Michael Rosen is new Children's Laureate

Michael Rosen succeeded Jacqueline Wilson as Children's Laureate yesterday, reports BBC News.

"I see my job as Children's Laureate being an ambassador for fun with books. I hope that I'll be able to boost all children's reading for pleasure but also to give a special lift to the wonderful diverse world of poetry for children."

In The Guardian he is interviewed by Simon Hattenstone.

The trouble is, he says, educationalists and government ministers have tried to take the fun out of poetry. They have reduced it to a question to be answered in a Sats test, and that is one thing he is keen to change.

"The question is, how d'you encourage it, not how d'you say, 'Uh-uh, no sorry, what we're going to do now is look at The Owl and the Pussycat and count the adjectives.'"