Burping Bertha Award-winning team by Michael Rosen (author) and Tony Ross (illustrator)

Author/Illustrator

Michael Rosen

Michael Rosen was born into a London Jewish family, the son of two distinguished educators – Connie and Harold Rosen. Michael’s childhood was rich in books, stories and conversation.

Michael attended Middlesex Hospital Medical School for a year but transferred to Wadham College, Oxford to study English Literature. At Oxford, he started to realise his ambition of acting (as well as writing and directing). Michael still says that if he wasn’t a poet, he’d like to be an actor. Anyone who has seen him in performance knows that he already is! Read more

The narrowness of his course of study proved a source of dissatisfaction and Michael began looking outside his recommended reading to contemporary working, class ballads. He retains a passion for street rhymes, popular songs and folk stories.

Michael Rosen has been writing poetry since the age of 18. His first collection, Mind Your Own Business, was published in 1974. Although it was not planned as a collection for children, it appeared on Andre Deutsch’s children’s list. This, says Michael, was a turning point – “Suddenly it all fused: the writing, the performing, the popular audience. It was just incredibly exhilarating.”

He quickly made a name for himself with his collections of humorous verse and picture books for children. He is described as one of the most significant figures in contemporary children’s poetry, drawing closely on his own childhood experiences, and ‘telling it as it was’ in the ordinary language children actually use.

Michael is now a poet, author and broadcaster, and was Children’s Laureate from 2007-2009.

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What kids think

1. Spidergirl
   on 8 March 2014

   Buuuurppp that’s all Bertha does Ok book

   5 out of 5

2. fantasticmissfox
   on 5 March 2014

   Burping Bertha is a very funny book. I wish she came to my school as lots of funny things happen. Maybe she could teach me how to burp whenever I wanted. It does get her into a lot of trouble though. I really enjoyed this book, I highly recommend it for eight and overs.

3. TheMileLongBookshelfBlog
   on 6 March 2013

   It’s okay I suppose

4. cupcake8
   on 4 May 2012

   it is so boring

   2 out of 5

5. Book-Club-Review-Team
   on 17 April 2012

   Bertha can burp whenever she wants (I wish I could!). This makes very funny things happen at her school! I wonder how it would be to have her at MY school?

   Jonathan, age 6