About Magoo
Magoo Giles has always enjoyed being an entertainer. Ever since school, he has invented wonderful characters and has written and drawn stories about them. His passion for making people happy saw him create a range of characters and voices which first came to life on t-shirts, plates, mdf characters and now in books. People have always loved them. He's been determined to share these “friends” of his with others.
Magoo is also a very successful educator, coach and entrepreneur. He started as an assistant and worked his way up to become Head of Garden House Boy’s School from 2000-2006.
He then founded Knightsbridge School in 2006 and was Head of School from 2006-2015. He has been the Principal since then spreading the 'out of box' mantra. He put together the KS Code - based largely on KISS the Keep It Simple Silly acronym from the military which encapsulates the 'ecosystem of happiness' guiding principles (or Human Code) which have inspired the pupils, the parents and the staff to grow and to learn together both in and out of school. As chief ethos officer of Knightsbridge Schools International, this code is also in operation in the KSI schools that he co-founded in Montenegro and Bogota.
Many of the life lessons that he has used as an educator, coach and entrepreneur, were learned from his time in the British Army where he had a distinguished career.
After leaving Eton College, he attended The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards. During his military career Magoo served in the UK, Belize, Spain, Cyprus and Germany and was latterly Adjutant of the battalion in Bosnia during the Balkan conflict. He was Aide de Camp to Lieutenant General the Hon Sir William Rous for two years in Germany and Coldstream Equerry to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for two years in the early 90's.
Magoo’s varied life has been greatly influenced by his family - his father was in the Parachute Regiment and his mother was 'the kindest person' he has ever met. Together, with a love of sport (Healthy Body, Healthy Mind), food (Morale) and people 'who have your back', they taught him the importance of Duty, Responsibility, 'Work Hard Play Hard' (KS Motto), Trust, Mutual Respect and Teamwork all washed down with a great Sense of Humour.
He now writes about the life lessons, the experiences and stories he has learned from his 36 years in the military and educational mine
As only Magoo can, he weaves humour and fun throughout the pages of his books to make his reads highly enjoyable and instructive. Battle Box, is his first serious book that helps young people to understand how to begin to navigate their own lives from their own 'start line', to be prepared for the unexpected, to cope with the many knock downs in the individual boxing match of life and to keep going through their own particular minefield.