Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is an English children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster, activist, and academic, who is a professor of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

in the Department of Educational Studies at

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

. He has written over 200 books for children and adults. Select books include ''

We're Going on a Bear Hunt ''We're Going on a Bear Hunt'' is a British 1989 children's picture book written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. It has won numerous awards and was the subject of a ''Guinness World Record'' for "Largest Reading Lesson" with ...

'' (1989) and ''

Sad Book ''Michael Rosen's Sad Book'' is a 2004 non-fiction book by English children's author Michael Rosen. Illustrated by Quentin Blake, the book deals with the topic of grief. Although it is marketed as a children's book, Rosen explicitly mentions on ...

'' (2004). He served as

Children's Laureate Children's Laureate, now known as the Waterstones Children's Laureate, is a position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field". The rol ...

from June 2007 to June 2009. He won the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize, awarded by

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associa ...

, for his "fearless" body of work.

Early life and education

Michael Wayne Rosen was born into a Jewish family in

Harrow, Middlesex Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a populat ...

, on 7 May 1946. His ancestors were Jews from an area that is now Poland, Romania, and Russia, and his family had connections to

The Workers Circle The Workers Circle or Der Arbeter Ring (), formerly The Workmen's Circle, is an American Jewish nonprofit organization that promotes social and economic justice, Jewish community and education, including Yiddish studies, and Ashkenazic culture. I ...

and the

Jewish Labour Bund The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia (), generally called The Bund (, cognate to , ) or the Jewish Labour Bund (), was a secular Jewish socialist party initially formed in the Russian Empire and active between 1897 and 1 ...

. His middle name was given to him in honour of Wayne C. Booth, a literary critic who was billeted with his father at Shrivenham American University. Rosen's father, educationalist Harold Rosen (1919–2008), was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, but grew up in the East End of London from the age of two after his mother left his father and returned to her native England. Harold attended Davenant Foundation School and then

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

. He was a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

teacher before becoming a professor of English at the

Institute of Education The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is the faculty of education and society of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior t ...

in London and publishing extensively, especially on the teaching of English to children. Rosen's mother, Connie (née Isakofsky; 1920–1976), worked as a secretary at the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...

'' and later as a primary school teacher and training college lecturer. She had attended

Central Foundation Girls' School Central Foundation Girls’ School is a voluntary-aided comprehensive girls’ school and sixth form in Bow, London, England, for 11- to 18-year-olds. It is the sister school to Central Foundation Boys' School in Islington. Both schools are ...

, where she made friends such as Bertha Sokoloff. She met Harold in 1935, when both were aged 15, as they were both members of the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name ''YCL of ountry' originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YCLs includ ...

. They participated in the

Battle of Cable Street The Battle of Cable Street was a series of clashes that took place at several locations in the East End of London, most notably Cable Street, on Sunday 4 October 1936. It was a clash between the Metropolitan Police, sent to protect a march ...

together. As a young couple, they settled in Pinner, Middlesex. They left the Communist Party in 1957. Rosen never joined, but his parents' activities influenced his childhood. At around the age of 11, Rosen began attending Harrow Weald County Grammar School. He attended state schools in Pinner and Harrow, as well as

Watford Grammar School for Boys Watford Grammar School for Boys (commonly abbreviated as WBGS) is an 11–18 boys partially selective academy in Watford in Hertfordshire, England. The school and its sister school, Watford Grammar School for Girls, descend from a Free School ...

. He also spent time as an exchange student at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

in 1964, which he recalls fondly. Having discovered

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, comedian and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

, he thought, "Wouldn't it be wonderful to know all about science, and know all about art, and be funny and urbane and all that?" His mother was then working for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Producing a programme featuring poetry, she persuaded him to write for it and used some of his material. He later said, "I went to

Middlesex Hospital Medical School Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clo ...

, started on the first part of a medical training, jacked it in and went on to do a degree in English at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. I then worked for the BBC until they chucked me out and I have been a freelance writer, broadcaster, lecturer, performer ever since—that's to say since 1972. Most of my books have been for children, but that's not how I started out. Sometime around the age of twelve and thirteen I began to get a sense that I liked writing, liked trying out different kinds of writing, I tried writing satirical poems about people I knew."

Career

In 1969, Rosen graduated from

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

, and became a graduate trainee at the BBC. Among the work that he did while there in the 1970s was presenting a series on BBC Schools television called ''Walrus'' (write and learn, read, understand, speak). He was also scriptwriter on the children's reading series ''

Sam on Boffs' Island ''Sam on Boffs' Island'' is a British educational television series, made by the BBC, and aimed at developing the reading skills of 6- to 8-year-olds. First broadcast in 1972 as part of the '' Words and Pictures'' strand, it was one of the first ...

'', but Rosen found working for the corporation frustrating: "Their view of 'educational' was narrow. The machine had decided this was the direction to take. Your own creativity was down the spout." . Despite previously having made no secret of his

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

views when he was originally interviewed for a BBC post, he was asked to go freelance in 1972, though in practice he was sacked despite several departments of the BBC wishing to keep employing him. In common with the China expert and journalist

Isabel Hilton Isabel Nancy Hilton OBE (born 25 November 1947) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster, based in London. Early life Hilton attended school in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Bradford Girls' Grammar School (Yorkshire) and Walnut Hills High School (C ...

, among several others at this time, Rosen had failed the vetting procedures that were then in operation. This longstanding practice was only revealed in 1985, and by the time Rosen requested access to his files, they had been destroyed. In 1974, ''Mind Your Own Business'', his first book of poetry for children, was published. In due course, Rosen established himself with his collections of humorous verse for children, including ''Wouldn't You Like to Know'', ''You Tell Me'' and ''Quick Let's Get Out of Here''. Educationalist Morag Styles has described Rosen as "one of the most significant figures in contemporary children's poetry" and one of the first poets "to draw closely on his own childhood experiences and to 'tell it as it was' in the ordinary language children actually use". Rosen played a key role in opening up children's access to poetry, both through his own writing and with important anthologies such as ''Culture Shock''. He was one of the first poets to make visits to schools throughout the UK and further afield in Australia, Canada and Singapore. His tours continue to enthuse and engage school children about poetry in the present. ''

'' is a children's picture book written by Rosen and illustrated by

Helen Oxenbury Helen Gillian Oxenbury (born 2 June 1938) is an English illustrator and writer of children's picture books. She lives in north London. She has twice won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal, the British librarians' award for illustration and been run ...

. The book won the overall

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and r ...

in 1989 and also won the 0–5 years category. The publisher,

Walker Books Walker Books is a British publisher of children's books, founded in 1978 by Sebastian Walker, Amelia Edwards, and Wendy Boase. In 1991, the success of Walker Books' ''Where's Wally?'' series enabled the company to expand into the American ma ...

, celebrated the work's 25th anniversary in 2014 by breaking a ''

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'' for the Largest Reading Lesson. In 1993 Rosen gained an MA in Children's Literature from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

and subsequently gained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of North London The University of North London (UNL) was a university in London, England, formed from the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) in 1992 when that institution was granted university status. PNL, in turn, had been formed by the amalgamation of the No ...

, Margaret Meek Spencer supervised his work and continued to support him throughout her life. Rosen is well established as a broadcaster, presenting a range of documentary features on British radio. He is the presenter of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's regular magazine programme ''

Word of Mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...

'', which looks at the English language and the way it is used. The English Association gave '' Michael Rosen's Sad Book'' (2004) an Exceptional Award for the Best Children's Illustrated Books of its year in the 4–11 age range. The book was written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his l ...

. It deals in part with bereavement and followed the publication of ''Carrying the Elephant: A Memoir of Love and Loss'', which was published in November 2002 after the death of his son Eddie (aged 18), who features as a child in much of his earlier poetry. Rosen's ''This Is Not My Nose: A Memoir of Illness and Recovery'' (2004) is an account of his ten years with undiagnosed

hypothyroidism Hypothyroidism is an endocrine disease in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormones. It can cause a number of symptoms, such as cold intolerance, poor ability to tolerate cold, fatigue, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, co ...

; a course of drugs in 1981 alleviated the condition. In 2011, he collaborated with his wife, Emma-Louise Williams, to produce the film ''Under the Cranes'', with Rosen providing the original screenplay (a play for voices called ''Hackney Streets''), which Williams took as a basis with which to direct the film. It premiered at the Rio Cinema in

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas i ...

, London, on 30 April 2011, as part of the East End Film Festival. Michael Rosen 06082023

Rosen has previously taught children's literature on the MA in education studies at the University of North London and its successor institution,

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The Un ...

. He was formerly a visiting professor of children's literature at

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

, where he taught children's literature and devised an MA in children's literature, which commenced in October 2010. Since September 2014, he has been at

, as professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies, teaching an MA in children's literature. He is also a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables schoolchildren across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres. Rosen was the subject of the

's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' programme on 6 August 2006; his chosen favourite record, book and luxury item were "Black, Brown and White" by

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 19 ...

, the ''Complete Poems'' of

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg w ...

, and his late son's

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

respectively. In 2017, Rosen published his memoir ''So They Call You Pisher!'' (

Verso ''Recto'' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. In double-sided printing, each leaf h ...

). In March 2021, Rosen released the book ''Many Different Kinds of Love: A Story of Life, Death and the NHS'', an account of his experience being hospitalised with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

a year earlier, including his own poem for the 60th anniversary of the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

, "These are the Hands", being pinned to his bed or wall.

Politics

Education policy

Rosen is a long-standing critic of the standardised model of

National Curriculum assessment The National Curriculum assessment usually refers to the statutory assessments carried out in primary schools in England, colloquially known as standard assessment tasks (SATs). The assessments are made up of a combination of testing and teacher ...

(SATs) and believes English education should focus more on reading. He has accused English SATs of "distorting and wrecking poetry", and described the grammar taught in primary education as "a package of outdated, rigid, misleading, prescriptive, disputed terms".

Jeremy Corbyn

In August 2015, Rosen endorsed

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

's leadership campaign in the Labour Party election. He contributed to ''Poets for Corbyn'', an anthology of poems from 20 writers. In the same month, he was one of many Jewish public figures who signed an open letter criticising ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

''s reporting of Corbyn's association with alleged antisemites. In 2016, along with others, he toured the UK to support Corbyn's bid to become

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. In November 2019, along with other Jewish public figures, Rosen signed an open letter supporting Corbyn, describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsing him in the

2019 UK general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019, with 47,074,800 registered voters entitled to vote to elect 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. The governing Conservative Party, led by Prim ...

. In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, he signed an open letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few". In May 2021, Pete Newbon posted a photoshopped image of

reading ''

'', replacing the text on the book's page with the antisemitic forgery ''

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...

''. Rosen claimed the image and its associated tweet as "loathsome and antisemitic". Newbon later commenced a libel action against Rosen, but died before the proceedings completed.

Other

In August 2010, Rosen contributed to an e-book collection of political poems entitled ''Emergency Verse – Poetry in Defence of the Welfare State'', edited by Alan Morrison. Rosen stood in the 2004 London Assembly Elections as a Respect Coalition candidate for the Londonwide list. He is a supporter of the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

campaign. He has written columns for the ''

Socialist Worker ''Socialist Worker'' is the name of several newspapers currently or formerly associated with the International Socialist Tendency (IST). It is a weekly newspaper published by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United Kingdom since 1968, a ...

'' and spoken at conferences organised by the Socialist Workers Party.

Awards and honours

Rosen was appointed the sixth British

in June 2007, succeeding

Jacqueline Wilson Dame Jacqueline Wilson (' Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for tackling realistic topics such as adoption and divorce. Since her debut novel in 1969, ...

, and held the honour until June 2009, when he was succeeded by Anthony Browne. Rosen signed off from the Laureateship with an article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', in which he said, "Sometimes when I sit with children when they have the space to talk and write about things, I have the feeling that I am privileged to be the kind of person who is asked to be part of it". In 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. In January 2008, Rosen was presented with an honorary doctorate by the

Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United King ...

and the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

. In November 2008, he was presented with an honorary master's degree at the

University of Worcester The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005. History In 1946 an Emerg ...

and the (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature) at the French ambassador's residence in London. In April 2010, Rosen was given the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award from the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

for "campaigning for education". In July 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

. In April 2011, Rosen was awarded an honorary doctorate at the Institute of Education, University of London, and in July 2011, an honorary doctorate by the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

. Rosen was selected to be the guest director of the 2013

Brighton Festival Brighton Festival is a large, annual, curated multi-arts festival in England, first held in 1967. It includes music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and family events, and takes place in venues in the city of Brig ...

. In 2021, Rosen received the annual J.M. Barrie Lifetime Achievement Award from the charity Action for Children's Arts, "in recognition of his tremendous work championing the arts for children as well as his achievements as a performer and author." In 2022, Rosen was awarded an honorary fellowship of the

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Eliz ...

by an exceptional and unanimous vote of the RCN Council during the organisation's annual congress; with RCN President Dr Denise Chaffer citing Rosen's lived experience, patient advocacy, and ongoing COVID-19 public awareness work as contributory factors. In 2023, Rosen was winner of the PEN Pinter Prize, awarded by

to for writers of "outstanding literary merit" who take an "unflinching" look at the world. The judges –

Ruth Borthwick Ruth Borthwick, Hon. FRSL, is a British arts administrator, literature executive and educator, who for more than three decades has worked with writers in bookselling and publishing, and as an advocate for literature in the UK and internationally. ...

(chair),

Raymond Antrobus Raymond Antrobus is a British poet, educator and writer who has been performing poetry since 2007. In March 2019, he won the Ted Hughes Award for new work in poetry.Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

professor

Rahile Dawut Rahile Dawut (; ; born May 20, 1966) is a Uyghur ethnographer known for her expertise in Uyghur folklore and traditions. Formerly a professor at Xinjiang University, where she founded the Minorities Folklore Research Centre, she was disappeared by ...

Personal life

Rosen has been married three times and has five children and two step-children. His second son Eddie (1980–1999) died at the age of 18 from

meningococcal septicaemia Meningococcal disease is a serious infection caused by ''Neisseria meningitidis'', also known as meningococcus, a gram negative diplococcus. Meningococcal disease includes meningitis, meningococcal septicemia, or a combination of both, which c ...

, and his death was the inspiration for Rosen's 2004 work ''

''. Rosen lives in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

with his third wife, Emma-Louise Williams, and their two children. Rosen performs his poetry for children in videos uploaded to his

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. His videos have been a subject of YouTube poops, typically vulgar video mashups and remixes of existing content. In May 2012, Rosen issued a warning regarding the YouTube poops on his official website, stating, "Quite a few people have fun taking my videos and making new versions of them, known as 'YouTube poops'. Many of these are not suitable for young children. I am not responsible for either the words or pictures of these." In June 2015, Rosen put a similar warning on his YouTube channel's "about" page. In January 2019, Rosen claimed there were "about 4,000 YTPs" of him performing his poems and stories. He stated, "Some are very funny... I'm fond of the funny ones. I have tried to get the racist, antisemitic ones taken down." In January 2021, a British teacher accidentally sent her students an extremely vulgar YouTube poop of Rosen's poem "The Car Trip" instead of the original poem, having mistaken it for the original. In March 2021, his channel had 98 million video views. As of July 2024, his channel had 787,000 subscribers and 142 million video views. In March 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Rosen almost died and was admitted to hospital with suspected

. He was moved into the ICU and back to a ward, before again being moved back to ICU. He left the ICU after 48 days. He was moved to a ward at

Whittington Hospital Whittington Hospital is a district general hospital, district general and teaching hospital of UCL Medical School and Middlesex University School of Health and Social Sciences. Located in Archway, London, it is managed by Whittington Health NH ...

and returned home in June. In 2021, Rosen reported experiencing symptoms of

long COVID Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

, including having lost most of the sight in his left eye and much of the hearing in his left ear, and experienced numbness in his toes.

Select bibliography

* ''Quick, Let's Get Out of Here'' (1985) Puffin, illustrated by

* ''

'' (1989)

, illustrated by

* ''Carrying the Elephant: A Memoir of Love and Loss'' (2002) Penguin * ''Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet'' (2003), illustrated by Jane E. Ray * '' Michael Rosen's Sad Book'' (2004)

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. History Sebastian Walker launched Walker Boo ...

, illustrated by Quentin Blake * ''Tiny Little Fly'' (2010), illustrated by Kevin Waldron * ''Fantastic Mr Dahl'' (2012), illustrated by Quentin Blake * ''Uncle Gobb and the Dread Shed'' (2015), illustrated by Neal Layton * ''So They Call You Pisher!'' (2017) * ''The Disappearance of Émile Zola'' (2017) * ''The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II'' (2020) Walker Books * ''Many Different Kinds of Love: A Story of Life, Death and the NHS'' (2021)

Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Centu ...

* ''Sticky McStickstick'' (2021), illustrated by

Tony Ross Anthony Lee Ross (born 10 August 1938) is a British author and illustrator of children's picture books. In Britain, he is best known for writing and illustrating his Little Princess books and for illustrating the Horrid Henry series by Franc ...

* ''Please Write Soon: An Unforgettable Story of Two Cousins in World War II'' (2022), illustrated by Michael Foreman * ''What is a Bong Tree?'' (2022) * ''Getting Better'' (2023) Ebury Press * ''Out Of This World: Poems to make you laugh, smile and think'' (2024)

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, illustrated by

Ed Vere Ed Vere is a British writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the Highland Children's Book Award in 2007 for his book, ''The Getaway'' and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing his 20 ...

* ''One Day: A True Story of Survival in the Holocaust'' (2025), illustrated by Benjamin Phillips

References

;Other sources * *. *; video on YouTube *

External links

*
Michael Rosen blog
(active March 2020)
artificedesign
Rosen's official

channel * *
Michael Rosen
at Penguin Readers' Group (archived 28 September 2013) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Michael 1946 births Living people 20th-century English writers 21st-century English memoirists 21st-century English writers Alumni of the University of North London Alumni of the University of Reading Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford British Children's Laureate Bundists Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres British children's poets English children's writers English educational theorists English Marxist writers Jewish English writers English male novelists English male poets English people of American-Jewish descent English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent English people of Polish-Jewish descent English people of Romanian-Jewish descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent English republicans English socialists English YouTubers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Honorary Fellows of the Royal College of Nursing Jewish British anti-Zionists British anti-Zionists Internet memes introduced from the United Kingdom Jewish British anti-racism activists Jewish English activists British anti-racism activists Jewish novelists Jewish poets Jewish socialists Jewish British activists for Palestinian solidarity English activists for Palestinian solidarity People educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys People from Harrow, London People from Pinner Respect Party politicians YouTube channels launched in 2007 Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic Academics of the University of London