Chocolate Cake

Story

A child wakes up in the middle of the night and can’t resist going to have a look at the chocolate cake he knows is in a tin downstairs.

Why we chose it

One of Michael Rosen’s most popular poems, this is a great poem to perform. Michael Rosen really captures and brings to life a childhood moment – you can almost taste the chocolate cake!

Where it came from

The story is based on Michael’s childhood but embellished for dramatic and comic effect. Many of his poems draw on his childhood.

Where it went next

Michael Rosen’s performance of the poem became YouTube hit.

More recently a picture book version with illustrations by Kevin Waldron was published 2018.

The poem has also been adapted for the theatre by Peter Glanville and Barb Jungr for Polka Theatre also in 2018.

Associated stories

Michael Rosen has written a number of poetry anthologies including You Wait Till I’m Older Than You, Mustard, Custard, Grumblebelly and Gravy, Mind Your Own Business, You Tell Me and Michael’s Big Book of Bad Things. Much of his poetry is written for performance and you can watch him perform his poems on his website and on his youtube site. A Great Big Cuddle illustrated by Chris Riddell is a collection of poems for the very young.

His picture books include We’re going on a Bear Hunt illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, Little Rabbit Foo Foo illustrated by Arthur Robbins and Tiny Little Fly illustrated by Kevin Waldron.