Perfect prose!

SCHOOLBOY Daniel Burling’s perfect prose has been published and is delighting poetry enthusiasts around the globe, writes May Al Mousawi.

With a powerful imagination and writing skills beyond his years, the British School of Bahrain pupil was recommended to join a young writers’ competition by an impressed teacher.

The vibrant description of his love of summer was selected for publication in a Young Writers’ anthology, A Pocketful of Poems, and he received a certificate of distinction.

The Year Three pupil said: “Summer is great because I love going on holiday, having barbecues and enjoy the feel of the sun on my face.

“So when my dad was cooking up a barbecue last summer I got plenty of ideas. For the first time I had pineapple and honey which tasted really good.

“I also saw my dad sizzling hotdogs on the grill … so I decided to put all of that in my poem. I have this cuddly teddy bear called Daisy so I thought it was a good idea to mention daisy flowers and butterflies as well as show my love for music.

“I read my poem to all the classes in my year. The students were told to close their eyes and think about their senses.”

Daniel says he has been inspired by children’s authors Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. Proud parents Alyson and Steve have brought Daniel up around books since he was a baby. They say that he has always loved creative writing and has been busy putting the finishing touches to even more work.

Alyson, 40, bought Daniel a ‘blue blook’ where he can pen his big imagination. He has already started his next tale about the battle between powerful spinning tops, Beyblades, which he explained was a craze among schoolboys last year.

Alyson said: “We are very proud of him. He has a very vivid imagination and loves to write. He had to do a factual project at school about cheetahs.

“Completely off his own back, he wrote a story about a cheetah and a deer shortly after and illustrated it. The blurb on the back says who would’ve thought a cheetah and a deer would be friends. It’s such a sweet story. He went to school and showed it round to his friends.”

Daniel is currently thinking about writing another story about two puppies, Toffee and Fudge; that his family fostered, called The Two Little Puddings. He said: “I have plenty of ideas. I also have one about a zebra who likes to be different.”

When Daniel’s not writing, he can be found enjoying sports such as running and swimming as well as taking part in art and playing with his two sisters Holly, two, and Emily, five.
Alyson and Steve are hoping to enrol Daniel into a creative writing group so he can further flourish his skill.

Young Writers was established with the aim of encouraging young people to enjoy creative writing by seeing their work in print. The organisation works with schools, parents and young writers and organises writing competitions.