Top children’s writer Ian Billings enthrals Perse Prep pupils on National Poetry Day

29 Sep 2017

Perse Prep pupils enjoyed a visit from top children’s writer Ian Billings to mark National Poetry Day.

Mr Billings, who has written for BBC children’s shows ChuckleVision and Gigglebiz, ensured plenty of laughs from the children with a performance mixing comedy, poetry and the re-telling of fairy tales with a twist, with some pupils getting involved in a fun version of Hansel & Gretel.

He then passed on his poetry expertise to Year 5 pupils with a series of workshops, giving them inspiration to write their own rhyming verses, with some youngsters reading their work aloud at the end of the sessions.

Mr Billings, the author of children’s poetry anthology Space Rocks as well as the Sam Hawkins, Pirate Detective novels, said he was glad to highlight the fun that could be had with poetry and felt pupils had enjoyed the event.

He said: “We had lots of fun, frolics and laughter at the Perse Prep. It was an absolute delight.

“The kids were really good listeners and they were a lovely audience.

“We talked about using our imagination, I read some poems and did some comedy and we had a really good time.

“The joy of poetry is it’s a condensation of lots of thoughts into a small space, so you can have wonderful, massive thoughts in just a few sentences.

“I like to encourage the kids to create their own ideas and thoughts into small spaces and it’s been a delight being amongst them.”

Listen to a full interview with Mr Billings about his visit below.