Published on 28 April 2011

Michael Rosen: Authors Live

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Full session - Primary

Michael Rosen performs some of his poems to primary school children. He also answer their questions. Michael Rosen talks about writing being his best friend and performs his poem The Space. Michael Rosen tells the story about his dad's sayings and how his brother would mimic and exaggerate them, including 'the Noise!'

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Full session - Secondary

Michael Rosen performs his poems to an audience of secondary school children. He also answers their questions. Michael Rosen talks about writing being his best friend and performs his poem The Space. Michael Rosen tells the story about his dad's sayings and how his brother would mimic and exaggerate them, including 'the Noise!'

About Michael Rosen

Michael Rosen is one of the best-known figures in the children's book world, and is renowned for his work as a poet, performer, broadcaster and scriptwriter. He was the first poet to be made Children's Laureate, a post he held from 2007 to 2009. As an author and by selecting other writers' works for anthologies he has been involved with over 140 books. The most recent are I'm Number One and Red Ted and the Lost Things.

Michael lectures and teaches in universities on children's literature, reading and writing and is a winner of the Eleanor Farjeon Award for Children's Literature and the National Literacy WOW Award. He is a frequent contributor to the BBC and presents Radio 4's Word of Mouth, the magazine programme that looks at the English language and the way we use it. He is currently writing a biography of Roald Dahl.

Questions

After the live session we managed to get Michael to answer these questions too:

What was your favourite book when you were in primary school? (from Loch Duich Primary, Arduthie Primary and Rose in P7 at Kenmore Primary)

It was a novelisation of a film called Hue and Cry which was filmed on the bomb sites of London. Our head teacher read it to us, chapter by chapter, every Friday. Every chapter ends with a cliff-hanger and we were nearly pulling him apart because we wanted to know what happened next!

What's your dream holiday? (from Stromness Primary)

More or less the holidays I have! Either in the French countryside or occasionally in Paris or New York City. I love hanging about in a field and talking to local people. They tell you stuff that's gone on there and it becomes like reading a book. You can 'read' a field, 'read' a hedge or 'read' a tree. Something that looks like a field becomes a place that has a story.

What inspired We're Going On A Bear Hunt? (from Mouswald Primary)

I didn't come up with the original idea - it was a folk song like John Brown's Body. What I did was adapt it so an illustrator could make it into a book. I do try to come up with ideas like that but they're never as good! Little Rabbit Foo Foo is another one - that was just a folk song.

What do like doing most: writing or performing? (from Giffnock Primary, P5)

Performing. Face-to-face talking and entertaining and being part of each other is the most valuable and important thing we've got as human beings. Writing is not a very nice thing to do. The end result is nice because it becomes social and people are going to have fun with it and enjoy it, but the actual business of locking yourself away and writing it can be a little bit miserable.

How old were you when you wrote your first poem? (from Springhill Primary, P5)

I was asked to write a poem when I was in year 5. The first poem I wrote because I'd decided to write one was when I was 15. I'd been reading some poems by D.H.Lawrence - one called Snake - and some stories by James Joyce and I thought I would like to have a go.

Who's your favourite author? (from Wellshot Primary, Carron Primary and P6C at St. Andrew's)

It changes. I really like reading, listening to and performing with the wonderful Scots poet Jackie Kay. I really, really like her stuff - she gets to places many of us don't. The other one I've liked a lot recently is an Irish poet called Matthew Sweeney.

Do you write books for adults as well as children? (from Ian in P6 at Kenmore Primary)

Yes, I do. I've written poems and the occasional book for adults. But when you write you don't really know who's going to read it. You might think a child will like this but all sorts of other people might like it as well. You might write something political or metaphorical and think children won't be very interested in it but some might. You never know for certain.

If you had to choose one of your books to be made into a film which one would you choose? (from Jody at Laurieknowe Primary)

There's a sad story here because, in a way, it's already happened. I wrote a book called You're thinking about doughnuts about a boy who's in a museum when everything comes to life and the film rights were bought and it was taken around Hollywood. Seven or eight years later, up pops a movie called Night at the Museum. There are plenty of things in it which weren't in my book but it's near enough to make me think somebody read mine and thought we don't have to buy that but we could do something similar. However, I am in the middle of preparing a treatment for a film about Edward Lear.

What advice you give a child who wants to become a writer? (from Netherthird Primary and Giffnock Primary, P5)

It's really ever so simple. You must keep reading and keep writing. We can all write something but if you want to be a writer you must read and read and read and write and write and write. We write with our reading heads. In other words, all the ways of using words that we think of come from mixtures of what we read. So the more you read the more interestingly you will write.

Partners

Authors Live is produced in association with the Scottish Book Trust, Creative Scotland and Glow. The Scottish Book Trust is the leading agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing in Scotland and their Authors Live programme is funded by the National Lottery through the Creative Scotland's Inspiring Communities Fund. The Authors Live webcasts are also available through Glow - the world's first national intranet for education allowing joined-up working the length and breadth of Scotland.