Talking to children that are not your own is daunting. Are they going to be interested? Am I going to understand a word they say? Will they become unmanageable? Are they going to get bored and just walk away? It’s hard with just a few, but imagine talking to a room full of over one hundred, all sitting staring up at you (apart from the ones who are busy with their shoes, exploring the hair of the girl next to them, staring at something fascinating on the ceiling or excavating their noses).
The first time that I saw Michael Rosen in action was during the Pinner Arts Week some eight years ago. The Methodist Church was full, about a hundred and twenty seriously overexcited children and their slightly bewildered parents and carers. After an introduction from me, that got them even more over the top, Michael walked forwards, rubbed his hands together and said ‘Right’. Total silence. Rapt attention.
When we met again recently, I asked him how he had achieved such quiet confidence in front of an uninhibitedly critical crowd. I knew that he had trained as an actor in his youth. Was this the answer?
Michael leaned in, and I knew there was another story coming.
“Let me tell you about my first time in front of a school assembly. I had an image of myself as The Poet, sitting in an armchair, reading my poems to a select group of well-behaved and appreciative children. The first time I was asked to do a reading in a school, I went in, armed with this image. So, I was really not prepared when I walked into an assembly room with about a hundred children. I did what anyone would do, I opened my book and hid behind it.” Here, Michael seems to shrink his whole body, crouching behind an imaginary book.
“So, I began my mumbled reading. After a verse or two, I looked across at the headmaster, a wonderful, welcoming Irishman who was staring at me with a mixture of disbelief and horror. Bless him, he seized the moment, turning to the kids and announcing ‘That’s not how we read this poem here, is it, boys and girls? Shall we show Mr Rosen how we do it?’ With that, he led the whole school in a spirited rendition, complete with hand and body gestures, delivered with gusto by all.”
To watch Michael in front of a school assembly today is to see how, from that day, he understood and enthusiastically embraced the rules of the game, the need for communication, interaction, a complete lack of condescension, and how much he loves doing it. It’s no wonder that the children are completely absorbed; he makes every one of them feel that he talking just to them.
Phil Lawder
Editor Villager Magazine
Pinner Association
