Alex Wharton!

This morning, we took part in a live school session with Alex Wharton: author of Red Sky in the Morning, Poet's Warning, Red Sky at Night, Poet's Delight and Daydreams and Jellybeans.

The session started with Alex discussing some of his favourite books and some of his favourite achievements so far – sampling the carrot cakes at Buckingham Palace being a highlight! He shared how he became an author and where he gains his inspiration from (lyrics from songs, other poetry books, etc). He also shared his mantra: ‘think twice, write once’.

He also shared some of his poetry from Daydreams and Jellybeans. He read with wonderful expression and intonation and it was a delight to hear how he shared his work. When reading ‘Jellybean’, he gave the children the chance to respond to his poem and read along with him. He also spoke about how he uses rap as an inspiration when writing his poems – RAP = Rhythm And Poetry.

During the session, Alex also included some interactive quizzes; this was lots of fun and tested our knowledge! We also had the opportunity to draw some illustrations relating to one of Alex’s poems (The Dragon in Question…). He also challenged the children to think about what inspires them when it comes to writing.

Alex’s charisma and quick-talking were really engaging and listening to him share his work and his story was truly inspirational!

What a fabulous, engaging session!