Cressida Cowell

Author

Cressida Cowell is a British children's author and illustrator best known as the creator of the How to Train Your Dragon series, which inspired the enormously successful DreamWorks animated film franchise. She served as Waterstones Children's Laureate from 2019 to 2022 and is one of the most influential voices in British children's... literature. Born in London in 1966, Cowell spent childhood summers on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland — an experience that profoundly shaped her imagination and her writing. She studied English at the University of Oxford and went on to study illustration at Saint Martin's School of Art and Brighton School of Art. The How to Train Your Dragon series, published between 2003 and 2015, comprises twelve books following Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, a young Viking who is very bad at being a Viking but very good at understanding dragons. The books are funny, adventurous, and surprisingly emotional, and they carry serious themes about courage, kindness, and the power of reading. The series has sold over eleven million copies worldwide and been translated into thirty-eight languages. The DreamWorks animated films, while significantly different from the books, brought Hiccup and Toothless to a global audience. Cowell's other major series, The Wizards of Once, is an epic fantasy adventure set in an ancient, forested Britain where warriors and wizards are sworn enemies. The four-book series has been praised for its ambition, its illustrations, and its celebration of imagination and storytelling. As Children's Laureate, Cowell campaigned passionately for children's access to books, libraries, and creativity, launching the Life-Changing Libraries campaign. The audiobook editions of Cowell's books are wonderful, with spirited narration that captures the humour, adventure, and heart of her stories. Her books and audiobooks are essential for young readers, families, and anyone who believes that the best children's books are also some of the best books, full stop. Read more Show less