Celebrated children\u2019s author, broadcaster and academic Michael Rosen<\/a> set off before dawn on Monday morning from his home in north London to reach Stansted<\/a> airport for a Ryanair<\/a> flight to Italy.<\/p>\n The 79-year-old author of the children\u2019s classic We\u2019re Going on a Bear Hunt (1989) had been invited to the Bologna<\/a> Children\u2019s Book Fair. He was on the shortlist for the top global prize for authors of children\u2019s books, the Hans Christian Andersen Award.<\/p>\n The event organisers had organised Mr Rosen\u2019s flights and accommodation, and sent him the boarding pass for Ryanair flight FR194 to the Italian city. <\/p>\n He told The Independent: \u201cI go through the check-in and I go through security and I go through all that, finally get to gate 91 and present my passport and ticket.<\/p>\n \u201cThe two very nice people working for Ryanair looked at my passport, which has my name, of course. It says Michael Wayne Rosen, British citizen, and it’s got my date of birth, and then it says the passport was issued on 4 March 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n Under post-Brexit<\/a> rules, the passports of UK travellers to the European Union must meet two conditions:<\/p>\n Mr Rosen\u2019s passport, like many others issued prior to September 2018, is valid for more than 10 years. It easily met the second condition, but was 40 days too old for the first constraint.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cYou can tap me on the wrist, and say, \u2018you fool Rosen \u2013 you should have read the regs\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, there\u2019s a simple reason for that: because I was a guest, I didn\u2019t see any travel documents. They just sent me a ticket which I then popped into my wallet on my phone.\u201d<\/p>\n The organisers were unaware of the UK\u2019s unusual policy of issuing passports for longer than 10 years, and the subsequent problems this can cause.<\/p>\n\n
![\"Prize](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MichaelRosenPrize.jpeg\")
Prize writer: Official announcement about Michael Rosen winning the Hans Christian Anderson Award (Hans Christian Anderson Award)<\/p>\n