A TALENTED schoolboy has earned himself a coveted Blue Peter badge for his poetry after writing two books and all at the tender age of nine.

Mitchell Wray, who lives in Wistow near Selby, with his mother Tanya, father Dave, and younger brother Harley, can already consider himself a well-established writer, with his books having made £1,000 for his school, Wistow CE Primary.

He sold his books for £1 per copy and was able to raise money through that and donations from local businesses.

The poem that Mitchell wrote, titled ‘I am Nature’ which his mother described as “amazing”, is centred around the environment and the impact humans are having on the world.

When asked what inspired him to write the poem, Mitchell spoke about the Blue Peter competition into which he entered the piece, and said that he would “never put a competition to waste”.

Tanya, 46, is a clinical aromatherapist in Wistow, whilst Dave, 54, is an IT consultant.

She said that Mitchell has always been a “prolific writer”, having already written two books as part of his “Songbird Saga”.

The books are titled ‘Songbird Saga’ and ‘Songbird Saga: Lost’ and are both centred around a detective who has mysteries to solve.

Mitchell said as he grows up he hopes to keep writing as a hobby, “rather than a lifetime job”. His other interests range from playing guitar and piano, to computers and coding.

The pre-requisite for the Blue Peter poem was that it had to be themed around nature.

In it he writes about how the world is wonderful, but in order to save it, he said: “It’s going to take everyone’s support.”

Mitchell’s poem came in the top ten of his age range, and was amongst the top 30 in the country out of over 5,000 entries. The winner of the competition was granted the opportunity to attend the ongoing COP26 event, which Mitchell said “would have been amazing”, though he is quite happy with the orange Blue Peter badge he received for his efforts, a badge he didn’t yet possess.

When talking about what people can do to help the current situation, Mitchell offered some incredibly useful advice.

He said: “Throw your trash in a trash compactor, not the ocean.”

I am Nature

I am Nature, or Mother Earth

I gave the world the gift of birth

The sun shining in the sky

The moon sitting bright and high

Landscapes full of green and trees

The smell and feel of a cool breeze

Apples and pears hang heavy from trees

Hives dripping with honey from bees

Rivers teaming with rainbows of fish

An abundance of food to enjoy and nourish

Moors of bracken, purple heathers

Sunshine, lightning, different weathers

Marshes, meadows, wildflowers, grasses

Refreshing rain, the wind as it lashes

A rainbow arching across the sky

Beautiful birds, flying high

Snow capping the highest peaks

Foxes tails and birds white beaks

Lions, tigers, whales and sharks

Butterflies, insects, bees and larks

I gave you this, all this is free

What have you all done for me?

Carbon dioxide and global warming

Is that not enough of a warning?

Deforestation, the rainforests burning

Are we watching? What lessons are we learning?

I close my eyes for a second, just a quick blink

How many more animals are now extinct?

Plastics filling my rivers and seas

Marine life poisoned by microbeads

Melting ice caps in both of my poles

My ozone layer, full of holes

Pollution and plastics leaving massive scars

So you can have packaging and faster cars

Coal, oil and gas, non-renewable sources

All being used for terrible causes

Politicians have to make tough decisions

Renewable energy, cutting emissions

Please act now, stop this insanity

Give a gift to all humanity