The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II

***As heard on The Jeremy Vine Show***

***As heard on The Cerys Matthews Show***

Michael Rosen is a master of pace and clarity… Essential reading. - The Times, Children’s Book of the Week

Five stars … extraordinary and affecting.
- The Telegraph, Children’s Book of the Week

Rosen handles the difficult topic as sensitively and thoughtfully as you would expect, always writing in a straightforward and accessible way for children. - BookTrust, the UK’s largest reading charity

A personal, powerful and resonant account of the Holocaust by one of this country’s best-loved children’s authors. By turns charming, shocking and heart-breaking, this is the true story of Michael Rosen’s search for his relatives who went missing during the Second World War - told through prose, poetry, maps and pictures.

When Michael was growing up, stories often hung in the air about his great-uncles: one was a clock-mender and the other a dentist. They were there before the war, his dad would say, and weren’t after.

Over many years, Michael tried to find out exactly what happened: he interviewed family members, scoured the internet, pored over books and traveled to America and France. The story he uncovered was one of terrible persecution - and it has inspired his poetry for years since.

Here, poems old and new are balanced against an immensely readable narrative; both an extraordinary account and a powerful tool for talking to children about the Holocaust.

Supported and checked by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education.

Fascinating, chilling and poignantly personal - Financial Times

The Missing may ostensibly concern the Holocaust but, as Rosen makes clear, this is a book about facing down prejudice, defying those who would sow the seeds of hatred and opening our arms to those in need. - Independent