“Lists, and lists of lists, invite many questions and one that crops up here is: what makes a children's book last? When it's books for very young children, this is a matter that is almost entirely at the behest of adults - parents, teachers, critics, librarians.”

English children's author, poet and academic

Michael Rosen is an English children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster, activist, and academic. He is professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has written more than 200 books for children and adults. Among his best-known titles are We're Going on a Bear Hunt and Sad Book. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009 and won the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize from English PEN for a body of work praised as fearless.