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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

All is quiet on the farm - until Dog starts to SNORE! Cow and Cat and Sheep and Pig and Dog and all the little Piglets are woken by the noise. Will they ever get back to sleep?

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.

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.

In a joyful journey through a year of weird words and fantastic phrases, one of the nation's favourite wordsmiths takes a tour of the British Isles and all its vernacular idiosyncrasies, as well as reflecting on the joys of English, in a delightful book for anyone who loves language - whether following its rules or breaking them!

Shona and her dad are moving house, and at Shona's new school, the rules are pretty confusing – she keeps getting into trouble without realising! It's a lot like how it is for Oliver Twist, that boy she's reading about in English class. After Shona is unexpectedly given a mobile phone, she begins to suspect there's something fishy about the new boys she's met. Where did the phone come from? And some gifts, she soon learns, aren't exactly free.

The second hilarious and irresistible collection of stories from two of the best-known figures in the children's book world, Michael Rosen and Tony Ross. 'Choosing Crumble': When Terri-Lee goes to the pet-shop she thinks she'll be choosing a dog - she doesn't expect the dog to be choosing her! But Crumble is no ordinary pet.... 'Barking for Bagels': 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!

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.

All is quiet on the farm—until SHOO! Cat makes a lot of noise to chase all the other animals out of the barn. At last, he is alone! But how will Cat feel when everyone else is outside having fun?