Centrally Heated Knickers

by Michael Rosen

Hail! Hail! I come from another galaxy. Discover the wierd and wonderful world of martians, woolly saucepans and centrally heated knickers in 100 poems about science and technology from the delightfully irreverent, Michael Rosen, Children's Laureate 2007 - 2009.

Genres: Poetry

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2000

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Owen Townend]

Sometimes funny children's verse is just the tonic you need to de-stress. That is precisely how I came to pick up Michael Rosen's Centrally Heated Knickers.

While I wasn't aware these poems were written in association with the star* group (Science, Technology and Reading), I have known for some time that this collection was one of Rosen's more famous and beloved. I can see why: there is just the right amount of wordplay experimentation in most of these poems even if not all of them quite worked for me. Also Rosen's droll sense of humour and poetic endings might not chime with everyone.

Nevertheless I found myself chuckling more often than not and relishing the opportunity to read certain poems aloud. The rhythm is just as addictive as the rhyme and Rosen knows how to make a short poem sound pitch perfect. If you're looking for something light and enjoyable for all the family, Centrally Heated Knickers is a great poetry collection to dip in and out of.

Notable Poems

• Giants: a Riddle – this little mystery contains some lovely internal assonance and pleasing turns of phrase.

• Boogy Woogy Buggy – a rhythmic tour de force that you can almost sing with free-wheeling momentum.

• Some Advice for You If You’re Ever Thinking of Walking Across a Very Old Iron Bridge – simple wonderful mouth sounds.

[Sophie Crane]

I absolutely adore this book! Huge range of poems linked to different areas of science, ranging in tone from laugh-out-loud funny to very dark, all well-written by the amazing Michael Rosen. Brilliant for creating cross-curricular links between English and science. Love it!

[Calum Mackenzie]

I’m leaning towards generosity with my rating as it’s, well it’s Michael Rosen - however……this book doesn’t seem to know who it’s aimed at. It’s great, silly and brilliant at points but also a bit average, dull or like Michael is coasting for a lot of this.

It feels like a children’s book but that’s in contrast to some of the themes so who knows???!

Don’t recommend- disappointing

[Gordon McIntyre]

Brilliant. Every poem a thought provoking pearl.

[Selma D]

This is a collection/anthology of poems about science and technology which is ideal for children in years 3 to 6. The book can be read in its entirety of even if poems are read a random it is still a valuable read. It takes the reader on an adventure through science, playing on misconceptions and abstract ideas about how things work.
My favourite poem from the book is “Acorn, Conker and Key”, which is interesting to read and funny. The book has of a variety of genres and literary devises used. For example “Wood-Cool!” uses alliteration and “Hot pants” is a fast paced rhyming poem.

At my first teaching placement, my year 5 class had visited the theatre to watch a production of “Centrally heated knickers” this book will be a very good follow up to teach the children more about the author and useful in English lessons. The book it’s self is cross curricular which fits in well with D&T and Science. This is a useful book for inspiring children to think of their own inventions or to write poems about projects in science.

[Katy W]

We have this on the shelf and dip into it now and again, but listening to the audio version on a long car journey was even better.

[City of London Libraries]

Maisie Returns again. I want to tell you about a poem book, it’s called “Centrally Heated Knickers” by Michael Rosen. I want to introduce this book to you because I thought it had some nice poems and some which were a little difficult for me to understand. That may be because I’m only 8.

These poems are meant to be about science and technology but they’re mostly to do with everyday things.

My favourite poem is ‘Granma’s Hands’ It reminds me of my own Granma. You should read this book and find your favourite poem too.

Maisie

Check out Maisie’s Art work at Barbican & Community Libraries Blog