Michael Rosen was born in North London in 1946. After university he worked for the BBC on Play School and Schools TV. He has written and edited over 140 books, including Mind Your Own Business, Wouldn t You Like to Know, Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy, You Tell Me, No Breathing in Class and Quick Let s Get Out of Here. You Can t Catch Me! won the Signal Poetry Award. We re Going on a Bear Hunt, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, won the Smarties Prize. He currently presents Radio Four s long-running Word of Mouth. His most recent book is The Disappearance of Emile Zola: Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Case. He is a Chevalier de l ordre des arts et des lettres was Children s Laureate from 2007-9 and is Professor of Children s Literature at Goldsmith's, University of London.