Gillian McClure - Interview (February 2026)
Q: What was your best school visit, and why?
I did a workshop at Park Street School Cambridge in the 1990s. An eight-year-old girl was present, and I met her again two decades later. The eight-year-old girl was Kate Winter, winner of the 2024 Klaus Flugge Prize for her book ‘The Fossil Hunter’. She told me that my visit to her school had inspired her to become a children’s writer and illustrator.
Q: You often bring puppets and original artwork to your school workshops. What reactions from children have most surprised or delighted you during these sessions?
Back in the 1980s, in Glasgow, I had a popular workshop based on my book, ‘What’s the Time Rory Wolf?’ I visited many schools in Glasgow and would dress up in a grey blanket and a wolf mask and tell the story in a growly voice. Afterwards, the children acted out the story themselves. I remember once giving the wolf part to a girl who turned out to be the most convincing Rory Wolf I have ever seen. I was aware of anxious looks among the teachers when I chose her; anxious looks that quickly became looks of amazement at her performance. “We thought you’d picked the wrong child,” they said. “We’ve never seen her do anything like that before!”
Q: Many of your books explore magical or mysterious natural settings, such as the hollow tree in The Little White Sprite. What draws you to these enchanted landscapes when creating stories?
As a child I played in the beech woods of the South Downs, and this became my inner imaginary landscape. I can still draw upon this landscape, creating mysterious places that are slightly askew from the real world, yet deeply rooted in it.
Q: You’ve written and illustrated over 30 picture books. Which book challenged you the most in terms of illustration, and what made it so demanding?
The most challenging book I have illustrated was Kevin Crossley’s ‘Norse Myths’ part of a series of gift books published by Simon and Schuster in 1993. It took a lot of visual research to arrive at the Viking imagined world. It was a 128-page book with colour illustrations on most pages. The deadline was so tight, the editor drove up from London to collect the artwork. I was still painting when she knocked on the door.
Q: Your workshops often encourage children to create their own mythical or mysterious characters, what mythical creature first captured your imagination as a child?
As a child, I loved the anthropomorphic trees painted by Arthur Rackham; trees with witch-like faces. I still find myself staring at trees in the countryside, searching for expressions glimpsed at in the patterns of the bark.
Q: You live in Cambridge, what is the best thing about Cambridge?
I love seeing all the activity on the River Cam; the moored narrow boats, and the eights and sculls racing by. This river life inspired ‘Zoe’s Boat’. I also love the ancient buildings, and the choral singing at St John’s College.
Q: You have worked closely with university students, what advice would you have to children that find being academic very difficult or even impossible?
I have been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Kent and Essex Universities, helping students with their essay writing skills; encouraging them to write in a simple transparent style, however complicated their ideas might be. I sympathise with students and children who are daunted by academic work, being dyslexic myself. However, if you read for pleasure and have fun writing, you are developing powerful tools that can help build up your confidence in academic writing.
Q: Your book Don’t Eat Granny uses humour to teach punctuation. What inspired you to blend grammar with storytelling in such a playful way?
My grandson had been learning about the first four punctuation marks in Year1. He was intrigued by them and asked if there were any stories with punctuation characters. As he was just starting to appreciate a joke, I thought I would try to write a story full of punctuation jokes. It was a challenge trying to integrate punctuation jokes into a Red Riding Hood narrative.
Q: Nature and water appear frequently in your stories — from We’re Going to Build a Dam to Flood. What personal experiences or places have influenced these themes?
‘We’re Going to Build a Dam’ was inspired by damming streams with natural materials on Kiloran Beach while on holiday on the Island of Colonsay. ‘Flood’ came about during a residency at Wisbech Saint Mary’s school where grandparents took part, sharing their memories of the Great Fen Flood of their youth.
Q: You’ve developed virtual workshops, what have you learned about connecting with children through a screen compared to in-person sessions?
I did virtual workshops in Lockdown and realised that nothing can match an in-person workshop where children can feel the weight of a palette covered in peaks of acrylic paint, or peer at the brush strokes on a piece of original artwork.
Q: Many teachers praise your ability to show the full creative process — sketches, roughs, edits. What part of your process do children find most surprising when you reveal it?
The length of time it takes to write and illustrate a picture book.
Q: Your stories often balance adventure with emotional depth, especially around friendship and transformation. What message do you hope children carry with them after reading your books?
That the reader, like the character in the story will grow in understanding and have hope; hope that everything will turn out well in the end.