So They Call You Pisher!: A Memoir

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He did drama in the sixth form,” Rosen says near the end of our conversation, “and he’s in a video of one of the plays he wrote. It is true to my experience of reading this book and still, I don't quite know how to do this book justice. In 72 prose-poems Michael Rosen tells the story of a life: growing up with Jewish Communist parents in north London, strange trips to eastern Europe during the Cold War, trainee days at the BBC under the watchful eye of MI6, etc. In due course, Rosen established himself with his collections of humorous verse for children, including Wouldn't You Like to Know, You Tell Me and Quick Let's Get Out of Here.

Victor Klemperer's diaries are on a par with Pepys and again give a complex and not unsympathetic story of East Germany post-war but all the diaries must be read. Yes,” he nods, and goes on, “I don’t know how other people describe bereavement, but I always think of the thoughts as swirling, a bit swirly-whirly. The mind plays me a video of Eddie and puts over it a soundtrack I’ve created of his voice, as if I’ve written him a script, in which he says, ‘I think I’m going to die, Dad.

Rather you than me", said one of the neighbours on hearing the news - a remark that Rosen records, as he does much else to do with death, with surprised, painful honesty. Miles, Alice; Rumbelow, Helen (15 September 2007), "Children need freedom and chaos, not tests, ticks, and smiley faces", The Times, archived from the original on 15 June 2011 .

Harold Rosen: Writings on life, language and learning, 1958–2008" Archived 25 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Advanced Information, IOE, UCL. Francis Wheen's biography of Karl Marx Che Guevara's Bolivian Duary and the motorcycle diaries, Gerry Adams Before the Dawn. His next stop was the BBC, where he worked on Play School, Schools TV and radio dramas until 1972 when he went freelance. The book deals with bereavement, and followed the publication, in 2002, of Carrying the Elephant: A Memoir of Love and Loss (Penguin) which was published after the death of his son Eddie (who features as a child in much of Rosen’s earlier poetry) from meningitis in 1999.In 2004, This Is Not My Nose: A Memoir of Illness and Recovery, an account of his ten years with an undiagnosed underactive thyroid was published by Penguin. He was a secondary school teacher before becoming a professor of English at the Institute of Education in London and publishing extensively, especially on the teaching of English to children. I think I cut it from the episode in the end as our conversation was so long, but he also talked about being heavily influenced by Peter Kay’s Hobnob comedy routine. Two great biographies by Claire Tomalin: The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft, which I think was her first biography, and The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens.

Every year we publish a selection of books and pamphlets that address the key issues facing activists and trade unionists. He was one of the first poets to make visits to schools throughout the UK and has also visited schools throughout the world. After growing up on Michael Rosen’s books, it was fascinating being able to have a viewpoint into his life. I've always been fond of Rosen and his work, and experienced a big personal loss last year, so it felt fairly personal for me in a way that it might not for others.It wasn't patronising, it was honest and upfront and made me cry multiple times in the first few chapters just through feeling seen and recognising my own journey in someone else's words. Even so it was fascinating, very honest, and gently but straightforwardly written so children can understand and relate.