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Sticky McStickStick

by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Tony Ross

Interest age: 4 to 8

Published by Walker Books, 2021

  • Non-fiction

About this book

In March 2020, Michael Rosen became ill with Covid-19 and was admitted to hospital. He was so ill that the doctors put him in an induced coma for 47 days.

When Michael woke up, he had to learn to walk again, and this picture book chronicles his recovery at a rehabilitation hospital and his eventual return to his family with his walking stick, which he names Sticky McStickStick.

Despite telling the story of a scary and difficult time for Michael, in Sticky McStickStick he manages to tell the honest story of what happened to him accessibly for children, using his trademark directness and sense of humour. There’s no shying away from the fact that Michael begins the book being very ill – Tony Ross’ opening pages show him almost blue in the face, weak and confined to bed. Yet, as the pages turn, we start to see Michael’s colour return and him start whizzing around the hospital corridors in a wheelchair, followed by him being sent home with Sticky McStickStick, his loyal friend.

Sticky McStickStick is similar to Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, illustrated by Quentin Blake, in which Rosen chronicles his experience of losing his son Eddie to meningitis. In both books, he is open and honest about how the experiences feel, allowing children and families to have a space in which to talk about difficult topics.

About the author

Michael Rosen is one of Britain’s best loved writers and performance poets for children and adults. His first degree in English Literature and Language was from Wadham College, Oxford and he went on to study for an MA at the University of Reading and a PhD at the former University of North London, now London Metropolitan.

He is currently Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London where he co-devised and teaches critical approaches to reading on an MA in Children’s Literature, having done the same at Birkbeck, University of London. He has taught on MA courses in universities since 1994.

He was the Children’s Laureate from 2007 to 2009 and has published over 200 books for children and adults, including the recent bestseller Many Different Kinds of Love and On The Move.

About the illustrator

Tony Ross was born in London in 1938. He went to art school in Liverpool and has since worked as a typographer for design and advertising agencies. His cartoons have appeared in Punch, Town, Time and Tide and the News of the World. His first book Hugo and the Wicked Winter was published in 1972. Tony has since written over 100 books and illustrated over 2000! Two of his creations, Towser and The Little Princess have been turned into TV series. Tony lives in Wales.

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