When Magoo Giles contacted us about the possibility of doing a Leavers’ Book for Knightsbridge School, we knew it wasn’t going to be a dull, run-of-the-mill job, and it wasn’t. He wanted something that would encapsulate the KS code: Keep Smiling, Keep Striving, Keep Safe, Keep It Simple and Keep Soldiering On! But he also wanted it to be useful, something between the Dangerous Book for Boys and Schott’s Almanack. This, we thought, was going to be fun…

A team at the school was established to come up with ideas for what every prep school pupil should know, and the Gresham team did the same. Between us we came up with a list, and fine-tuned it until we had something to work with. Kings and Queens, famous battles, the Periodic Table, Greek gods and goddesses, essential English grammar… it was wonderful.

We then sourced the illustrations, refined the copy, sorted out a design and then set about turning Magoo’s vision into a published book. The result was splendid, and we ended up doing two editions, one for the prefects and one for the rest of the school.

And we’ve just done a reprint, which was fun as it involved us checking that nothing had changed – which of course it had. The list of prime ministers had to be updated, for one thing, but happily not the list of monarchs – God Save the Queen!

Find out more about Knightsbridge School HERE

Are you thinking about commissioning a leavers’ book? Contact us to arrange a visit to help you plan and develop your project, telephone 01983 761389 or email info@gresham-books.co.uk