Bananas in My Ears: A Collection of Poems

Michael J. Rosen is an acclaimed author, editor and illustrator of some forty books for both adults and young people. Many are inspired by his lifelong experience with animals; he studied Zoology at university, has worked as a dog trainer and founded a granting programme to support animal welfare organizations. He says of ChaseR, When I moved from the major city where I’d lived most of my life to a rural community, the changes were monumental. And I often thought, What if I hadn’t actually chosen to live here? I wrote this novel not only to imagine this new way of life from a teenage point of view, but also to consider the complicated (and always teetering) balance we try to achieve, living, as we all do, amid an ever-diminishing natural world. Michael J. Rosen lives in Ohio, USA.

Quentin Blake has been drawing ever since he can remember and has always made his living as an illustrator. He has also taught, and for eight years was Head of the Illustration department at the Royal College of Art. Quentin Blake was made an OBE in 1988 and, in the words of The Guardian, was “already a national institution” when he was appointed the first Children’s Laureate in 1999.