Webchat with Chris Riddell and Michael Rosen on Wednesday 2 Sept 12pm

[TinaMumsnet]

Hello

We're very pleased to announce a webchat with current Children's Laureate Chris Riddell and former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen on Wednesday 2 September at 12pm.

Chris Riddell, is an accomplished artist and the political cartoonist for the Observer. He has twice won the Kate Greenaway Medal – for Pirate Diary and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver. Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse won the Costa Children's Book Award 2013. His other titles include the bestselling Ottoline books, The Emperor of Absurdia and, with Paul Stewart, the Muddle Earth books, the Scavenger series and the Blobheads series. Visit his website to find out more.

Michael Rosen is one of the most popular authors of stories and poems for children. His bestselling titles include: We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Little Rabbit Foo Foo, Michael Rosen's Sad Book, This Is Our House, Tiny Little Fly, Dear Mother Goose and its sequel Dear Fairy Godmother. Michael received the Eleanor Farjeon Award in 1997, and was the Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. He is Professor of Children's Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London. You can read more about Michael Rosen on his website.

Chris and Michael have recently collaborated on a new book for young children. A Great Big Cuddle is an illustrated collection of poetry which celebrates all the best things about childhood. Watch the video to see Michael Rosen perform one of his poems.

Do you or your DC have any questions for MR or CR? If so, come and join us on Wed 2 September at 12pm - or if you can't make it, leave a question below.
Thanks
MNHQ

[ChrisRiddell]

Thank you for your kind comments. A new Goth Girl Book is coming out in September called 'Goth Girl And The Wuthering Fright' and it will have ice blue sprayed edges!
I'm now hard at work on a new Ottoline book which will be called 'Ottoline And The Purple Fox'. End of self promotion!
I just want to say what a joy it has been illustrating Michael's wonderful poetry and I'm really looking forward to connecting with a younger audience.

[MichaelRosen]

Sorry about that

[MichaelRosen]

Thank you.

[MichaelRosen]

Thank you

[MichaelRosen]

Just to keep reading and reading and reading and then maybe someone can suggest that he could write something 'like that' too...

[exbrummie]

A question for Michael on behalf of my son(who is 18 lol!) What do you think of the youtube poopers who edit your poems to make them sound rude? All good fun or a bit humiliating?

[ChrisRiddell]

UnsureOfOutcome-In answer to your question my favourite books were Alice in Wonderland with Sir John Tenniel's illustrations and Professor Branestaum illustrated by William Heath Robinson.

[MagickPants]

ooooh can I echo enb76's question:

Really good novels for free-reading 5 - 7 year olds? I know they have to be fairly easy but I think they are also often quite... bad. Interesting witty vivid prose doesn't have to be hard. what do you recommend?

Also - Michael Rosen - I am a regular reader of your blog. No questions just a big fan girl big up to you

[MichaelRosen]

TeaAddict235 - I think some people have tried to translate them, but it's not happened often. I thought the French ones were quite good but a bit sedate!

[MichaelRosen]

Pico2 - the BHA was hoping for this to enable schools to start a discussion about religion and non-belief on an even playing field. At the moment there many materials on religion and hardly any on humanism, atheism and secularism. So this is a start to get the talking going.

[MichaelRosen]

ReallyTired - I have never ever ever said that I'm against the use of synthetic phonics. What I've said is that I'm against the use of synthetic phonics in a 'first, fast and only' way. As you say, you've used a rich literature context for the phonics. That's what I've always said I've believed in. You might ask yourself why people misrepresent me and say that I'm anti-phonics....?????

[sofaloafbanana]

I'm curious why rhyming books for kids are so difficult to get published these days. Why do agencies/publishers shun rhymes for typical prose? Thanks!

[MichaelRosen]

nico4 - I like 'The Watch' which is also on the YouTube videos. It comes from'Quick Let's Get Out of Here'. Thanks vm.

[ChrisRiddell]

I think illustrations are invaluable in novels for all ages- but I would say that...One of my favourite things, though, is illustrating poetry.

[MichaelRosen]

Enb76 - I think you'll find that there are some great books for that age group. If you're anywhere near a library or a children's bookshop, you could ask them. It could be a mix of 'challenging' picture books, graphic stories, and short chapter books....

[Ekorre]

I don't have a question just wanted to say that my son and I love the Michael Rosen books that we have read so far. For various reasons life can be quite tough round our house and looking forward to discovering more Michael Rosen is one of the things that keeps me going some days!

[MichaelRosen]

deepdarkwood My starting point for ideas is usually a kind of daydreaming...and then I like to 'spin' the idea asking myself 'what if'...so that a set of possibilities or possible outcomes start to collect around the original idea.

[ChrisRiddell]

sofaloafbanana-the main reason given is the difficulty with translation which I understand but I'm a big fan of both Dr Seuss and Julia Donaldson.
I attempted verse in the little book at the back of Goth Girl and The Ghost Of A Mouse- A retelling of Gulliver's Travels from the point of view of a mouse in rhyming couplets!

[MichaelRosen]

NotJimbo - the best thing to do with poems is first of all just read them. Perhaps they will or will not say very much. This doesn't matter - bits of them may ring a bell or 'resonate' with you. To help yourself get into a poem is not to worry too much about what it means. Instead, ask yourself if there is any part of the poem that reminds you of anything that has ever happened to you or to anyone you know? then ask yourself, is there any part of the poem that reminds you of anything you've ever read, seen on TV, seen in a film, or heard in a song. Think about these connections. Then see if you can think of any questions you'd like to ask anyone in the poem. Jot these questions down. See if you can come up with any answers to those questions. Then in poems there are always 'secret strings' linking one part of a poem to another - rhymes, rhythms, sounds, images, pictures, ideas....if you have a copy of the poem, draw those 'secret strings' on to the poem. Ask yourself why these strings are there.

If you do all these things, the poem will have meaning for you.

[MichaelRosen]

ChooChooLaverne - most of the poems in 'Big Book of Bad Things' are indeed 'true'. Thanks very much.

[MichaelRosen]

PlaysWellWithOthers
Thank you very much for this. It means a lot to me when I hear that people who have difficulties in some part of their lives (but then who doesn't?!), have found that my poems or my performances on YouTube are pieces of work that they can enjoy. Thank you.

[MichaelRosen]

W00t
Figgy Rolls
Always
Figgy Rolls.
Always.

[W00t]

Fig rolls? My DC will be so pleased- they love them!
DS has just been reading 'Fantastically Funny Stories' this morning, and chortling away to himself in his room.

[ChrisRiddell]

deepdarkwood- The Edge Chronicles mean a lot to me. They're books I wrote with Paul Stewart as our children were growing up and we read and discussed each one as they came out.Now our kids are all grown up.
It has been wonderful to return to a younger readership with Michael and be reminded of what it was like reading to my children when they were little.

[MichaelRosen]

UnsureofOutcome
You asked:
Michael, which were the books that you loved as a child? And how important do you think picture books are for school age children (i.e. there's such a pressure to move on to chapter books; do you think things are lost by leaving picture books behind?)

When I was very young, I loved Beatrix Potter and the Puffin Picture Books that came out in the 1940s and 50s. I also liked some French books published by 'Pere Castor'. They're still in print but a bit old fashioned now.

Later, I loved some books that my mother found like 'Raff the Jungle Bird', 'Miskito Boy' and books by René Guillot and 'The Amazing Pranks of Till Eulenspiegel'. Then a bit older I loved historical fiction - especially Rosemary Sutcliff, Geoffrey Trease and Cynthia Harnett.

There was a lot of non-fiction I liked too - especially stuff to do with deep-sea diving and history.

Yes I agree with you about leaving picture books behind too soon. Some of the makers of picture books are trying to say some very important things with these books.