Fluff the Farting Fish (Rosen and Ross)

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The two acts seem so unrelated at first because the way you work in performance is so physical and so very different from academic work. However, it must be connected as it’s me doing it all. I got interested in it around 15 or 16, when my dad suddenly decided to do a bit of home schooling and started teaching me English Literature at home. We had an anthology produced by some American critics and I suddenly thought, “blimey… this stuff’s good”. But the seeds must have been sown earlier even though I was ignoring it. Babe couldn’t be further from the stereotype of pigs as the grotty, greedy, gruel-hogging farmyard bottom feeders. This orphaned piglet not only wins the hearts of Farmer Hogget and the animals on the farm and of course us, the readers, he perfects the art of shepherding proving that a pig can be so much more than just a swine. 2. Templeton from Charlotte’s Web by EB White and Garth Williams

Many people (and mainstream media) depict digital media as detrimental to children’s literacy. Do you agree with this or is there a role mobile phones and new technology can play in encouraging young people to read/write? So, when HWRK offered me the opportunity to talk with Michael about his writing, the importance of books that make you laugh and the ways that teachers can encourage children to read for pleasure, I was naturally all in. I hope you enjoy this half as much as I did. Miss Trunchbull has to go down in history as one of the most evil fictional members of the children’s literature school staff. I have to remind myself she is fictional because this character gave me nightmares as a child. She’s feared by both the staff and pupils at Crunchem Hall (and me) so nothing gave me more joy than Lavender’s classroom prank with the newt. Most of my adult life, I've been a freelance writer, teacher (of sorts), journalist, performer and broadcaster. I visit schools doing my one-man show, and support Arsenal Football Club. Applicability of cancellation rights: Legal rights of cancellation under the Distance Selling Regulations available for UK or EU consumers do not apply to certain products and services.

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Badger is a true champion of the five-second-rule. Well, more like the half an hour rule, because it took that long to get through this side-splittingly funny picture book, with my son rolling around on the floor in hysterics. OK. It was me. I was rolling around on the floor in hysterics. Hannah Shaw’s illustrations are beyond hilarious. The easiest and best way is for two or three teachers to get together and have a little mini-reading group, just chatting about books. They can talk about it from their own point of view or possibly talk about what their own child or class thought of it. Start small, try to make it regular and more often than not it will take hold. Christmas is coming, and what Leo wants more than anything in the world is a pet hamster. And guess what? He gets one on Christmas morning! The nature of your work is so diverse; writing for and performing for children, radio shows on language, teaching at university. Do you see these as separate jobs or different sides of the same coin?

Try to make a space, when you first bring a piece into the classroom, to enable the students to approach it in an open-ended way. No matter what notes you have to do later, give the students space to express their likes and dislikes, to relate it to other texts or experiences from their life.

You have an incredibly popular YouTube channel you use to share your poetry with families and schools. How did this come about? Pig’s hilarious diary documents his time in the yard as he comes to the realisation that he’s being fattened up by the hungry farmer he adores. The sale of customised goods or perishable goods, sealed audio or video recordings, or software, which has been opened. A lot of the motifs, a lot of the ideas, scenes and scenarios from the thrillers we read as adults can be found in these works for younger readers. So, it’s a good reason to look at children’s books as they in actual fact reach right the way forward into the stuff we like as adults.Michael Rosen is a hugely bestselling author of picture books and poetry. Michael frequently appears on radio and gives talks and lectures on children’s literature. Michael was the Children’s Laureate for 2007–2009 and the winner of the Eleanor Farjeon Award. He lives in London.

I understand what you’re saying, and your comments are valuable, but I’m gonna ignore your advice.” 9. Badger from The Disgusting Sandwich by Gareth Edwards and Hannah Shaw These books use humour as a way of dealing with serious topics, using techniques such as hyperbole to throw light on these issues but it doesn’t mean that the issue itself and the raising of the questions isn’t just as serious. Shnipp the dog loves to play fetch with Julie and Lara in the park, but she doesn't love their annoying laughs. So one day she decides to run off. It's not long before Shnipp finds a new life with Bessie the Bagel Lady, eating delicious bagels every day.If you think about it this way, there’s not that much distance between Matilda and A Monster Calls. In A Monster Calls, the boy is trapped by this terrible thing of his mother dying. Similarly, Matilda is in a tragic situation; she’s totally trapped at home and in school and then she finds a way out of it. It’s a question I’ve often asked myself and I’m not sure I know the answer. One morning, I might be talking about in a very theoretical or academic way at the university about a subject related to language or literature. Then, just a few hours later, I could be performing We’re Going On a Bear Hunt for a group of three-year-olds. I love that Despereaux refuses to conform, proving to us all not to judge a hero by it’s miniature, nonconforming whiskers. 6. The newt from Matilda by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake After my father passed on, I felt really alone in my sense of grief and loss until I found Michael Rosen’s Sad Book (with illustrations by Quentin Blake). More recently, sharing A Great Big Cuddle (his poetry book for pre-schoolers, illustrated by Chris Riddell) with my two-year-old daughter has led not only to some lovely mother-daughter cuddles, but also to her developing a greater vocabulary and enjoying how funny and amazing the English language can be.