Swish, splash, squerch, sound the footsteps of a bear hunt and the trail leads to the Duchess Theatre this summer where Michael Rosen’s popular children’s book will be adapted for a season of daytime performances.

Beginning life as oral folk poetry performed by youngsters at Brownies and similar summer camps, Michael, 63, explains the journey of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt has come full circle.

“What’s interesting it that I have taken an oral collective piece of poetry, frozen it, extended it and adapted it to a book,” the former Children’s Laureate tells me. “People have then taken the rhyme from the book and interpreted it back into an oral collective piece of poetry.”

Going one step further, director Sally Cookson has brought the tale to life with her production of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, which features a score by Benji Bower and first appeared on stage at the Bristol Old Vic.

Speaking about the show, Michael tells me: “I had no idea what to expect and I was very pleasantly susprised. They have devised a wonderful piece of children’s theatre.”

Getting back to the oral tradition of the ditty, I tell Michael that I can vividly remember ‘going on a bear hunt’ with my friends, something he reveals he can relate to with two young children (Elsie, eight and Emile, four) to keep entertained.

Michael, who came to Hackney as a “visitor” to see his grandparents throughout his childhood and now lives in the area himself, explains his own childhood experiences form a lot of his material. Indeed they appear in many of his poetry collections, including You Wait Till I’m Older Than You, Quick Let’s Get Out of Here and No Breathing In Class.

“There is one I do at the moment which involves breaking a toothbrush and the different way in which my Mum and Dad responded, with Mum telling me not to worry and Dad putting it in the imaginary book of bad things,” he reveals. “Dad did very well at remembering bad things and reminding me later. Children have a sense that parents log all the bad things and I explore that in my poetry and performances.”

Speaking fondly of his boyhood memories Michael, who has written a staggering 140 books, continues: “My parents were absolute camping and outdoor addicts, so maybe my interest in We’re Going on a Bear Hunt came from my experiences as a kid. My father believed the way you spent a holiday was you put things in a rucksack and went for a walk, the longer and harder the better. I had years of wandering along roads wondering when we would stop getting to the top of a hill and him saying, ‘Isn’t this wonderful lets press on,’ or getting to a beach and wanting to stay and play, and dad saying, ‘Let’s press on’.”

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt runs at the Duchess Theatre, London, from Thursday, July 9, to Sunday, August 16, various times, call for details. Tickets: 020 7494 5075 or www.duchesstheatre.co.uk (£17.50)