Showing results by author "Michael Rosen" in All Categories

Through a deft compilation of primary sources—letters, memoirs, and personal accounts from composers, librettists, and performers—Michael Rose re-creates for his readers the circumstances that gave rise to fifteen operatic milestones. From Monteverdi and Mozart to Puccini and Berg, each chapter focuses on a well-known opera and tells the story that lies behind its creation.

From minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, Alphabetical is a book for everyone who loves words and language. Whether it's how letters are arranged on keyboards or Viking runes, textspeak or zip codes, this book will change the way you think about letters forever. How on earth did we fix upon our 26 letters? What do they really mean? And how did we come to write them down in the first place? Michael Rosen takes you on an unforgettable adventure through the history of the alphabet in 26 vivid chapters, fizzing with personal anecdotes and fascinating facts.

In this hilarious, moving memoir, much-loved children's poet and political campaigner Michael Rosen recalls the first 23 years of his life. The audiobook ends with a letter to his father and the revelation of a heartbreaking family secret.

In our lives, terrible things may happen. Michael Rosen has grieved the loss of a child, lived with debilitating chronic illness, and faced death itself when seriously unwell in hospital. In spite of this he has survived, and has even learned to find joy in life in the aftermath of tragedy. In Getting Better, he shares his story and the lessons he has learned along the way. Exploring the roles that trauma and grief have played in his own life, Michael investigates the road to recovery.

In the first few weeks of the new year, you count your calories religiously or go to the gym every day, without fail. But by February, you are cheating on your diet or skipping more workouts than you are doing. You try to get back on track, but you can’t seem to. By March, you’ve given up on your resolution completely. You feel guilty and like a failure. What seemed like an attainable goal was completely beyond your ability to achieve it. You blame yourself, your genetics, or some other factors.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unique tales inspired by traditional literary forms appeared frequently in socialist-leaning British periodicals, such as the Clarion, Labour Leader, and Social Democrat. Based on familiar genres, these stories were meant to entertain readers of all ages - and some challenged the conventional values promoted in children’s literature for the middle class. Acclaimed critic and author Michael Rosen brings together more than 40 of the best and most enduring examples of these stories in one beautiful volume.

A collection of quirky and hilarious tales by Tony Ross and the former Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen, including 'Burping Bertha', 'Fluff the Farting Fish', 'Bilal's Brilliant Bee' and more.

A family - a mother, a father, and their 10-year-old son - have come all the way from Florida to the Appalachian foothills to experience the wonder of a snowy weekend. But when a blizzard suddenly descends, the family finds themselves trapped outside, disoriented in the whiteout and the waist-deep snowdrifts. Panicked, exhausted, and freezing, they cry out for help.

Perfect for commuter train rides, rush-hour gridlock, Pilates workouts, or any time when levity might add to the very quality of life. With inimitable contributions by Merrill Markoe, Dave Barry, Garry Trudeau, and Bruce McCall, you have a triumphant salute to one of America's greatest assets: its sense of humor.

A darkly comic noir about a chicken living in a world of anthropomorphic eggs who's wanted for a murder he didn't commit. Life is tough for an embry. Considered a vestigial organ at best and a parasite at worst, chicken embryos are usually aborted by the egg folk early in life. Once in a while, one survives and slips through, hatching into an embry, an ostracized, lower caste anthropomorphic chicken. They have their own ghettos, and are barely tolerated by polite society.

Gaston le Dog longs to return to the beautiful beach he remembers from years ago. So he sets off on an adventure–but mystery and danger lurk at every turn, and Gaston will need all the help he can get from the friends he meets along the way. But can they all be trusted? And will Gaston's odyssey bring him everything he hoped for?

Rigatoni the Pasta Cat: Rigatoni is a cat that loves pasta. He loves it so much, he eats it every day. But when his owners have to go away, they leave someone else in charge of dinner. Rigatoni doesn’t get any pasta to eat at all. Hampstead the Hamster: 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! Leo names his new pet Hampstead, after an autocorrect mistake on his wish list. Everything is great, that is, until Leo realises that Hampstead is down in the dumps.

Even though Malcolm managed to bamboozle and confuzle Uncle Gobb in the last book (hooray!), it was only temporary (boo!). Uncle Gobb is still living with him - and still roaring at him about peas, poetry and Peter Parker. This time, the plan to get rid of Uncle Gobb has to be mega. It has to be epic. It has to involve America, the Jumblies, the Genie (of course), Aunty Brenda the Mender and Malcolm's long-lost dad. But Malcolm doesn't know that Uncle Gobb also has a plan. A plan to get rid of Malcolm once and for all.

Learning can be much more fun - and former children's laureate, million-selling author, broadcaster, father of five, and all-round national treasure Michael Rosen wants to show you how. We live in a world surrounded by all the stuff that education is supposed to be about: machines, bodies, languages, cities, votes, mountains, energy, movement, plays, food, liquids, collisions, protests, stones, windows.

Harry Gruber plays the role of Scrooge in his school's production of A Christmas Carol, and he is extra nervous about tonight's performance because his father is in the audience - not away for business, as usual. Will the story's message of Christmas cheer and the redemptive power of love reach his father's distracted Scrooge heart?

Inspired by The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Michael J. Rosen's wry tale captures Ben's spirit in evocative yet playful language. A love story to the value of variety, A Ben of All Trades sheds light on an unconventional path to greatness and humanizes a towering figure in American history.

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What would it be like to live in the future? Or underwater? What would you do if you could go back in time? Or be a cat? Or a blood cell? What would happen if a monster ate every letter of the alphabet? In this extraordinary collection of brand new poems, beloved writer and former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen will make you laugh, make you smile, make you think, and take you out of this world. Beautifully illustrated throughout by acclaimed artist Ed Vere, this is a book to treasure and share – a perfect introduction to poetry for readers of all ages.

It was cold, spooky and very boring. Frank hated Friday nights, sitting in the museum while his mum did the cleaning. He felt very alone - until a skeleton came over for a chat! And suddenly the museum didn’t seem quite so boring any more. But after a few chilling encounters with some of the skeleton’s weird and wonderful friends, all Frank really wants is his mum....

Frank isn't much looking forward to the school visit to a local stately home. Still, not even in his worst nightmares did he expect anything like what actually happens! When "Not-Sheba", the servant girl from the picture, just walks out of her frame and demands Frank's help to find out her true identity, Frank realises that there is no escape. Charlie the celebrity-mad mummy doesn't help much either and nor do the Indian statues.