Michael Rosen : (10) " Politicians of all kinds think there’s some running in talking tough about children’s reading. They think that if they announce to the public that some kind of daily drilling on sounds and letters is to be brought in, the problem of children’s reading will be solved. " - Michael Rosen " The word ‘family’ has always posed great difficulties. Until recently, high death rates for women in labour meant many stepmothers and, according to folklore, most of them wicked. After two world wars, we lost many fathers, and single- and step-parenting emerged from the rubble. " - Michael Rosen " When it comes to the UK, our problem is that weve never decolonised. " - Michael Rosen " Anyway, once children get to talk, they seem to be finding ways to joke. " - Michael Rosen " If you want to discover how to make children laugh – and I truly believe all adults should, because children need laughter – the best place to start is with your own childhood. " - Michael Rosen " Poetry fills clubs, halls and venues. Poets and poems can talk to the deepest feelings and to the silliest. It can be like stand-up or rock music. It can be intimate, it can be pubic. " - Michael Rosen " When I was about 15 – that would be some 60 years ago – I remember my father, a secondary school teacher, was always keen to know what homework I had been set, and would look over my shoulder. " - Michael Rosen " The world of children’s books is a very friendly, decent place to be. It’s full of people who are desperate to enlighten, interest and excite children in ideas, imaginary worlds and contemporary issues. " - Michael Rosen " Death is shot through with the details and colours of the lives that were lived. " - Michael Rosen " Im generally of the view that we should know the names of those who enacted and justified imperial power – but only if the glorifying can be supplemented with plaques that tell us the shameful histories of, for example active participation in the slave trade or highly successful and profitable lives extracted from slave plantations. " - Michael Rosen