The Philipa Pearce Memorial Lecture: 'What is Children's Poetry For?' (speaker Michael Rosen, Homerton College)

The Difference

In Glasgow

The hotel gave us something called

'Soap'.
In Edinburgh

The hotel gave us the same stuff
and it was called:
'Skincare Bar'.

Michael Rosen gave an interesting lecture, focusing on the decline of teaching and the hideous rise of children as statistics. And then he signed my book afterwards, I wish I'd had my tape of The Michael Rosen Rap with me for him to sign, I remember all those poems off by heart. I told him that I was going to stand up in the lecture and shout "Get out! Get out! The Skyfoogle has escaped!!" I also told him that the Skyfoogle has haunted Anna her entire life. She never got the joke.