children’s Laureates: Alison Lester and Boori Monty Pryor (2012–2013), Jackie French (2014–2015), Leigh Hobbs (2016–2017), Morris Gleitzman (2018–2019), Ursula Dubosarsky (2020–2021) and Gabrielle Wang (2022–2023). She is a fine addition to this esteemed cohort.

The overt values in Rippin’s Billie B Brown series are universal: honesty, friendship and empathy. My sense is that Sally Rippin epitomises these values and will bring them to her role as laureate.

Rippin’s declared mission as Children’s Laureate in 2024–2025 is ‘to really remind people that we can access stories in many different ways’ (‘Meet the 2024–25 Australian Children’s Laureate’). I wish her every success.

Links and Sources

• Australian Children’s Literature Foundation
• Sally Rippin: author website
• Aki Fukuoka: illustrator website
• ‘Billie B Brown’ (series overview)
• Bille B Brown: The Ultimate Collection / Sally Rippin, omnibus collection published by Hardie Grant Egmont
• Wild Things: How We Learn to Read and What Can Happen if We Don’t / Sally Rippin, published by Hardie Grant Egmont
• Wild Things: How We Learn to Read and What Can Happen if We Don’t (resources)
• Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories / Joyce Lankester Brisley
• Hardie Grant Egmont
• ‘Sally Rippin’s Tips for Encouraging Reluctant Readers’ / Wheeler Centre
• ‘Sally Rippin – Meet the 2024–25 Australian Children’s Laureate’: YouTube

Image Credits

• ‘Sally Rippin’ by Sophie Gyles @ Sister Scout
• All other images courtesy of Hardie Grant Egmont