Outpouring of support for 'very poorly' Rosen after night in ICU

Fellow authors, booksellers, librarians and fans have rushed to wish former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen well after his family revealed he is "stable" but "very poorly" after spending the night in an intensive care unit.

Among those who took to Twitter to wish Rosen a speedy recovery are Philip Pullman, Malorie Blackman, Kate Williams, Matt Haig, Joanne Harris, Owen Jones, Ed Balls, Bryony Gordon and Mary Beard, in addition to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

In a statement on Twitter, his wife Emma posted on behalf of the family that Rosen is "now doing 'ok, stable, alert'" and he was able to go to a ward on Sunday (29th March). She went on to thank Twitter followers "for all their kind concern".

The cause of Rosen's medical condition has has not been confirmed.

Rosen, 73, is best known for the classic picturebook We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Walker), authored with Helen Oxenbury, was Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009.

Most recently, in December, he published The Missing: The True Story of my Family in World War Two (Walker) for readers aged 10 upwards.