Tag: children's book

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt to The Cheese & Grain!

The first day of the school summer holidays will be marked with a very special performance at The Cheese & Grain in Frome, with one of the world’s best-selling children’s authors and poet, Michael Rosen, on Monday 24th July……

With over 140 books published to his name, including the classics “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” and  “A Great Big Cuddle”, plus 55 million views on his YouTube Channel ‘Kids Poems and Stories with Michael Rosen’; the Number 1 selling children’s author is all set to come to the Cheese and Grain. 

Recently seen on BBC Breakfast and The Repair Shop, the visit also follows Rosen receiving the prestigious PEN Pinter Prize just last week, an award honoured to those whose work is committed to a fearless exposition of truth about contemporary life. 

Michael Rosen is one of Britain’s best loved writers and performance poets for children and adults. His first degree was from Wadham College, Oxford and he went on to study for an MA and a PhD. He is currently Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London where he co-devised and teaches an MA in Children’s Literature. 

Michael is also a popular broadcaster and has presented BBC Radio 4’s acclaimed programme about language, “Word of Mouth” since 1998, as well as regularly presenting documentary programmes for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3, including the Sony Gold Award-winning “On Saying Goodbye”. 

Michael has published in the region of 200 books for children and adults, including “The Sad Book” with Quentin Blake (Walker Books) – a meditation on bereavement written after the loss of his son, Eddie; “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” with Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books) – made into an animated film for Channel 4 broadcast Christmas Day 2016 – and “A Great Big Cuddle” with Chris Riddell (Walker Books) . His poetry for adults includes “Don’t Mention the Children” (Smokestack) and “Selected Poems” (Penguin). Non-fiction work for adults includes “Good Ideas: How to Be Your Child’s (and Your Own) Best Teacher” (John Murray), “The Disappearance of Emile Zola, Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Case” (Faber), and his memoir “So They Call You Pisher!” (Verso). 

He has written a book for children and teachers on writing poetry ‘What is Poetry?’ (Walker Books) and has done three booklets for teachers on writing and reading. These are available through his website http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk. He writes up a monthly news page on the website and a blog for teachers giving ideas for writing. 

Michael writes a monthly open “letter” to the Secretary of State for Education in The Guardian where he critiques Government policy on schools from the standpoint of a parent. He visits schools, teachers’ conferences and university teacher training departments where he is in demand to give performances, workshops and keynote addresses. He also appears regularly at literary festivals all over the UK and Ireland. 

Michael has received several honorary awards, including degrees from the Open University, the University of Exeter, the University of London Institute of Education and the University of East London/Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. For outstanding contribution to children’s literature he received the Eleanor Farjeon Award and was Children’s Laureate 2007-2009. In recognition of his contribution to the profile of French culture in the UK, he was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. 

There are two shows on 24th July:

Show 1 doors at 10.30am – TICKETS

Show 2 doors at 13.30pm – TICKETS

Info: www.cheeseandgrain.com

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The Monkey with no Bum!

No, looks to me like, from the front cover picture, the monkey does indeed have a bum, albeit it quite small and the motion lines suggest it’s shrinking. No matter the outcome of the debate, it cannot be good news for this monkey called Charlie. I could ask the author Asa Murphy why, but we don’t need spoilers. All you need to know is Charlie has either no bum or an incredibly shrinking bum, and that’s plenty of background, cos, kids like the word bum, and I don’t blame them. I like the word bum, and intend to use it as much as possible here today.

If this Liverpudlian now children’s author’s name rings a bell, it’s because he loves Devizes and in honour of our late local fundraising musician, Bruce Hopkins, he staged his most prestigious performance at the Corn Exchange, a self-penned musical about the life of Buddy Holly.

Asa just glows with the charm and entertaining charisma of a one-man Ratpack. With sell-out shows at Ronnie Scotts, topping the bill at the famous Liverpool Empire, he also has a decade under his belt with a popular BBC Radio show up in Liverpool. Last year he turned to writing, the intention being stage musicals, of which he’s crafted three shows, Buddy Holly Lives, Mack The Knife and Irish Annies.

But if you think changing from musical writer to children’s author is tenacious, think again. Asa plans to launch a children’s musical from his debut book, and will be at the Corn Exchangein 2021. For now, though it’s self-published book (Murphy-World Books,) that tale of monkey with no bum, and was taken from a story Asa told to his nephew, and continued to tell to my own children. “I wanted them to be aware that in my eyes,” Asa explains, “they were perfect in every way. The story developed into an idea that I felt all children should hear, so I sat down and wrote the story with the dream of it being turned into a children’s illustrated book.”

I asked Asa if there was more to come, whether Charlie might be back, with or without his bum! “It’ll be a series of five books, all featuring Charlie the Monkey, and with valuable lessons for children.” Might make a great Christmas pressie for the young ones, or anyone, I like saying bum, and I think, if we’re honest with ourselves, we all do!

You can buy it here, or it’s now stocked at Devizes Books for £6.99.