Katie Clapham introduces The Tour at School - a hilarious guide for any newbie
About Author
Author Katie Clapham introduces her new book The Tour at School, illustrated by Nadia Shireen.
Katie Clapham runs the Storytellers, Inc bookshop and won Best Young Bookseller at the British Book Awards. She lives by the sea with her husband, daughter and dog, where she writes books and her newsletter, Receipt from the Bookshop. @KatieClaphamWriting
Nadia Shireen's books include Good Little Wolf (shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize), Barbara Throws a Wobbler and her anarchic Grimwood series, which has taken playgrounds by storm. She co-presents children's books podcast, The Island of Brilliant. @NadiaShireenDraws
Interview
July 2025
Share laughter and warmth with The Tour at School, introduced by author Katie Clapham
The Tour at School (Walker Books) is a hilarious and reassuring guide for young children starting at a new school. ReadingZone spoke with its author, bookseller Katie Clapham, to find out what inspired her new picture book and how it can help young children who are nervous about starting at a new school.
More about The Tour at School: First day nerves? Starting a new school can be scary, and being the New Kid is no fun at all. But when you have a brilliant 'tour guide' to show you around, everything should be fine, right? The Tour at School by Katie Clapham, illustrated by Nadia Shireen, is guaranteed to bring a smile to any 'new kid' starting school this Autumn.
Review: "We have a group of children in my school that we train as buddies for the new kids, and this book will be an invaluable part of their training now."
Q&A with Katie Clapham: Taking the school tour, through the writer's eye
"I hope The Tour at School helps children realise that it's important to be welcoming and kind to people who
need a friend, and that they'd like someone to do that for them if they were ever in a new place."
1. Welcome to ReadingZone! Can you begin by telling us a little about yourself and what brought you into working on children's books? What other kinds of work you do?
I think writing for children was always my intention, though I studied poetry at university. I signed with my literary agent with some picture book ideas nearly ten years ago, but I ended up publishing The Missing Bookshop (a young fiction title) and Three Girls (a teen novel) first. It's taken me a while to really get to grips with the picture book format, but I'm hoping The Tour at School is the first of many. It really is my favourite form to write in.
As well as writing for children, I co-own an independent bookshop with my mum and I write about being a bookseller in my online publication, 'Receipt from the Bookshop'.
2. What happens in your new picture book, The Tour at School (Because You're the New Kid)?
The Tour at School is a guided walking tour around a school narrated by the most enthusiastic child you can imagine. She's doing her best to show the new kid all the things she thinks are need-to-know, like the school fish, the echo in the toilets and the meet-up tree for if you have an emergency.
I love really getting into a voice when I write a story, and the tour guide's infectious enthusiasm for absolutely everything is a lot of fun to write.
3. What was your starting point for this story about 'the new kid' getting a school tour?
I wanted to think of a place where a child tour guide could really feel in charge. Children are so comfortable and familiar with their schools, and they make so many memories there, it becomes a really fertile ground for their stories.
It's also where a lot of children start to really build their own personalities outside of their home. I've loved seeing my daughter become her own person in the new context of her school friends - she's a chatterbox, just like my Tour Guide, and she always has a little story to tell me at the end of the day. She's a big inspiration to me when it comes to writing for children.
4. What kinds of discussions do you hope The Tour at School will help encourage among young children - and the new kids?
I hope The Tour at School helps children realise that it's important to be welcoming and kind to people who need a friend, and that they'd like someone to do that for them if they were ever in a new place or situation.
I also hope it helps them feel confident and excited to be the sort of person who might volunteer to do something like be a tour guide or a buddy for someone who is new. Their stories and memories are interesting, and a new person would be happy and lucky to have them as a friend.
5. The Tour at School is very funny - what kinds of things make you laugh, and why did you decide a school tour could funny? What makes you laugh the most in the story?
The bit I'm happiest I got to keep in is the game 'worldwide hairdressers' which is not something I've ever heard any child say, but made me laugh to imagine it. I laugh at all sorts of things in real life, but when I'm writing I love to play with words, to come up with combinations that feel really fresh. Often just describing something with unexpected words can be very funny.
Once I really got into the Tour Guide's voice, everything had the potential to be funny because she's very specific about the information she wants to impart. While in general tours of somewhere tend to be quite general, she's only interested in the small details - like the echo in the toilet or what the soap smells like.
6. What stood out for you when you first saw Nadia's illustrations? What is your favourite spread or moment in The Tour at School?
My daughter and I have been reading Nadia's book for years, so it was a huge thrill and a real honour when she agreed to illustrated The Tour at School.
My favourite spread is the page with the post-it notes as they fly past all sorts of things including Katrina the stick insect and the lonely glove. But I think the endpapers are really special, because they remind me of my daughter's school, which is also the school I went to! It looks like such a happy place, and I love that the endpapers at the back of the book show the new friends in the playground. I also really love the sparkly hug page, it's just so sweet, it never fails to make me smile.
7. Do you plan to follow up The Tour at School with any more stories about these characters? What else are you writing?
I would really love that, I think my Tour Guide would have something to say interesting to say about almost anywhere!
This is my first picture book, but there are some more in development. I've also got some more young fiction coming that I'm really excited about - it has another feisty female character who is great fun to write!
10. What kinds of things do you enjoy doing to relax when you're away from your notebook?
I walk my dog on the beach most days, we have a long stretch of sand dunes that she loves to run up and down - I have had some of my best story ideas on her walks. I love going to the cinema and of course, as a bookseller and writer, I read absolutely masses of books. Even though that technically counts as work when it's something for the bookshop, it's still my favourite way to relax. How lucky I am that it's something I have to prioritise!
The Tour at School: A reassuring (and funny!) guide for anxious children starting at a new school or nursery.
