Michael J. Rosen is the author, editor, and illustrator of a wide variety of some forty books, including works for both adults and children. Many of his efforts involve philanthropic volumes to benefit Share Our Strength's fight against hunger, and humane efforts through a granting project he began in 1990, The Company of Animals Fund, which includes seven books and two touring illustration exhibits with donated works by more than 400 contributing artists and authors. Much of his time is spent in creative advocacy for these two organizations. These books include three anthologies of short stories, several collections of commissioned personal essays and visual suites, children's books, and even sidelines such as boxed cards and illustrated address books. His most recent philanthropic book is 21st Century Dog: a visionary compendium, which contains seventy authors and illustrators forecasting our lives with dogs in the centuries ahead.

His poetry has been collected in three volumes, A Drink at the Mirage (Princeton University Press, 1985), Traveling in Notions: The Stories of Gordon Penn (University of S. Carolina Press, 1996), and Telling Things (Harcourt Brace, 1997). Individual poems have appeared in magazines and journals such as The New Republic, The Paris Review, Southwest Review, and Salmagundi. His work has been supported by three grants from the Ingram Merrill Foundation, as well as grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. He received his MFA in poetry from Columbia University in 1981.

Rosen's many children's books, such as A School for Pompey Walker, Bonesy and Isabel, and Elijah's Angel, have received several distinguished citations, among them, the National Jewish Book Award, The Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance Once Upon a World Book Award, and the Ohioana Library career citation in children's literature. Rosen is involved much of the school year working with teachers and children in elementary schools throughout the country, sharing his enthusiasm and passion for writing and illustrating. Recent picture books include Avalanche, a Junior Literary Guild Feature Selection and Kirkus Pointer book, and A Thanksgiving Wish, illustrated by John Thompson. His new chapter book is entitled The Blessing of the Animals.

Rosen's own illustrations have been featured in magazines such as Gourmet and The New Yorker, as well as in his children's books Kids' Best Dog Book (currently featured in an expanded edition—with cats, as well—on Disney's website, www.family.com); The Kids' Book of Fishing; Food Fight: Poets Join the Fight Against Hunger with Poems About Favorite Foods; and Down to Earth.

He lives in Central Ohio, where he has served as literary director of The Thurber House, a cultural center in James's restored boyhood home in Columbus, since its inception in 1982. Rosen has edited four volumes of James Thurber's work, including the recently published The Dog Department: James Thurber on hounds, scotties and talking poodles, which HarperCollins released in April. He is also editor of Mirth of a Nation, a biennial of American humor published by HarperCollins.