The Book

I opened a book
and a hand fell out.
I turned a page
and heard a shout:
‘I’m lost in a wood;
my mother’s no good.’
I couldn’t bear to look
so I closed the book.

But the girl called out:
‘Don’t leave me here;
I need you to help me.’
I was cold with fear
so the book stayed shut.
I put it back on the shelf;
put it out of my mind
but then –
it opened itself.
Right there in front of me
it opened up wide
and I heard a voice say,
‘Come inside.’

The hand that fell out
jumped back in the book,
the girl inside
gave me a long cool look
and before I knew it
I was in that wood,
running and running
as fast as I could,
running and running
as fast as I could,
running and running
as fast as I could . . .

Copyright: from Michael Rosen's Big Book of Bad Things (Puffin, 2010) © Michael Rosen, used by permission of the author.

More about this poem

Michael Rosen was born and brought up in London. He says his parents were people who loved jokes, stories and songs. His father used to ...

Learn more
Age Groups

Explore Similar Poems

Also by Michael Rosen

By Tags

Close