PUPILS at Woodthorpe Primary School in York have been inspired by children’s author Christina Gabbitas to write their own poetry.

The poet, and author from Selby visited Year 3 pupils at the school as part of a national initiative to encourage children to have a go at writing.

The initiative, which has gained support from Education Secretary Michael Gove, will allow children to submit their work and be in with a chance to have it published in Christina’s next Felicity Fly or national poetry book.

Christina said: “The children were very engaging using their imagination. Words are nothing without imagination, we had a lot of fun.”

Christina has written a number of books which form part of the Felicity Fly series and aim to improve children’s listening and reading as well as memory.

All the books come with audio and are narrated by Christina, who uses different accents for different characters to help engage children reading.

Since publishing the books Christina has toured a number of primary school around the region.

She said: “It’s fantastic to speak to children at a young age, to get them interested in reading and writing and working together."

Christina’s book Felicity Fly meets Veronica Vac has recently been voted into the Final of Peoples Book Prize and she is set to attend a prestigious event at Staynor Hall in London in May, where she will meet the highly acclaimed author Frederick Forsyth.

The award was set up by Dame Berol Bainbridge and patron Frederick Forsyth to encourage and recognise new authors.

Christina said: “It’s fantastic news to reach the finalists stage. I am amongst some great authors and huge publishers in the UK.”

Christina’s national initiative to encourage children to write asks for all work to be submitted by April 30. For more information visit poemsandpictures.co.uk/competition