Poet Visit - Neal Zetter

Miss Gilbert was delighted to welcome Neil Zetter, a local poet, to our school today. Pupils throughout the school were enthralled as they listened to a wide variety of poems, enjoying the different styles and themes he presented.

Neil shared poems from two of his collections:

Small Poems for Big Imaginations – his 14th poetry book, featuring a collection of 56 very short poems designed to engage reluctant readers as well as those who already love books. As always, the collection is filled with wordplay and humour, alongside more thoughtful poems. 

Chicken in the Kitchen (Neil Zetter’s Greatest Hits) – a collection of Neil’s most popular poems, selected from those most frequently requested by children during his 20-plus years of visiting schools.

The children were encouraged to join in and quickly became part of the performance through repetition, alliteration and the exploration of onomatopoeia. The pupils enjoyed the humour in many of the poems and were even startled by one of Mr Zetter’s spooky verses.

At the end of each session, pupils were invited to ask questions, and Mr Zetter was impressed by their thoughtful responses and curiosity. We learned that Mr Zetter wrote his first poem when he was just six years old. He explained that he was inspired to write after his parents repeatedly read The Cat in the Hat to him because he enjoyed the stories so much. The pupils were also interested to learn about the publishing process. Once the poems have been written, an illustrator creates the artwork, the final proofs are checked, and the book is then sent for printing and binding. From start to finish, this process can take around a year.

Mr Zetter thanked everyone for listening so attentively and expressed his appreciation to those who had pre-ordered copies of his poetry books. Pupils who wished to purchase one of his books were invited to meet him in the courtyard at the end of the day, where they could choose a book of their choice and have it personally signed by the author.