Uploaded October 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
You can safely browse more videos like Michael Rosen Chocolate Cake on the Official Michael Rosen channel
youtube.com/MichaelRosenOfficial
Setting Story with Francesca Simon | How to Write | Kids' Poems and Stories With Michael Rosen
Michael rosen talks with author of Horrid Henry about her process of writing - in this episode they focus on where to set a story - where will the story happen.
Check out Michael's website for news, updates and fun.
michaelrosen.co.uk
Who is Francesca Simon
Francesca Simon spent her childhood on the beach in California, and started writing stories from the age of eight. She then went to Yale and Oxford Universities to study medieval history and literature. She threw away a lucrative career as a medievalist and worked as a freelance journalist, writing for the Sunday Times, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, Telegraph, and Vogue (US).
It was reading so many stories to her son Joshua, that encouraged her to start writing children’s books and many of Francesca’s stories have been inspired by real life situations. One of Francesca’s most successful and irrepressible creations has been the famous (or should that be infamous) Horrid Henry, who first appeared in 1994.
Horrid Henry has gone on to conquer the globe and his adventures are published in 27 languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. In 2008, Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman won the Children’s Book of the Year Award at the Galaxy British Book Awards.
Francesca is one of the nation’s most popular authors and has written over fifty books for children of all ages. When she is not writing, Francesca is often encouraging and inspiring young writers and has judged many writing competitions for schools. She has also been a judge for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. In 2009, in one of the proudest moments of her career, Francesca was awarded a Gold Blue Peter badge.
Francesca is also a passionate ambassador for children’s literacy and access to literature. She has been actively involved with many literacy charities and initiatives including Beanstalk, The Reading Agency, BookTrust’s Children’s Reading Fund and Storybook Dads and is a former trustee of World Book Day.
Francesca’s first opera, The Monstrous Child, with music by Gavin Higgins, recently opened to rave reviews at the Royal Opera House.
Francesca lives in North London with her family
Who is Michael Rosen?
My first book for children was called Mind Your Own Business and it came out in 1974. Quentin Blake did wonderful line drawings for it.
Ever since then, I’ve been doing these things:
Writing books
Writing articles for newspapers and magazines
Going to schools, libraries and theatres and performing the poems in my books
Helping children write poems and stories
Making radio programmes, mostly about words, language or books
Appearing on TV, either reading books, or talking about books
Teaching at universities about children’s literature
Running workshops for teachers about poetry
In any week, I might be doing all of these things! To tell the truth, I don’t really know what I’m doing tomorrow, unless I look in my diary to see.
#Michael Rosen
#Kids
#Poetry
You can safely browse more videos like Michael Rosen Chocolate Cake on the Official Michael Rosen channel
youtube.com/MichaelRosenOfficial
Setting Story with Francesca Simon | How to Write | Kids' Poems and Stories With Michael Rosen
Michael rosen talks with author of Horrid Henry about her process of writing - in this episode they focus on where to set a story - where will the story happen.
Check out Michael's website for news, updates and fun.
michaelrosen.co.uk
Who is Francesca Simon
Francesca Simon spent her childhood on the beach in California, and started writing stories from the age of eight. She then went to Yale and Oxford Universities to study medieval history and literature. She threw away a lucrative career as a medievalist and worked as a freelance journalist, writing for the Sunday Times, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, Telegraph, and Vogue (US).
It was reading so many stories to her son Joshua, that encouraged her to start writing children’s books and many of Francesca’s stories have been inspired by real life situations. One of Francesca’s most successful and irrepressible creations has been the famous (or should that be infamous) Horrid Henry, who first appeared in 1994.
Horrid Henry has gone on to conquer the globe and his adventures are published in 27 languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. In 2008, Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman won the Children’s Book of the Year Award at the Galaxy British Book Awards.
Francesca is one of the nation’s most popular authors and has written over fifty books for children of all ages. When she is not writing, Francesca is often encouraging and inspiring young writers and has judged many writing competitions for schools. She has also been a judge for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. In 2009, in one of the proudest moments of her career, Francesca was awarded a Gold Blue Peter badge.
Francesca is also a passionate ambassador for children’s literacy and access to literature. She has been actively involved with many literacy charities and initiatives including Beanstalk, The Reading Agency, BookTrust’s Children’s Reading Fund and Storybook Dads and is a former trustee of World Book Day.
Francesca’s first opera, The Monstrous Child, with music by Gavin Higgins, recently opened to rave reviews at the Royal Opera House.
Francesca lives in North London with her family
Who is Michael Rosen?
My first book for children was called Mind Your Own Business and it came out in 1974. Quentin Blake did wonderful line drawings for it.
Ever since then, I’ve been doing these things:
Writing books
Writing articles for newspapers and magazines
Going to schools, libraries and theatres and performing the poems in my books
Helping children write poems and stories
Making radio programmes, mostly about words, language or books
Appearing on TV, either reading books, or talking about books
Teaching at universities about children’s literature
Running workshops for teachers about poetry
In any week, I might be doing all of these things! To tell the truth, I don’t really know what I’m doing tomorrow, unless I look in my diary to see.
#Michael Rosen
#Kids
#Poetry
